DP4

DecisionPoint
http://proethica.org/ontology/cases#DecisionPoint

DP4

Should Engineer A report the known electrical and mechanical code violations to appropriate public authorities, or confine disclosure to a brief mention in the confidential structural report delivered only to the client?

Engineer A, having accepted a confidentiality agreement and learned through client disclosure that an occupied apartment building contains electrical and mechanical code violations capable of injuring occupants, must decide whether to report those violations to appropriate public authorities — or to limit disclosure to a brief mention in the confidential structural report addressed solely to the client. The core tension is between the paramount safety obligation under NSPE Code Section I.1 and Section II.1.a, which requires notification of appropriate authorities when professional judgment on life-endangering matters is overruled, and the confidentiality obligation under Sections II.1.c and III.4, which Engineer A treated as an absolute bar to external disclosure.

Notify the appropriate regulatory or public authorities of the disclosed electrical and mechanical code violations, invoking the Section II.1.c exception clause that releases engineers from confidentiality obligations when public danger is present, and inform the client in advance that this disclosure is required by the NSPE Code's paramount safety obligation.

Document the electrical and mechanical violations in the confidential structural report delivered to the client, treating the confidentiality agreement and Section III.4's protection of client-transmitted information as a complete bar to external disclosure, on the grounds that the violations were client-confided rather than independently discovered and fall outside Engineer A's structural scope of work.

Formally demand in writing that the client remediate the electrical and mechanical violations before proceeding with the sale, and if the client refuses, withdraw from the engagement and decline to deliver the structural report — stopping short of notifying public authorities on the grounds that the confidentiality agreement and domain-competence limitations constrain the reporting duty, while avoiding passive acquiescence to the client's 'as is' directive.

Engineer A