engineering ethics, regulations and laws

huangyhg

engineering ethics, regulations and laws
here is a situation that while i would like to help out, i don't think it is the right thing to do. a client that did not ask me to supervise the foundation construction and went ahead and completed the work without the inspection by the town bldg. inspector, can not get his foundation approved. supposedly, the inspector wants him to take out the foundation or get a letter from an engineer that everything was done according to the code. this client is now asking me to look at his digital photos and produce that letter.
for this situation and perhaps others, is there any reference guides out there that set the legal or ethical limits on what engineers can do or for that matter, should not do?
thanks,
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ask the inspector if it is ok to sign off based on photos. this has two advantages - if it is not acceptable then the authorities are forewarned, and if it is then you have checked.
this assumes that you are happy enough to take the entire responsibility for the foundations based on some photos. which is your call.
cheers
greg locock
greg...good points.  i agree.
kxa...if you decide to "sign off" on this foundation, be sure the photos represent all that is necessary.  it is difficult to get dimensions right in photographic review, and in this case, you have to be concerned about dimensions, particularly cover dimensions.  if the foundation has anything other than typical stresses, the other dimensions become more important as well.
is photographic documentation to such a degree normal with this client or was there some willfull neglect going on that caused him/her to forego the inspection and provide a few photos of some "good" areas hoping to sway you or the inspector?
lastly, in your letter (if you choose to write one) you must qualify what you didn't see.  for instance, you can infer that rebar is present everywhere, but you can't assert that it's there.  in any case, without regard to the caveats you place in the letter if you decide to write it, you are accepting the validity of this foundation as a licensed professional engineer.  
what will their next request be?  "sign off on this building we just finished...yeah, we know you didn't get to see it built, but here...look at my photos.  it's all good!"
the thought of approving something from photos sends shivers down my spine.   brrrrrr...
i assume from the way you describe the individual as 'client' means you have had professional dealings with them in the past (if not on this project).  why then did they not get the engineer involved at the construction stage? do they have something to hide, or am i just being a little paranoid?
good points above.  also, what kind of foundation is it?  you must consider final use to see how important every last detail is to verify.  for example, you may not be as concerned about a porch slab as you would be with a highly loaded footing elsewhere.      
kxa,
don't set a precedent here where your client thinks they can do it this way all the time. i can hear it now for the next project....."but kxa let's us do it all the time and we have never had a problem."
if all they are giving you is photos, i would require some (possibly invasive) testing in the areas that were not 100% covered by the photos. x-ray, ut, whatever. your client needs to realize there is a procedure that must be followed here and the engineer is here to help with problems, not take responsibility when the client wants to skip steps / cover something up / beat schedule / etc.
zcp
i wish i could use the response, get a building inspector to sign off on it.  i work in minnesota, and it seems very common for building inspectors to ask for a letter from an engineer to put in there files to show everthing is ok.
there are many cases where that is appropriate.  however  at times what they are asking the engineer to do violates state registration requirements.  for example certifying plans that were prepared by an out of state engineer.
what you do depends on the factors mentioned by others above.   is the builder a regular client, did you desigh the foundations.
i dealt with a similair case recently where the solution was to have a testing lab x-ray a wall to verify the prescence of rebar.  in your case a testing lab probably can provide information which you can use to write the requested letter.

i think its not ethical to "sign off" on this in any way.
ron's point:  lastly, in your letter (if you choose to write one) you must qualify what you didn't seefff"> was exactly the thing i was thinking.  
you cannot list out some things you see, then list some things you don't see...and then say the whole foundation is fine and meets code.  the unseen things are still serious unknowns.
can you take the contractor's word about what rebar does or does not exist within the concrete?  i've never felt that i could.  
it may be that your letter (with qualifications per ron) is all you can do.  whether this is satisfactory to the building inspector or not is up to the building authoritiesfff">...and not up to you.  you can only do and say what you can only do or know.
i agree with rarswc--in many states, what you are being asked to do is illegal, and if caught, your licensed pulled, you might even be fined. if something bad happens, say the foundation is damaged and the building collapses, you might even be jailed. personally i would have a problem with this ethically and anyone who asked you to do this would be crossed off the client list as soon as all current projects with said client are completed.
one more thought.
the concrete used in the big dig was suspect.
i am no civil by any stretch, but can you tell the quality of concrete by digital photo alone?
"do not worry about your problems with mathematics, i assure you mine are far greater."   
albert einstein
i don't think that there's any way you could look at photos and produce a letter that "everything was done according to code".  you could produce a letter that says "based on the attached photographs, everything appears to be according to code, but the work was not inspected in progress."  of course, that might not be adequate to get the building permit, either.
it's perfectly okay to write an engineering report of what you saw, but it should be qualified based on the limit of observation.  that's different from writing a letter that everything is okay.