RegulatoryApplicabilityState

Class
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#RegulatoryApplicabilityState
Class Hierarchy
Definition

A condition in which a professional code of ethics is in force for a party's conduct, here the condition in which the NSPE Code of Ethics applies to a firm's business dealings because licensed professional engineers hold supervisory and ownership roles, even though the services provided are communication and public relations services rather than engineering design.

Inherited from Case 103

A regulatory condition in which a specific code provision or rule is in force and binding for a party's conduct in the situation, so that the duties the provision states become applicable, here Rule 13 being binding on the engineer because of his dual capacity arrangement with the city.

Inherited from Case 58

A regulatory condition in which a governing policy is unambiguously in force for a project, here the State DOT policy requiring that only unavoidable utility conflicts be paid for as part of highway projects and that other utility work be treated as a betterment paid for by the local municipality.

Inherited from Case 6

A condition in which procurement laws and requirements are in force for a public entity's contracting, here strong qualification-based selection laws at the state and local levels codified within the state's professional engineering licensure laws.

Inherited from Case 8

A regulatory condition in which standards are in force for the situation, here local environmental standards requiring steps to safeguard public water sources apply to the development's stormwater management.

Inherited from RegulatoryState

A condition in which a code provision, standard, statute, permit, or contractual requirement is in force for the situation, including states of compliance and of violation. As a content kind it is the regulatory standing of the situation. Its deontic relevance is that it activates a constraint or compliance obligation on the available actions.

Properties
Action Constraints
Prohibition on deceptive acts
Prohibition on misrepresentation of fact and omitting a material fact
Activation Conditions
Firm DBA has licensed professional engineers in supervisory and ownership roles of all departments
Confidence
0.9
Obligation Activation
Obligation to adhere to the highest principles of ethical conduct
Obligation to issue statements in an objective and truthful manner
Persistence Type
inertial
Principle Transformation
Because the Code applies to Firm DBA, the abstract principle of adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct becomes concrete truthfulness and non-deception obligations governing the firm's report.
State Category
regulatory
Termination Conditions
Firm DBA no longer has licensed professional engineers in supervisory or ownership roles
Property Structure
1 · Object and Data Properties rdfs:domain on this class or ancestor
PropertyRangeDescription
activatedByEvent inherited Event Event Calculus initiation: relates a State to the Event whose occurrence brings the State into being (the start boundary of the fluent).
activatesConstraint inherited Constraint Relates a State to a Constraint that the obtaining of the State activates, bounding the actions available to the role-bearers the state concerns (the S->Cs linkage).
activatesObligation inherited Obligation Relates a State to an Obligation that the obtaining of the State makes applicable. This is the forward, activating complement of defeasibleUnder (which records the State under which an obligation yields): a state such as hazard exposure or an undertaken commitment can bring an obligation into force for the role-bearers it concerns.
affects inherited Agent Relates a State to the Agent(s) it bears on in the case scenario (the parties whose situation the state changes), distinct from the obligations/constraints the state activates (activatesObligation / activatesConstraint).
terminatedByEvent inherited Event Event Calculus termination: relates a State to the Event whose occurrence ends the State (the end boundary of the fluent).
2 · Definitional Attributes SHACL definitional shape
AttributeProperty (sh:path)Description
state archetypestateCategoryThe content archetype, which drives the archetype subClassOf typing: EpistemicState, RiskState, CompetenceState, EmergencyState, ConflictOfInterestState, RegulatoryState, TemporalState, ResourceState, DisclosureState. A classification of the state content, explicitly NOT the activatesObligation relation. A routing input, not stored as a literal.
persistence typepersistenceTypeWhether the state is an inertial fluent (holds until an event terminates it) or a non-inertial fluent (true at a single time point), the inertial versus non-inertial fluent distinction of Berreby et al. (2017) in the Event Calculus; a class-level datatype, a property of the fluent predicate itself.
3 · Bearer Attributes SHACL property shape individual data
AttributeProperty (sh:path)Description
urgency levelurgencyLevelThe salience or acuteness of the state in this case (Jones 1991 moral-intensity salience; components include temporal immediacy, magnitude of consequences, and proximity).
activates obligationactivatesObligationThe obligation the state makes applicable, via the outgoing S->O activatesObligation edge; the incoming counterpart is defeasibleUnder (O->S), recording the obligation that yields when this state obtains. Range: Obligation.
activates constraintactivatesConstraintThe constraint the state activates, via the outgoing S->Cs activatesConstraint edge, bounding the actions available while the state holds. Range: Constraint.
affectsaffectsThe agent(s) the state bears on, via the S->Agent affects edge, resolved from the affected-parties text by embedding shortlist + LLM multi-select. Range: Agent.
subjectsubjectThe entity the state holds of (the bearer text); a kept literal that also feeds the defeasibility prompt as state context.
active periodactivePeriodThe period over which the state holds, as extracted text.
triggering eventtriggeringEventThe event bringing the state into being; kept verbatim on the individual and also resolved to the activatedByEvent edge (the start boundary of the fluent).
terminated byterminatedByWhat removes the state; kept verbatim on the individual and also resolved to the terminatedByEvent edge (the end boundary of the fluent).
activated by eventactivatedByEventThe Event whose occurrence initiates this state, via the outgoing activatedByEvent edge (the start boundary of the fluent). Range: Event.
terminated by eventterminatedByEventThe Event whose occurrence ends this state, via the outgoing terminatedByEvent edge (the end boundary of the fluent). Range: Event.
4 · Referenced By rdfs:range on this class or ancestor
FromPropertyDescription
Action initiates inherited Event Calculus initiation: relates a happening (Action or Event) to a State (fluent) that begins to hold as a result and persists until terminated (inertial) or holds momentarily (non-inertial).
Action terminates inherited Event Calculus termination: relates a happening (Action or Event) to a State (fluent) that ceases to hold as a result.
Event initiates inherited Event Calculus initiation: relates a happening (Action or Event) to a State (fluent) that begins to hold as a result and persists until terminated (inertial) or holds momentarily (non-inertial).
Event terminates inherited Event Calculus termination: relates a happening (Action or Event) to a State (fluent) that ceases to hold as a result.
Obligation defeasibleUnder inherited Relates an obligation to a State whose obtaining renders the obligation defeasible, that is, subject to override by a competing obligation with stronger normative support. The State specifies the context in which the obligation yields.
Source Evidence
Text references
It would be difficult to believe that through their duties as licensed professional engineers, the Code would be irrelevant to the Firm’s business dealings simply because the services being provided were not engineering from a design, calculation, or engineering judgment perspective but were confined to communication and public relation services. The Preamble of the Code of states that professional behavior requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct. Therefore, the Code applies to Firm DBA.
The facts in this case state that Firm DBA has licensed professional engineers in charge or in supervisory roles of all departments in the firm as well as ownership.
Therefore, the Code applies to Firm DBA.

