FLOOD09689 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

SECTION I. - CONSULTING ENGINEERING PRACTICE Upon engineers rests the responsibility for conce iving and designing all types of engineering works, and for providing the assurance that they are properly and economically constructed and used. The health, safety, and comfort of the public depend to a considerable extent upon how well the Engineer fulfIlls this obliga- tion. His success in fulfilling his responsibility depends upon complete under- standing hetween the Engineer and his employer. This will be accomplished if a mutual trust and respect is created by the two. Many engineering works are designed and directed by engineers employed by various levels of govemment and industry. Other engineering works, equally important, are directed by independent consulting engineering organizations en- gaged by public or private agencies for a specific project or program. Here the employer-employee relationship becomes the more formal "Client-Consultant" relationship, which is the principal subject of this manual. "Consulting Engineering," as the term is used in the United States, includes not only consultation, advice, and expert testimony, but also the furnishing of extensive and diversified services by engineering finns especially organized and maintained for that purpose. Such firms draw on the combined talents of design- ers, technical analysts, specification writers, draftsmen, inspectors, surveyors, and other experienced engineers, as well as practitioners aod specialists in other fields. Services offered by Consulting Engineers may include conducting field inves- tigations and collecting engineering data; considering the environmental aspects of a project and submission of an impact statement; preparing engineering reports based upon such investigations; furnishing designs, drawings, and specifi- cations; securing bids and assisting in the award of contracts; observing construc- tion; testing and approving equipment for acceptance; making appraisals; and other services. Wher~ construction is involved, the Consulting Engineer is usually responsibie for planning which commits his Client to the expenditure oflarge sums of money. The value of the work to be constructed from this planning, and the suitability for the project's intended function must often be accepted by the Client at face value if he is unfamiliar with the technical aspects of such works. By their very nature, then, consulting engineering services must be performed on a highly ethical plane. These services must be carried out in a competent and efficient manner, and in an annosphere of mutual trust and appreciation between Client and Engineer. Any failure to meet these requirements will inevitably result in dissatisfaction on the part of all parties concerned. 7