FE Other Disciplines Engineering Ethics and Societal Impacts

Knowledge area 5 of the FE Other Disciplines exam: 5–8 of the 110 questions. The subtopics NCEES lists, how they are tested and worked practice problems with solutions.

Take a full timed FE Other Disciplines practice exam

110 questions on the real 5 hours 20 minutes clock, weighted to the NCEES specifications, with a score by knowledge area and a worked solution for every answer.

Or start the free Engineering Ethics and Societal Impacts drill

What the specification lists

  • Codes of ethics (e.g., identifying and solving ethical dilemmas)
  • Public protection issues (e.g., licensing boards)
  • Societal impacts (e.g., economic, sustainability, life-cycle analysis, environmental, public safety)

From the NCEES FE Other Disciplines CBT exam specifications, knowledge area 5.

Line drawing of a professional engineer’s seal stamp, a signed drawing set and a balance scale

How Engineering Ethics and Societal Impacts is tested

Ethics questions are scenarios. The answer that holds public health, safety and welfare paramount, stays within the engineer’s competence, discloses conflicts of interest and reports violations is almost always the key. Read the Reference Handbook section on ethics and professional practice once before exam day; it summarizes the NCEES Model Law and Model Rules.

On exam day the relationships you need are in the Reference Handbook section on Ethics and Professional Practice. The handbook is the only reference allowed, so practice finding each formula in it rather than memorizing a separate sheet.

Start the free Engineering Ethics and Societal Impacts drill

FE Other Disciplines Engineering Ethics and Societal Impacts practice problems

Work each problem with your calculator and the handbook, then open the solution.

Problem 1 · Codes of ethics

After joining a competitor, an engineer is asked by her new manager to describe the proprietary coating process her former employer developed and keeps confidential. She never signed a noncompete agreement. What should she do?

  1. A.Decline to reveal the former employer's confidential process, while freely using her general engineering knowledge and skill
  2. B.Describe the process, because without a noncompete agreement she has no obligation to the former employer
  3. C.Describe the process if the new employer agrees to cover any legal costs she might face
  4. D.Describe the process verbally but refuse to provide any documents
Show the answer and solution

Answer: A: Decline to reveal the former employer's confidential process, while freely using her general engineering knowledge and skill

Engineers must not disclose confidential information obtained from a current or former employer or client without consent. A noncompete agreement governs whom she can work for; it has nothing to do with her duty to protect trade secrets. She may use her general skill and knowledge, but not the former employer's proprietary process.

Codes of ethics · Reference Handbook: Ethics and Professional Practice

Problem 2 · Public protection issues

A state engineering licensing board receives a complaint that a licensee sealed plans for a type of structure outside her competence and part of the structure later failed. The primary purpose of the board's action on this complaint is to:

  1. A.Recover monetary damages for the owner of the failed structure
  2. B.Protect the public by investigating and, if warranted, disciplining the licensee, for example by reprimand, suspension, or revocation
  3. C.Protect the fees and reputation of licensed engineers in the state
  4. D.Prosecute the licensee and impose a prison sentence
Show the answer and solution

Answer: B: Protect the public by investigating and, if warranted, disciplining the licensee, for example by reprimand, suspension, or revocation

Licensing boards exist to protect the public by setting qualifications, investigating complaints, and disciplining licensees who violate the law or rules. The owner's financial recovery and any criminal case proceed separately in the courts.

Public protection issues · Reference Handbook: Ethics and Professional Practice

Problem 3 · Licensure

A PE licensed in one state is invited to design a project located in another state where she holds no license. Before offering or performing engineering services there, she generally must:

  1. A.Notify NCEES, which authorizes practice in every state
  2. B.Retake both the FE and PE exams in the second state
  3. C.Obtain a license from that state's board, typically by comity (endorsement) based on her existing credentials
  4. D.Do nothing further, because a PE license issued in any state is valid nationwide
Show the answer and solution

Answer: C: Obtain a license from that state's board, typically by comity (endorsement) based on her existing credentials

Engineering licenses are granted by individual state and territorial boards. A licensee who wants to practice in another jurisdiction applies there, usually by comity, in which the board recognizes her education, exams, and experience without requiring the exams again.

Licensure · Reference Handbook: Ethics and Professional Practice

Problem 4 · Public health, safety, and welfare

While inspecting a parking garage for a client's insurance appraisal, an engineer notices severe spalling and exposed, badly corroded reinforcing bars on the balcony slabs of an occupied apartment building next door, which is outside her assignment. What should she do?

  1. A.Mention the observation only in an internal appendix of her client's report
  2. B.Notify the neighboring building's owner and, if the hazard is not promptly addressed, the appropriate public authority
  3. C.Do nothing, because the neighboring building is outside the scope of her contract
  4. D.Give the neighboring owner's contact information to a repair contractor
Show the answer and solution

Answer: B: Notify the neighboring building's owner and, if the hazard is not promptly addressed, the appropriate public authority

The paramount duty to protect public health, safety, and welfare applies even to hazards an engineer observes outside her assignment. She should alert the party able to correct the condition and the responsible authority if needed.

Public health, safety, and welfare · Reference Handbook: Ethics and Professional Practice

More FE Other Disciplines practice problems from every knowledge area

Sit the full exam under the real clock

Take a full timed FE Other Disciplines practice exam

110 questions on the real 5 hours 20 minutes clock, weighted to the NCEES specifications, with a score by knowledge area and a worked solution for every answer.

Or start the free Engineering Ethics and Societal Impacts drill

Common questions

How many Engineering Ethics and Societal Impacts questions are on the FE Other Disciplines exam?

The NCEES FE Other Disciplines specification lists 5–8 questions on Engineering Ethics and Societal Impacts, out of 110. Every examinee gets the same number per knowledge area.

What does Engineering Ethics and Societal Impacts cover on the FE Other Disciplines exam?

Codes of ethics (e.g., identifying and solving ethical dilemmas); Public protection issues (e.g., licensing boards); Societal impacts (e.g., economic, sustainability, life-cycle analysis, environmental, public safety).

Where are the Engineering Ethics and Societal Impacts formulas on exam day?

In the NCEES FE Reference Handbook, which appears on screen during the exam: the Ethics and Professional Practice section. Practice with your free copy from MyNCEES so you know where each relationship sits.

Original independent practice questions written to the published NCEES exam specifications. Not affiliated with or endorsed by NCEES (National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying).