PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN

ENGINEERING

BY

ENGR. J. J. CHIKWE, MNSE

DEAN, FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
YABATECH
1. INTRODUCTION

Engineers play key roles in developmental processes through design

and construction of infrastructures and engineering systems: Houses,
roads, railways, water systems, power systems, ships, cars etc.
Engineers have the responsibility to develop facilities that improve the
quality of life of modern society.

However, failures often in engineering system, no matter how perfect the designs
are. The public has become increasingly aware that the benefits of industrial
progress and infrastructure development must be balanced against the growing
need to protect the public from damages and dangers caused by some failures,
by-products of technology and other activities of engineers. Engineering ethics is
attracting increasing interest in professional societies and Universities throughout
the world. In some universities, new courses have been created and projects to
develop materials for introducing ethical issues in undergraduate engineering
courses. The programmes are known to be attracting government funds.
Engineers should be conscious of the implications of their actions. Engineering
ethics should take its place alongside others well-established similar interests
such as medical ethics, business ethics and legal ethics.
An engineer must place his social responsibility over the
objectives of his employer. Just as we known the rules of a game
so as not to get a red card, we should known engineering ethics
so as to be weigh safety against the wishes of our employers. A
cost benefit analysis is not enough for decision making especially
when lives are at stake. For an engineer safety is the paramount
consideration.

This paper considers the engineering career and the meaning of

professionalism for engineers. It discusses various aspects of
engineering ethics especially conflicting interests in engineering
projects. The code of ethics developed by the World Federation of
Engineering Organisation is presented as initial concepts on
engineering ethics. A model for developing material for
engineering ethics is also discussed. Some local reports on
engineering failures from the ethics committee of the Nigerian
Society of Engineers are used to suggest the way forward for
engineering ethics in Nigeria.
2. ENGINEERING AS A CAREER

Today, engineers can level mountains to the ground and turn rivers from their
courses. The skies and the oceans are avenues for the numerable activities of
engineers. Various categories of transportation and communication systems have
turned the world into a global village. Electric energy has catalyzed civilization and
modern living in all their ramifications. No matter the area of human challenge, the
engineers are the agents of changes through out engineering projects.

Nigerian Engineers have career opportunities in public utilities or the organized

private sectors. The public utilities would cover government establishments that
operate engineering systems for provision of social services to the populace. These
include water supply systems, electricity supply systems, the Federal Ministries that
supervise engineering systems construction, and operation. The Ministries include
the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, the Ministry of Power and Steel, the
Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of
transport and the Department of Petroleum Resources. Establishments and
Parastatals like NNPC, NEPA, NITEL, Federal Housing, Ports Authority are
supervised by the appropriate Ministries. Although the major assignment of the
parastatals are engineering based, the decision makers in the organizations are not
engineers.
The organized private sector in which there is also considerable
engineering activities may be divided into a number of groups.

(i) Multinational Companies: Involved mainly in manufacturing and production of

goods of various brands: Guinness Nigerian PLC, Nigeria Brewery PLC, Berger

Paints Nigeria PLC, Flour Mills Nigeria PLC, Lever Brothers Nigeria PLC, UAC
Nigeria PLC etc.
(ii) Construction Companies: Julius Berger Nigeria PLC, Strabag Nigeria PLC,
Guffanti Nigeria PLC etc.
(iii) Banks: A number of banks have properties and Computer departments which
employ engineers.
(iv) Allied Financial Institutions including; Insurance and Mortgage Companies:
these employ engineers to determine risk levels on engineering equipment and

projects.
(v) Consulting Engineering Practices.
(vi) Private Telecommunication Companies: MTN Nigeria, Vodaphone Nigeria, etc.
Petroleum, Oil and Gas Companies: Shell Petroleum Development Co. Ltd.,
Chevron Nigeria Ltd., ELF Nigeria Ltd., NLNG Ltd. Etc.
(vii) Engineering Products Marketing: Rank Zerox Nigeria, Olivetti Nigeria Ltd. Etc
Small and Medium Scale Companies.
Engineers develop their careers in these industries and
establishments.

They often improvise for spare parts, employ adaptive

technology and backward integration to maintain the
machinery and equipment and save costs.

These are local challenges and have to be achieved within

the limits imposed by the ethics of the profession .

3. PROFESSIONALISATION
It is generally agreed that there are a number of characteristics which
distinguished a profession from other less formally constituted trades and
occupations (3):

(i) The professional discipline has a command of a specialized body of

knowledge necessary for planning, design, construction and operation
of physical structures or engines/machines.
(ii) The body of knowledge is transmitted through recognized training and
regularly updated on behalf of the professional body to ensure
certified standard of proficiency.
(iii) A code of Ethics and Standards govern the practice of the profession
and ensure the satisfaction and safety of the client in particular and
the society in general.
(iv) A monopoly is usually granted to a professional body by society
through laws to ensure that only registered members can engage in
the professional practice.
(v) The members are committed to constant educational renewal through
a life long learning of latest technology and professional development.
(vi) The professional body is to regulate itself, discipline its members and
control the practice of thee profession.
It is said that the quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their
commitment to excellence regardless of their chose field of endeavour
(Vince Lombardi). professionalism is therefore about commitment to
standards of excellence in the performance of tasks which require
specialized skills and expertise.

A professional is thus someone whose basic satisfaction is in

performing well, task for which he has been trained and always strives
to achieve the best standard possible in any circumstance. To be a
professional is thus to flaunt the highest levels of the skills one
professes to command.

The Nigeria Society of Engineers, in organizing to provide some

literature on Engineering Ethics for Continuing Professional
Development of members is thus encouraging professionalisation of its
membership.
4. ENGINEERS’ RESPONSIBILITY FOR PUBLIC SAFETY.

Recent incidents in the US such as the Challenger Space-ship

disaster, the Kansas City Hyatt – Regency Hotel Walkway Collapse

and the Exxon Oil Spill have drawn attention to the Engineers ’
responsibility for Public safety. Safety is a social and not primarily a
legal obligation. Engineers and their managers must keep their
obligations to public safety at the forefront when making design and
management decisions.

Quality designs and construction practice are imperative in every field

of engineering. There is need for ethical and creative engineering
designs and corporate practice. The American Society of Civil
Engineering Code of Ethics states that “Engineers must hold the public
safety, welfare, and health paramount and use our knowledge and skill

for the enhancement of human welfare”.

When engineers take pride in and responsibility for their
designs, the entire engineering profession benefits.
Consideration of professional ethics in engineering practice
positively affects engineering creativity. If ignored, bad
public relations are a possibility for the engineer, the
company he works for and the profession in general.

Engineers should strictly adhere to their professional codes

and standards. They should encourage others to report
those who do not.

They should do so because:

(i) It will help protect people from being injured by what the

engineers do.

(ii) It will assure each engineer of a better working

environment and reduce pressures from other people

to do otherwise.

(iii) They will be proud of their profession of the adhere to

the codes of their ethics, especially in Nigeria
where the
public image of engineers need improvement.

(iv) Adhering to the codes will lead to benefits for all

engineers and public confidence in the profession will
be
increased.
Safety is an essential design consideration. Safety is
deemed as the absence of unreasonable danger.
Sometimes, a factor of safety of 2-3 is built into engineering
design equations. Despite this, litigations associated with
engineering failures are on the increase, and in some
countries practicing as a professional has become a risky
venture.

They Engineers and their professional societies must

acquire requisite knowledge about liability issues. The
question is often asked, “Where does a design engineer
and his company’s responsibility end and the contractors,
manufacturers consumer’s begin?”
5. CONFLICTING INTERESTS AND CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Engineers should be careful in getting involved in taking “decisions” which may be
seen as biased or having conflicting interests or conflict of interest.

A. An Engineer has responsibility to write specifications for a water project but

owns a company that manufactures and sells such systems. This constitutes a
conflict of interest.
B. An Engineer works for a local government agency and at the same time works

for a consulting firm that deals with the Agency.

C . Engineering Decisions that are to the advantage of Engineers taking the
decision constitute conflicting interests.
D. A company pays for Engineers to attend a seminar on the use of its products.
This is compared to perks and gifts given to physicians by drug companies.
E. An Engineers interests may be at conflict with those of his clients.
F. An engineer leaving public employment and then working in the same area in
the private sector is a delicate issue. The engineer had has access to
government activities that a private client may desire. Can this be Ethical?
G. A city Engineer selects an engineering firm for a city project based on its
technical proposals. However other firms view the selection of the firm as
biased.
H. A client believes an engineer’s design are too costly but the engineer fears that

anything less may endanger public safety.

