Utah Administrative Code R156-22; August 2017

R156-22-502. Unprofessional Conduct.

"Unprofessional conduct" includes:

(1) submitting an incomplete final plan, specification, report or set of construction plans to:

(a) a client, when the licensee represents, or could reasonably expect the client to consider the plan, specification, report or

set of construction plans to be complete and final; or

(b) to a building official for the purpose of obtaining a building permit;

(2) failing as a principal to exercise responsible charge;

(3) failing as a supervisor to exercise supervision of an employee, subordinate, associate or drafter;

(4) receiving gratuities from material, product, or services suppliers for specifying or endorsing their goods or services;

(5) failing to fully disclose and obtain consent in writing of the principal employer and all interested parties prior to

accepting or engaging in supplemental professional engineering, structural engineering, or land surveying services; and

(6) failing to conform to the accepted and recognized standards and ethics of the profession, including those established in

the "Rules of Professional Conduct", as published in the NCEES Model Rules, revised August 2016, which is hereby incorporated by

reference.

 

NCEES Model Rules; August 2017

240.15 Rules of Professional Conduct

To safeguard the health, safety, and welfare of the public and to maintain integrity and high standards of

skill and practice in the engineering and surveying professions, the rules of professional conduct provided

in this section shall be binding upon every licensee and on all firms authorized to offer or perform

engineering or surveying services in this jurisdiction.

A. Licensee’s Obligation to the Public

1. Licensees shall be cognizant that their first and foremost responsibility is to safeguard the health,

safety, and welfare of the public when performing services for clients and employers.

2. Licensees shall sign and seal only those plans, surveys, and other documents that conform to

accepted engineering and surveying standards and that safeguard the health, safety, and welfare

of the public.

3. Licensees shall notify their employer or client and such other authority as may be appropriate

when their professional judgment is overruled under circumstances in which the health, safety, or

welfare of the public is endangered.

4. Licensees shall, to the best of their knowledge, include all relevant and pertinent information in

an objective and truthful manner within all professional documents, statements, and testimony.

5. Licensees shall express a professional opinion publicly only when it is founded upon an adequate

knowledge of the facts and a competent evaluation of the subject matter.

6. Licensees shall issue no statements, criticisms, or arguments on engineering and surveying

matters that are inspired or paid for by interested parties, unless they explicitly identify the

interested parties on whose behalf they are speaking and reveal any interest they have in the

matters.

7. Licensees shall not partner, practice, or offer to practice with any person or firm that they know is

engaged in fraudulent or dishonest business or professional practices.

8. Licensees who have knowledge or reason to believe that any person or firm has violated any rules

or laws applying to the practice of engineering or surveying shall report it to the board, may

report it to appropriate legal authorities, and shall cooperate with the board and those authorities

as may be requested.

9. Licensees shall not knowingly provide false or incomplete information regarding an applicant in

obtaining licensure.

10. Licensees shall comply with the licensing laws and rules governing their professional practice in

each of the jurisdictions in which they practice.

B. Licensee’s Obligation to Employer and Clients

1. Licensees shall undertake assignments only when qualified by education or experience in the

specific technical fields of engineering or surveying involved.

2. Licensees shall not affix their signatures or seals to any plans or documents dealing with subject

matter in which they lack competence, nor to any such plan or document not prepared under

their responsible charge.

3. Licensees may accept assignments and assume responsibility for coordination of an entire

project, provided that each technical segment is signed and sealed by the licensee responsible for

preparation of that technical segment.

4. Licensees shall not reveal facts, data, or information obtained in a professional capacity without

the prior consent of the client, employer, or public body on which they serve except as authorized

or required by law or rules.

5. Licensees shall not solicit or accept gratuities, directly or indirectly, from contractors, their

agents, or other parties in connection with work for employers or clients.

6. Licensees shall disclose to their employers or clients all known or potential conflicts of interest or

other circumstances that could influence or appear to influence their judgment or the quality of

their professional service or engagement.

7. Licensees shall not accept compensation, financial or otherwise, from more than one party for

services pertaining to the same project, unless the circumstances are fully disclosed and agreed to

in writing by all interested parties.

8. Licensees shall not solicit or accept a professional contract from a governmental body on which a

principal or officer of their organization serves as a member. Conversely, licensees serving as

members, advisors, or employees of a government body or department, who are the principals or

employees of a private concern, shall not participate in decisions with respect to professional

services offered or provided by said concern to the governmental body that they serve.

9. Licensees shall not use confidential information received in the course of their assignments as a

means of making personal profit without the consent of the party from whom the information was

obtained.

C. Licensee’s Obligation to Other Licensees

1. Licensees shall not falsify or permit misrepresentation of their, or their associates’, academic or

professional qualifications. They shall not misrepresent or exaggerate their degree of

responsibility in prior assignments nor the complexity of said assignments. Presentations

incidental to the solicitation of employment or business shall not misrepresent pertinent facts

concerning employers, employees, associates, joint ventures, or past accomplishments.

2. Licensees shall not offer, give, solicit, or receive, either directly or indirectly, any commission, or

gift, or other valuable consideration in order to secure work, and shall not make any political

contribution with the intent to influence the award of a contract by public authority.

3. Licensees shall not injure or attempt to injure, maliciously or falsely, directly or indirectly, the

professional reputation, prospects, practice, or employment of other licensees, nor

indiscriminately criticize other licensees’ work.

4. Licensees shall make a reasonable effort to inform another licensee whose work is believed to

contain a material discrepancy, error, or omission that may impact the health, safety, or welfare

of the public, unless such reporting is legally prohibited.