Client Direction Does Not Authorize Ethical Violation Invoked By Engineer A
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/87#Client_Direction_Does_Not_Authorize_Ethical_Violation_Invoked_By_Engineer_A
Properties
Instance of
ClientDirectionDoesNotAuthorizeEthicalViolation
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#ClientDirectionDoesNotAuthorizeEthicalViolation
Applied to
Client A Cost-Refusing Developer
Design standard for coastal residential development
Balancing with
Client Loyalty
Contractual scope obligations
Concrete expression
Client A's instruction to proceed with a design standard below the 100-year storm surge elevation does not authorize Engineer A to certify or proceed with that standard, because doing so would violate Engineer A's professional obligation to protect public safety
Confidence
0.91
Importance
high
Interpretation
In this context, Client A's cost-driven refusal to build to the recommended standard is a client directive that, if followed, would require Engineer A to violate the professional obligation to hold paramount the safety of the public; Engineer A retains an independent obligation to refuse compliance
Invoked by
Engineer A Present Case Coastal Risk Assessment
Tension resolution
Client payment does not purchase the engineer's ethical independence on safety determinations; Engineer A must refuse to certify a design standard below the professionally recommended level
Source Evidence
Source text
Because of the increased cost, Owner refuses to agree that the residential development project be built to a 100-year projection storm surge elevation
Text references
Because of the increased cost, Owner refuses to agree that the residential development project be built to a 100-year projection storm surge elevation
Engineer A believes the residential development project should be built to a 100-year projected storm surge elevation, due to public safety risks
TTL
@prefix case87: <http://proethica.org/ontology/case/87#> .
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> .
@prefix proeth: <http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#> .
@prefix prov: <http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
case87:Client_Direction_Does_Not_Authorize_Ethical_Violation_Invoked_By_Engineer_A a proeth:ClientDirectionDoesNotAuthorizeEthicalViolation,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Client Direction Does Not Authorize Ethical Violation Invoked By Engineer A" ;
proeth:appliedto "Client A Cost-Refusing Developer",
"Design standard for coastal residential development" ;
proeth:balancingwith "Client Loyalty",
"Contractual scope obligations" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "Client A's instruction to proceed with a design standard below the 100-year storm surge elevation does not authorize Engineer A to certify or proceed with that standard, because doing so would violate Engineer A's professional obligation to protect public safety" ;
proeth:confidence "0.91" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "87" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "facts" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-02-27T15:35:25.619322+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "87" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-02-27T15:35:25.619322+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:interpretation "In this context, Client A's cost-driven refusal to build to the recommended standard is a client directive that, if followed, would require Engineer A to violate the professional obligation to hold paramount the safety of the public; Engineer A retains an independent obligation to refuse compliance" ;
proeth:invokedby "Engineer A Present Case Coastal Risk Assessment" ;
proeth:principleclass "Client Direction Does Not Authorize Ethical Violation" ;
proeth:sourcetext "Because of the increased cost, Owner refuses to agree that the residential development project be built to a 100-year projection storm surge elevation" ;
proeth:tensionresolution "Client payment does not purchase the engineer's ethical independence on safety determinations; Engineer A must refuse to certify a design standard below the professionally recommended level" ;
proeth:textreferences "Because of the increased cost, Owner refuses to agree that the residential development project be built to a 100-year projection storm surge elevation",
"Engineer A believes the residential development project should be built to a 100-year projected storm surge elevation, due to public safety risks" ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 87 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-02-27T16:34:23.734130"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 87 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
87
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
facts
First discovered
2026-02-27T15:35:25.619322+00:00
First case
87
Generated
2026-02-27T15:35:25.619322+00:00
Attributed to
Case 87 Extraction
Generated
2026-02-27T16:34:23.734130
Generated by
ProEthica Case 87 Extraction