i. An engineer has a conflict between honouring an agreement with a former
employer and reporting a hazard to protect public interest.
J. An Engineer owns both a contracting firm and a consulting firm and seeks to
6. WFEO PROPOSALS ON ENGINEERING ETHICS
The World Federation of Engineering Organisation(WFEO) Committee on

Engineering and Environment, recommends the following principles to all

Professional Engineers.
(i) Try, with best of your ability, courage, enthusiasm and dedication to obtain a

superior technical achievement, which will contribute to and promote a

healthy surrounding for all, in outdoor and indoor spaces.
(ii) Strive to accomplish the beneficial objectives of your works with the lowest
possible consumption of raw materials and energy and the lowest
production of wastes and any kind of pollution.
(iii) Evaluate the consequence of your activities, direct or indirect, immediate or

long term on social equity and upon the health of people.

(iv) Asses the impacts of your actions on the ecosystem, urbanized or natural
and select the best alternative for sustainable development.
(v) Promote any steps to be taken to restore and improve the environment that

may be disturbed by your proposal activities.

(vi) Reject any proposals that may involve unfair damage to human
surrounding and work for the best solution.
(vii) Note that ecosystem interdependence, resource recovery and savings and
Human induced pollution and destruction of resources are
the main causes of environmental degradation. Engineers
actively involved in the promotion of development must use
their talent, knowledge and creative abilities to help society
remove those evils of degradation and improve the quality
of life of all people.

The WFEO provides a code of Ethics for conduct of

professional Engineers in an honouring manner, so as to
uphold the values of truth, honesty, trust-worthiness and to
safeguard human life as well as the environment. To
achieve these tenets, professional Engineers shall:
(i) Hold as paramount, the safety, and health of the public protection
of the environment and promote health and safety within the workplace.
(ii) Should offer services, advise and undertake engineering assignments
only in areas of their competence and practice in a careful and diligent
manner.
(iii) Act as faithful and trustworthy agents of their employers or clients
maintain confidentiality and disclose conflicts of interest.
(iv) Be engaged in continuous professional development to maintain
their competence, advance the body of knowledge within which
they practice and provide their subordinates and other Engineers
opportunities for professional development. (He who adds not to
his learning diminishes it ----- the Talmond Tabloid)
(v) Should always give credit where it is due and accept as well as
give honest and fair professional criticism.
(vi) Ensure that clients and employers are informed of any societal and
environmental consequences of actions or projects embarked upon and

endeavour to objectively interpret engineering issues to the public.

(vii) Ensure that possible consequences of engineering decisions or
judgments that are overruled or disregarded are clearly
presented to the employers or client
(viii) Report to their professional societies such as the Nigerian Society of
Engineers or appropriate regulatory bodies, any illegal or unethical
engineering decisions or practices by engineers.
7. MODEL OF CODE OF ETHICS FOR PROFESSIONAL PRATICE.
Some professional bodies such as the IEEE Software Engineering
Society present a format that appears to encapsulate the principles of
Engineering practice and details of the Engineers obligations in
professional practice.

To ensure that the efforts of engineers are always used for good, they
must commit themselves to making their professional beneficial and
respected and should adhere to a code of ethics and professional
practice. The principles for behaviour and decision making identify the
ethically responsible relationships in which individuals, and organizations
participate in professional activities.

The list of the principles is not exhaustive but serve as a guide for
professional conduct in practical situations. A code of practice should help
to define those actions that are ethically improper for engineers to be
involved in. The code is not simply for educating the nature of
questionable acts, it is a means of educate the public and young
professionals about the ethical obligations of Engineers.
7.1 PRINCIPLES OF ENGINEERING PRACTICE
Engineers shall commit themselves to making the analysis, design,
specification, development, testing and maintenance of engineering systems
beneficial so as to earn respect for the professions. They should be committed
to the health, safety and welfare of the public by adhering to the following eight
principles:
1. PUBLIC: Engineers shall at consistently with the public interest.
2. CLIENT AND EMPLOYER: Engineers should always act in a manner that is

in the best interest of their and employer and consistent with the public
interest.
3. PRODUCT: Engineers should ensure that their product (output, design,
building, construction etc) meet the highest professional standards possible.
4. JUDGEMENT: Engineers should maintain the integrity of their professional

judgment.
5. MANAGEMENT: Engineers in leadership or management positions shall
subscribe to and promote an ethical approach to design and development.
6. PROFESSIONAL: Engineers shall advance the integrity and reputation
of thee profession consistent with the public interest.
7. COLLEAGUE: Engineers shall be fair to and supportive of their colleagues.
8. SELF: Engineers shall be committed to lifelong learning and professional
development and shall promote an ethical approach to professional
practices.
7.2 EXPLANATORY NOTES ON ENGINEERS ETHICAL OBLIGATIONS.
Each of the above principles and areas of interest for a professional engineer are
broken down to ensure clarity of the engineers’ ethical obligations. The above eight
principles are broken down further into explanatory notes.

