Download - 1- legislation, contracts & engineering ethics - Lecture 1 - October 17-2013 (1).pdf

8/14/2019 1- legislation, contracts & engineering ethics - Lecture 1 - October 17-2013 (1).pdf

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October 17th, 2013

Faculty of Engineering and Material Science

Tarik A. Youssef Ph.D, P.Eng

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Legislation, Contracts andEngineering Ethics


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Introduction / Overview


Why study Law and Ethics? I am an Engineer;

not a Lawyer or a Humanitarian :( !#&?f*

Syllabus (Course Content)

Main Objectives of this Course

Law and Ethics Example-cases

Distribution of Marks & Exam


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Engineering: is the discipline, art, skill and profession ofacquiring and applying scientific, mathematical,economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order todesignand build structures, machines, devices, systems,materials and processes that safely realize

improvements to the lives of people.

Definition of Professionals: A group of individuals whoare self-selected and self-disciplined; who holdthemselves out to the public as possessing a special skillthat is derived from training & education; who areprepared to exercise that skill for the interest ofothers.
http://wiki.ask.com/Science?qsrc=3044http://wiki.ask.com/Mathematics?qsrc=3044http://wiki.ask.com/Economics?qsrc=3044http://wiki.ask.com/Design?qsrc=3044http://wiki.ask.com/Process_(engineering)?qsrc=3044http://wiki.ask.com/Process_(engineering)?qsrc=3044http://wiki.ask.com/Design?qsrc=3044http://wiki.ask.com/Economics?qsrc=3044http://wiki.ask.com/Mathematics?qsrc=3044http://wiki.ask.com/Science?qsrc=3044


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Regulations: are rules set up to implement or support

the Professional Engineers Act; they concern topicssuch as qualifications for admission to theAssociation/Syndicate (e.g. The Egyptian Syndicate ofEngineers www.eea.org.eg) and professional conduct.

By-laws: are rules set up to administer theassociation/syndicate itself. They concern the methodsfor electing members to the Association Council,financial statements, committees etc.

The code of ethics: is a set of rules of personalconduct to guide individual engineers. Every engineermust be familiar with and endeavor to follow this veryimportant document.
http://www.eea.org.eg/http://www.eea.org.eg/http://www.eea.org.eg/http://www.eea.org.eg/http://www.eea.org.eg/http://www.eea.org.eg/http://www.eea.org.eg/http://www.eea.org.eg/


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Professional Engineering bodies worldwide


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Law & Ethics prerequisites

Acquiring the necessaryinformation and passing theLaw& Ethics Examin mostif not all North Americanand European countries ismandatory to obtain the

Professional Engineeringlicense for a particularstate, province or country.

An Engineering degree

equivalence also requiresyears of experience andpossibly technical tests

eg.org.eea.//www:http


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Syllabus (Course Content)

Law & Ethics Course

Part A: Law Business organizations

Tort liability

Contracts and related

contractual matters

Tendering issues

Discharge of contracts

Breach of Contracts Arbitration

The Engineers law-code in

A.R.E

Part B: Ethics Engineering regulations

Professional practice

Principles of Engineering

Ethics

Ethical problems related to

professional employment

Environmental ethics

Computer ethics

Disciplinary powers and

procedures

The Engineers code of ethics

in A.R.E


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Part A (Law)

Legal Systems

Different countries adopt different legal systems:

Common Law (British Empire, including the UnitedStates, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh, Pakistan,

Sri Lanka, India, Ghana, Cameroon, Canada,Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe,Hong Kong, and Australia)

Civil Law (Latin America, France, Quebec and Egypt)

Islamic Law (Saudi Arabia)

Ancestral Law (China)


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Part A (Law)

Legal Systems (continued)

Common law: is law developed by judges through decisionsof courts and similar tribunals rather than throughlegislative statutes. A "common law system" is a legalsystemthat gives great precedential weight to common law,

on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar factsdifferently on different occasions. In cases where theparties disagree on what the law is, an idealized common lawcourt looks to past precedential decisions of relevantcourts. If a similar dispute has been resolved in the past,

the court is boundto follow the reasoning used in the priordecision. When the dispute is fundamentally distinct fromall previous cases, judges have the authority and duty tomake law by creating precedent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_opinionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_systems_of_the_worldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_systems_of_the_worldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precedenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binding_precedenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precedenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precedenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binding_precedenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precedenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_systems_of_the_worldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_systems_of_the_worldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_systems_of_the_worldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_opinionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law


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Part A (Law)

Legal Systems (continued) Civil law (or civilian law): is a legal system inspired by

Roman lawand whose primary feature is that laws arecodified into collections, as compared to common law

systems that gives great precedential weight tocommon law on the principle that it is unfair to treatsimilar facts differently on different occasions. Itholds legislation as the primary source of law, andthe court system is usually inquisitorial, unbound byprecedent, and composed of specially trained judicialofficers with a limited authority to interpret law.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codification_(law)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codification_(law)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_system


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Part B (Ethics)

The code of ethics is adopted by an organization in anattempt to assistthose in the organization called uponto make a decision (usually most, if not all) understand

the difference between 'right' and 'wrong'and to applythis understandingto their decision.

The ethical code therefore generally implies documentsat three levels: codes of business ethics, codes of

conduct for employees and codes of professionalpractice.

Codes of Ethics


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Course Objectives (continued)

Introduce students (Potential Engineers) to the codes of

law & ethics within Egypt as well as other countries

(e.g. North America, Uk and the EU).

Introduce Engineers to Bidding, Tendering and further

issues related to Contracts.

Make Engineers aware of their duties and liabilitiestowards the society; furthermore, the implications of

illegal/fraudulent behavior on their career.


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Course Objectives

The Law& Ethics examin any country is necessary to

obtain an equivalence to your degree in that other part

of the world.

Introduce students (Potential Engineers) to the many

legal terms (in Arabic or English) that they may

encounter in contracts, legal documents etc.


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Part A: Law (Case Study)

GFJ established its own construction company and decided tobid on a major infrastructure project for a Governmentagency. In its bid price of $2,750,000, GFJ made a mistakeby failing to include an amount of $750,000. This mistakeresulted in its bid being substantially lower than the second

lowest bidder of $3,400,000. Within an hour, subsequent toopening of bids, GFJ requested to withdraw its bid, which hadnot yet been accepted, and asked for its bid deposit of$150,000 to be returned.

When the owner rejected GFJ request to withdraw its bid,GFJ refused to proceed with the work. The owner sued theGFJ for the bid deposit amount and the difference betweenthe GFJsbid price and the second lowest biddersprice.

Part A: Law (Case Study)


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Part B: Ethics (Case Study)

You are a Professional Engineer employed by a mid-sized Engineeringfirm. You have become experienced in your field and have beensitting on a government technical committee for two years. Thecommittees purpose is to review and recommend changes to sometechnical regulations on an on-going basis due to continuing technicaladvances in the field. You sit on this committee on a volunteer

position and provide engineering advice to the committee.

During one of your meetings a friend and committee member asksyou to have a look at an addition being constructed on his/herhouse. Your friend is concerned about some of the constructionpractices of the contractor and, in particular, whether a main steel

beam is safe. You agree to help and proceed to meet at your friendshouse to provide your advice.

Are there any steps you should take before meeting your friend?Refer to the relevant sections of your Code of Practice.

Part B: Ethics (Case Study)


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Midterm Exam 20%

Final Exam 60%

Quizzes 10%

Assignments and in-class assessment 10%

Distribution of Marks and Final Exam


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References

Lecture notes and Slides

( ) (-..)

References


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