Source text
It would be difficult to believe that through their duties as licensed professional engineers, the Code would be irrelevant to the Firm’s business dealings simply because the services being provided were not engineering from a design, calculation, or engineering judgment perspective but were confined to communication and public relation services. The Preamble of the Code of states that professional behavior requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct. Therefore, the Code
Used in cases 4

Case ontologies that instantiate this class or one of its base-ontology descendants. Computed from each individual's type, so the list stays current as cases are extracted. The originating case is shown under Extraction details.

Case 5 Case 6 Case 58 Case 103
@prefix core: <http://proethica.org/ontology/core#> . @prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> . @prefix pcsh: <http://proethica.org/shapes/core#> . @prefix proeth: <http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#> . @prefix proeth-prov: <http://proethica.org/provenance#> . @prefix prov: <http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#> . @prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> . @prefix sh: <http://www.w3.org/ns/shacl#> . @prefix skos: <http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#> . @prefix xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> . proeth:RegulatoryApplicabilityState a owl:Class ; rdfs:label "RegulatoryApplicabilityState" ; proeth:actionConstraints "Prohibition on deceptive acts", "Prohibition on misrepresentation of fact and omitting a material fact" ; proeth:activationConditions "Firm DBA has licensed professional engineers in supervisory and ownership roles of all departments" ; proeth:confidence "0.9" ; proeth:obligationActivation "Obligation to adhere to the highest principles of ethical conduct", "Obligation to issue statements in an objective and truthful manner" ; proeth:persistenceType "inertial" ; proeth:principleTransformation "Because the Code applies to Firm DBA, the abstract principle of adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct becomes concrete truthfulness and non-deception obligations governing the firm's report." ; proeth:stateCategory "regulatory" ; proeth:terminationConditions "Firm DBA no longer has licensed professional engineers in supervisory or ownership roles" ; proeth:textReferences "It would be difficult to believe that through their duties as licensed professional engineers, the Code would be irrelevant to the Firm’s business dealings simply because the services being provided were not engineering from a design, calculation, or engineering judgment perspective but were confined to communication and public relation services. The Preamble of the Code of states that professional behavior requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct. Therefore, the Code applies to Firm DBA.", "The facts in this case state that Firm DBA has licensed professional engineers in charge or in supervisory roles of all departments in the firm as well as ownership.", "Therefore, the Code applies to Firm DBA." ; proeth-prov:discoveredInCase 5, 6, 8, 58, 103 ; proeth-prov:discoveredInPass 1 ; proeth-prov:discoveredInSection "discussion" ; proeth-prov:firstDiscoveredAt "2026-07-05T03:06:28.750362+00:00"^^xsd:dateTime ; proeth-prov:firstDiscoveredInCase 5 ; proeth-prov:matchConfidence 0.92 ; proeth-prov:matchReasoning "The condition that the NSPE Code is in force for Firm DBA's dealings is a direct instance of the canonical Regulatory State, a condition in which a code provision or standard is in force for the situation." ; proeth-prov:matchedOntologyClass proeth:RegulatoryState ; proeth-prov:matchedOntologyLabel "Regulatory State" ; proeth-prov:matchesExisting true ; proeth-prov:sourceText "It would be difficult to believe that through their duties as licensed professional engineers, the Code would be irrelevant to the Firm’s business dealings simply because the services being provided were not engineering from a design, calculation, or engineering judgment perspective but were confined to communication and public relation services. The Preamble of the Code of states that professional behavior requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct. Therefore, the Code" ; rdfs:comment "A condition in which a professional code of ethics is in force for a party's conduct, here the condition in which the NSPE Code of Ethics applies to a firm's business dealings because licensed professional engineers hold supervisory and ownership roles, even though the services provided are communication and public relations services rather than engineering design." ; rdfs:subClassOf proeth:RegulatoryState ; skos:definition "A condition in which a professional code of ethics is in force for a party's conduct, here the condition in which the NSPE Code of Ethics applies to a firm's business dealings because licensed professional engineers hold supervisory and ownership roles, even though the services provided are communication and public relations services rather than engineering design." ; skos:scopeNote "[Case 103] A regulatory condition in which a specific code provision or rule is in force and binding for a party's conduct in the situation, so that the duties the provision states become applicable, here Rule 13 being binding on the engineer because of his dual capacity arrangement with the city.", "[Case 58] A regulatory condition in which a governing policy is unambiguously in force for a project, here the State DOT policy requiring that only unavoidable utility conflicts be paid for as part of highway projects and that other utility work be treated as a betterment paid for by the local municipality.", "[Case 6] A condition in which procurement laws and requirements are in force for a public entity's contracting, here strong qualification-based selection laws at the state and local levels codified within the state's professional engineering licensure laws.", "[Case 8] A regulatory condition in which standards are in force for the situation, here local environmental standards requiring steps to safeguard public water sources apply to the development's stormwater management.", "[RegulatoryState] A condition in which a code provision, standard, statute, permit, or contractual requirement is in force for the situation, including states of compliance and of violation. As a content kind it is the regulatory standing of the situation. Its deontic relevance is that it activates a constraint or compliance obligation on the available actions." ; prov:generatedAtTime "2026-07-05T03:06:28.750362+00:00"^^xsd:dateTime ; prov:wasAttributedTo "Case 5 Extraction", "claude-fable-5" . pcsh:CaseAnnotationShape a sh:NodeShape ; rdfs:label "Shared per-case annotation schema (all nine components)"@en ; rdfs:comment "The cross-component annotation fields on committed case individuals: proeth:confidence (extraction confidence, decimal; all components except Action, whose Step-3 contract carries no confidence field), proeth:textReferences (verbatim supporting quotes, universal), proeth-prov sourceText (the source snippet, on the Step-1/2 provenance layers; Step-3 A/E individuals ground via textReferences only), and the involvement gloss (proeth:caseInvolvement on role individuals, proeth:caseContext on obligation, capability, and constraint individuals). Values are per-individual; the fields do not individuate any type."@en ; sh:property [ sh:description "Extraction confidence for this individual (0 to 1)." ; sh:name "confidence" ; sh:order 1 ; sh:path proeth:confidence ], [ sh:description "Verbatim case quotes supporting this individual." ; sh:name "text references" ; sh:order 2 ; sh:path proeth:textReferences ], [ sh:description "How this individual figures in the case narrative (role individuals; the same text is routed into rdfs:comment)." ; sh:name "case involvement" ; sh:order 3 ; sh:path proeth:caseInvolvement ], [ sh:description "Grounding context in this case (obligation, capability, and constraint individuals)." ; sh:name "case context" ; sh:order 4 ; sh:path proeth:caseContext ] ; sh:targetClass core:Action, core:Capability, core:Constraint, core:Event, core:Obligation, core:Principle, core:Resource, core:Role, core:State . pcsh:StateDefinitionShape a sh:NodeShape ; rdfs:label "State definition schema (type-level, descriptive, field contract)"@en ; rdfs:comment "What individuates a state TYPE: its content archetype (drives the archetype subClassOf typing) and its persistence type (inertial vs non-inertial fluent, a class-level datatype). Its per-case urgency and the activatesObligation edge are per-individual and declared on StatePropertyShape, mirroring the Role/Principle/Obligation Definition/Property split and the state scopeNote (which names the condition and its persistence type as type-defining). Descriptive only (no validation result); state_category is a routing input, not stored as a literal."