1. OBLIGATION TO THE PUBLIC:

Engineers shall act consistently with the public interest by

1.1 Accepting full responsibility for their own work.

1.2 Act as moderators of the interests of the employer, the client and the users in
the best interest of the public good.
1.3 Accept designs and proposal only if they are safe, meet specifications and do
not diminish quality of life or harm the environment.
1.4 Disclose to appropriate bodies, any potential danger to the user, public or the
environment that may be associated with a proposal or design.
1.5 Cooperate in any efforts to address such matters of grave public concern that
may arise from his engineering proposal or design.
1.6 An engineer should avoid deception in all public statements concerning his
proposal, methods and tools.
1.7 Should always volunteer professional skills and contribute to public education in

the discipline.
2. OBLIGATION TO CLIENTS AND EMPLOYER:
Engineers should always act in a manner that is in the best interest of
their employers and clients, consistence with public interest. As
appropriate they should:

2.1 Provide service only in their area of competence ad should be

honest in any limitations of their experience and education.
2.2 Should not knowingly use designs that are obtained illegally or
unethically.
2.3 Should use the property of his client or employer only in authorized

manner or with their consent.

2.4 Maintain confidentially of any information gained in the professional

work where such is in the public interest and consistent with the law.
2.5 Report to client or employer promptly, if a project is likely to fail,
prove too expensive, violate intellectual property law or otherwise
be problematic.
2.6 Accept no outside work detrimental to the work being performed for

the primary employer.

2.7 Inform client or employer or appropriate authority when a higher
ethical concern is being compromised.
3. COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE
Engineers shall ensure that their final output meet the highest professional
standards possible.

3.1 Aim to achieve high quality and acceptable cost, irrespective of

trade offs. Such tradeoffs should be clear to and accepted by the client

and employer.
3.2 Identify and address ethical, economic, legal and environmental issues

related to the projects.

3.3 Engineers should ensure that they have the requisite qualifications, by
appropriate combination of education, training and experience, for the
project they accept to execute.
3.4 Ensure that their output meet the highest professional standards and
should not depart from such standards unless when ethically or
technically justified.
3.5 Understand clearly the specifications for projects they undertake.
3.6 Ensure realistic estimates of costs, scheduling, quality and outcomes
on any project and provide uncertainty assessment of these estimates.
3.7 Engineers should ensure adequate documentation, including problems
encountered and solutions adopted for any project executed.
4. NEED FOR SOUND JUDGMENT:
Engineers shall maintain integrity and independence in their
professional judgment.

They should as appropriate:

4.1 Only endorse documents prepared under their supervision

or within their areas of competence and with which they are

in agreement.
4.2 Maintain professional objectivity with engineering
documents they are asked to evaluate.
4.3 Should not engage in corrupt practices such as bribery,
double or inflated billing, or other improper financial
practices.
4.4 Disclose to all parties concerned, those conflicts of interest

that cannot be avoided in the project.

4.5 Should refuse to participate in any projects in which they,
their employers or client have undisclosed conflicts of
interest.
5. OBLIGATION TO MANAGEMENT:
Engineering projects managers and leaders should ensure and promote
ethical approach to development and execution of engineering projects and
shall as appropriate.

5.1 Ensure good management and effective procedures for promotion of

quality and standard and reduction of associated risks.
5.2 Ensure that information on standards are available to engineers on a
project.
5.3 Assign responsibility to engineers after considering appropriate
contributions of education and experience tempered with potential for
further education and experience.
5.4 Ensure realistic and quantitative, scheduling and outcomes on the
project and provide an uncertainty assessment of the estimates.
5.5 Provide full and accurate conditions of service to prospective engineers

for employment on the project.

5.6 Offer fair and just remuneration to employees on the project.
5.7 Provide for due process in hearing charges of violation of an
employer’s policy or of this code.
5.8 Should not punish any engineer for expressing ethical concerns on a
project.
6. OBLIGATION TO THE PROFESSION:
Engineers should work to advance the integrity and reputation of the
profession consistent with public interest. They should as appropriate:

6.1 Promote public knowledge of the profession and an environment that

encourages ethical practice of engineering.
6.2 Should not promote their own interest at the expense of the profession;
client or employer.
6.3 Ensure professional standards except when inconsistent with public
interest.
6.4 Should always avoid false statements and those that could be
considered speculative, vacuous, deceptive, misleading or doubtful.
6.5 Engineers should ensure that clients, employers and supervisors know
of their commitment to the professional code of ethics and the
implications of such commitment.
6.6 Recognize that violations of the code practice is inconsistent with being
registered or professional engineer.
6.7 Express concerns to people involved when significant violations of the
code are detected unless doing that is counter-productive and
dangerous.
6.8 Report violations of the code to appropriate authorities where this is
considered the best option.
7. OBLIGATION TO THE PROFESSIONAL COLLEAGUES:
Engineers shall be fair and supportive of their professional colleagues.
They should appropriate:

7.1 Encourage colleagues to strictly adhere to the code.

7.2 Should be committed to assisting colleagues in their professional

development.

7.3 Always credit fully the work of others refrain from taking undue
credit.

7.4 Should always give a fair hearing to the opinions, concerns or

complaints of their colleagues.

7.5 Engineers should in situations outside their area of competence,

call on the opinions of other professionals who have competence
in that area.
8. OBLIGATION TO SELF:
Engineers should be committed to lifelong learning process and
professional development and shall promote an ethical approach to the
practice of their profession. They shall also endeavor to:

8.1 Continually improve their knowledge in the analysis,

design, specifications, maintenance, development and
testing of the systems of interest together with the
management of the development process.

8.2 Improve the quality of the output of the engineering projects

they are associated with.

8.3 Improve their ability to produce accurate and informative

documentation of the projects.

8.4 Improve their knowledge of relevant professional standards

and laws governing the contracts.

8.5 Recognize that violations of the code of practice are

inconsistent with being a professional engineer.
8. ENGINEERING FAILURES
Although the engineer’s efforts at creating and building systems to
meet some need are expected to be “fail proof” and since to engineer
is human, failures do occur. Engineering systems also fail over time as
a result of aging, material fatigue or wear and tear. The engineer must
design to avoid failure which could result in loss of life and property or
damage to the environment. A combination of factors leads to system
or equipment failures. These include human factors, design flaws,
material fatigues, extreme conditions of operation and environmental
factors. Often, neglect of engineering ethics is a root cause of an
engineering failure.

An ethical engineer is one who:

 Avoid conflicts of interest.
 Does not attempt to misrepresent his knowledge and experience
so as to accept jobs outside his area of expertise.
 Acts in the best interest of society and environment.
 Fulfills the terms of their contract in a professional manner
 Promotes the education of young engineers within the field.
A search for our world’s worst engineering failures/disasters would
cover collapse of buildings and other structures, natural disasters such
as earthquakes and oil spills. Some of the well documented failures
include:

i. Columbia space shuttle

ii. Failure of supersonic aircraft concord
iii. Bhopal chemical leak which claimed 2000 lives.
Iv. Collapse of Bridges from wind damage
v. Chernobyl Nuclear power plant explosion and fire.
Vi. Exxon Valdez oil spill, Alaska 1989, 10 million gallons spilled.

When failures occur, engineers should provide an analysis report by

considering the ethical issues that might have been partly responsible
for the failures. This should include information on what failed, why it
failed, possible ways of preventing such failures and who was at fault.
8.1 LOCAL ENGINEERING FAILURE AND ARBITRATION
The Investigation, Failures and Analysis Committee (IFAC) of the Nigerian
Society of Engineers have the responsibility to visit every site of engineering
failure, accident or complaint so as to ascertain the cause of such development.
This is necessary to ensure that such occurrence is prevented in future to
reduce the danger to the public arising from the activities of engineers.
Appendix one shows a list of some of the collapsed buildings, structures, Bomb
and fire disasters in the country in recent times. One may recall recently
reported collapsed buildings that are not I this list.

