Question

Discuss and elaborate the statement with logical arguments, “Professional negligence and the duty of care owed by an Engineer?

Answer 1

Professional negligence and the duty of care owed by an Engineer can be explained in a variety of ways. Membership of the Institution places an obligation upon the engineer to conduct himself/herself in accordance with the Institution's Code of Ethics, which includes its Fundamental Tenets. Whilst the phrase 'duty of care" is not specifically contained in the Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum Code, Professional Engineers will certainly see in that Code a reminder that they owe "a duty of care" to their employers, clients, the society, and of course to themselves. Those readers who have accessed the website of the Council of Registered Professional Engineers (CRPE) and have perused the "Code of Ethics" under which there is an additional attribute termed Supplementary Behavioural Code: Duty of care, which reads "Engineers shall exercise duty of care in the discharge of their professional obligations while refusing to indulge in or condone unfair competition and practices". CRPE has re-arranged, with minor editorial refinement, the Code of Ethics of IEM to illustrate alignment and common objectives with the Engineering Council in various countries iThe IEM Code is known to have been adapted from those of various professional engineering institutions of international standing.

Introductory Note Professional Indemnity, Professional Liability, Insurance, etc. are words which have since long found their way into the engineer's profession. The engineer, like any other person in trade or business, offers his/her services (i.e. his/her learning, knowledge, skills, experience and ingenuity as well as the resources he/she can muster and/or have available at his/her command) to potential customers. The latter may be the Government or any organisation or individual. The beneficiary of the services being the customer and invariably the community, -he or she, as the case may be, receives the consideration placed on the service offered, mostly in cash, and sometimes, partly in kind. Society, through its legislators, steps in to ensure that those who are engaged in certain occupational activities of a nature that put them at risk of injury and even death, and others (i.e. the public) who could suffer any form of prejudice such as a loss, damage, or injury, or even disability or death, (attributed directly or indirectly to the activities concerned), can obtain prompt relief, albeit limited, in the form of compensation or other consideration from an Insurer after the occurrence. Such relief is not expected to affect the rights and obligations of any of the parties concerned towards any or all of the remaining parties who could separately ascertain and agree on the extent of loss, damage or liability damage they have suffered, and claim them in the appropriate forum for such issues.