@en ; sh:property [ sh:description "The content archetype, which drives the archetype subClassOf typing: EpistemicState, RiskState, CompetenceState, EmergencyState, ConflictOfInterestState, RegulatoryState, TemporalState, ResourceState, DisclosureState. A classification of the state content, explicitly NOT the activatesObligation relation. A routing input, not stored as a literal." ; sh:name "state archetype" ; sh:order 1 ; sh:path proeth:stateCategory ], [ sh:description "Whether the state is an inertial fluent (holds until an event terminates it) or a non-inertial fluent (true at a single time point), the inertial versus non-inertial fluent distinction of Berreby et al. (2017) in the Event Calculus; a class-level datatype, a property of the fluent predicate itself." ; sh:name "persistence type" ; sh:order 2 ; sh:path proeth:persistenceType ] ; sh:targetClass core:State . pcsh:StatePropertyShape a sh:NodeShape ; rdfs:label "State per-case schema (individual data, non-definitional)"@en ; rdfs:comment "What a given state INDIVIDUAL is described by in a specific case: its bearer and holding period, its urgency (per-case salience), the event boundaries of the fluent, and the obligations, constraints, and agents its obtaining engages via edges. These do NOT individuate the state TYPE (that is StateDefinitionShape); their values are per-case, asserted on the individual. The proeth:principleTransformation synthesis literal (the S->P->O grounding written onto the individual by the state-edge pass) is deliberately not part of the extraction field contract. Descriptive only."@en ; sh:property [ sh:description "The salience or acuteness of the state in this case (Jones 1991 moral-intensity salience; components include temporal immediacy, magnitude of consequences, and proximity)." ; sh:name "urgency level" ; sh:order 1 ; sh:path proeth:urgencyLevel ], [ sh:description "The obligation the state makes applicable, via the outgoing S->O activatesObligation edge; the incoming counterpart is defeasibleUnder (O->S), recording the obligation that yields when this state obtains. Range: Obligation." ; sh:name "activates obligation" ; sh:order 2 ; sh:path core:activatesObligation ], [ sh:description "The constraint the state activates, via the outgoing S->Cs activatesConstraint edge, bounding the actions available while the state holds. Range: Constraint." ; sh:name "activates constraint" ; sh:order 3 ; sh:path core:activatesConstraint ], [ sh:description "The agent(s) the state bears on, via the S->Agent affects edge, resolved from the affected-parties text by embedding shortlist + LLM multi-select. Range: Agent." ; sh:name "affects" ; sh:order 4 ; sh:path core:affects ], [ sh:description "The entity the state holds of (the bearer text); a kept literal that also feeds the defeasibility prompt as state context." ; sh:name "subject" ; sh:order 5 ; sh:path proeth:subject ], [ sh:description "The period over which the state holds, as extracted text." ; sh:name "active period" ; sh:order 6 ; sh:path proeth:activePeriod ], [ sh:description "The event bringing the state into being; kept verbatim on the individual and also resolved to the activatedByEvent edge (the start boundary of the fluent)." ; sh:name "triggering event" ; sh:order 7 ; sh:path proeth:triggeringEvent ], [ sh:description "What removes the state; kept verbatim on the individual and also resolved to the terminatedByEvent edge (the end boundary of the fluent)." ; sh:name "terminated by" ; sh:order 8 ; sh:path proeth:terminatedBy ], [ sh:description "The Event whose occurrence initiates this state, via the outgoing activatedByEvent edge (the start boundary of the fluent). Range: Event." ; sh:name "activated by event" ; sh:order 9 ; sh:path core:activatedByEvent ], [ sh:description "The Event whose occurrence ends this state, via the outgoing terminatedByEvent edge (the end boundary of the fluent). Range: Event." ; sh:name "terminated by event" ; sh:order 10 ; sh:path core:terminatedByEvent ] ; sh:targetClass core:State .
Metadata
Type
Class
Last Updated
2026-07-05 15:17
Discovered in case
['5', '6', '8', '58', '103']
Discovered in pass
1
Discovered in section
discussion
First discovered
2026-07-05T03:06:28.750362+00:00
First case
5
Match Confidence
0.92
Match Reasoning
The condition that the NSPE Code is in force for Firm DBA's dealings is a direct instance of the canonical Regulatory State, a condition in which a code provision or standard is in force for the situation.
Matched Ontology Label
Regulatory State
Matches Existing
true
Generated
2026-07-05T03:06:28.750362+00:00
Attributed to
['Case 5 Extraction', 'claude-fable-5']