There were about ten cases of collapsed buildings in Lagos in the first half of
2003. This prompted the then president of NSE, Engr. Somolu to write to the
Executive Governor of the state to take measures to reduce such incidents. He
suggested that appropriate authorities concerned with construction and
supervision of public buildings should ensure that:

1. Approval of all drawings, structural, electrical and mechanical should

be done by only registered engineers.

2. Supervision of building projects should be done at various stages of

construction by qualified professional and approvals obtained for each
stages before the project is continued to completion.
After the bomb blast at Ikeja Cantonment Armoury, of January 2003, the
President of NSE proposed an NSE team of experts to professionally evaluate
the immediate and future effects of the serious explosions on the buildings,
bridges and other infrastructural facilities in Lagos. This was seen as a
contribution to the state and the entire nation. Records did not show that the
project was executed. The NSE should be able to sponsor such studies which
can be useful for the development of the engineering profession. The
explosions would have provided the Mining Division of NSE, who sometimes
deal with explosives, to investigate the standards for storage of such lethal
weapons, and why the disaster occurred. The fact that thousands of Nigerians
lost their lives would have led to more serious investigation of the disaster by
the NSE.

An examination of the list of local disasters, failures and accidents in Appendix I

shows that no serious technical data arose from the visit of IFAC to the sites.
Samples of the explosives that caused the explosion at Idumagbo were not
obtained by NSE for analysis. It is possible that Lagos state authorities may not
have received the necessary standards for safe storage of such materials.
It is clear that more is necessary to ensure that IFAC is providing data that will
assist the NSE to protect [public interest through its activities. It is recommended
that IFAC should be assisted to be more effective I its investigation of structural
failure and other disasters in the country.
 IFAC should provide more detailed reports o structural failures in country.
The causes of the failures should be documented
 Information on actions taken by relevant authorities to prevent a repetition
of such failures should be compiled.
 IFAC and all the committees of NSE should be adequately funded by the
society to ensure that they can carry out any investigation, provide reports
and hold seminars on activities of engineers that affect public safety.

It is noted that NSE records have not shown, any case of an engineer being
investigated or sanctioned for inadequate design or unprofessional activity that led
to a structural failure or building collapse. It was noted in some cases of building of
collapse that the owners did not use professionals for the design and construction
of the buildings and even approved drawings where not available. The current
effort by the Institute to town planners in conjunction with five other professional
bodies to develop a “National Building Code” should lead to some improvement in
the procedure of commencing and supervising a building project and approving
that it is adequately completed and ready for the purpose it is designed.
Engineers, by the code of ethics, are committed to ensuring that the incidence of
failed engineering projects is reduced to a minimum.
9. PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT AND MISCONDUCT:
Engineering ethics is beginning to take its place alongside other well-
established professional groups such as Medical, Nursing, Business and legal
ethics. These professionals have websites on the conduct/misconduct of their
members. Most establishments have unwritten codes of conducts for their staff
whilst others spell out what should be regarded as misconduct. Since “To
engineer is human” the Nigerian Society of Engineers is beginning to receive
complaints on Engineers’ misconduct. The University of Lagos senior staff
conditions of services defines misconduct as “General misconduct to the
prejudice of the good name of the establishment ad/or of discipline and the
proper administration of business of the University. This includes corruption,
dishonesty, drunkenness in the course of duly, and false claims against the
university, insubordination, divided loyalty (conflict of interest) negligence,
falsification and suppression of records (facts, professional information) and
conviction for a criminal offence other than traffic offence, absence from duty
without leave for two consecutive or more nights without satisfactory reason,
disobedience of any instruction issued by a constituted authority, failure to
appear or to answer questions satisfactorily in any investigative panels set up
by the establishment on matters arising out of above regulations.
A search on the internet shows that cases of misconduct
are not as rampant in Engineering discipline as in other
professions. Engineers are taught to be familiar with codes
and standards for their disciplines and to introduce a
reasonable factor of safety in their designs. They are also
expected to collaborate with the local standards
enforcement agency such as the Standard Organization of
Nigeria. However, neglect of professional ethics and
inadequate enforcement of codes and standards are the
causes of the few engineering failures in Nigeria.

In academics, plagiarism is serious offence. It is interesting

that some complaints on plagiarism have been received by
the Nigerian Society of Engineers. All Engineers have
responsibility to build a good image for the society and
should always be conscious of the impact of their actions
on the public image of their professions.