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egardless of your familiarity with have to guard against losing the high ground and Quality Based Selection (QBS), make sure they always hold the truth paramount, there are certain basics of business which means walking away from situations where that all engineers should understand, deception is rewarded. The procurement of our even if you are not in management. Structural services based on a comparison of prices alone, engineering is a professional service business. The rather than in combination with qualifications overwhelming majority of structural engineers are and a defined scope of work, fosters a climate compensated based on the amount of time spent where dishonest behavior can flourish. on a client’s project. If you are a business owner, Dishonesty in the form of excessive self-proyou know that each and every proposal starts out motion, deceptive staffing of the project, both in with the question “How much time will the project number and skill of personnel, the exclusionary take?” Complex projects involve project managers, language in proposals such as overly-limiting site design engineers, and CAD operators, plus others. visits, excessive use of performance specifications, To develop a proposal, hours are estimated and and reducing QA/QC are examples of what can multiplied by billing rates and a total fee is com- occur in competitive bid procurement systems. puted. The more definitive the scope of services, The owner is best served when the structural the greater the accuracy of the fee estimate. engineer provides all of the services necessary to Unfortunately, engineering businesses are being design the structure and observe its construction asked, more and more, to furnish lump-sum fees to the extent the engineer can attest that the intent based on very little information. This in and of of contract documents was generally followed. itself can lead to problems, but combine it with Alabama’s Board of Licensure for Professional the practice of clients requesting proposals from Engineers requires that its licensees respond multiple firms for price comparison, and it is easy only to solicitato see that the more uninformed or unscrupulous tions that employ can often be the more successful. Besides the fact QBS, regardless of that qualified firms that offer fair fees are often whether the client the immediate victims of the process, the long- is a public agency term ramifications of poor structural engineering or a private party. can result in jeopardizing the health, safety, and Engineers are forbidden from participating in welfare of the public, not to mention the grief a bidding process. Radical as it may seem to and headaches that accompany poor construction some, the Federal Government requires the use documents during the construction phase. of QBS through the application of the Brooks Engineering is a thinkAct, realizing that the ing profession. The client best overall value for the Engineers have to guard is purchasing the engipublic is the selection of neer’s ability to solve the the most qualified firm against losing the high problem using the brain. paid a fair and reasonground and make sure Drawings, specifications, able fee. The Alabama and even calculations are Board, together with the they always hold the truth tools of conveyance of Federal Government, paramount, which means what the engineer thinks believes that services and how a solution was that directly deal with walking away from situations developed. Selecting the life and death should not where deception best brains with the most be subject to the same experience will result in procurement rules that is rewarded. the best solution. Does apply to the purchase of it really make sense for pencils or butter. clients to select their engineers based on whether If the public selected their medical professionals the fee for the project is 1% of the construction through bidding for services, health care might be a cost, 0.9%, or even 0.5%? Unfortunately, the few dollars cheaper, but mortuaries would prosper. answer is often “no” if your client is the owner, Imagine you are on trial for a serious crime. Of but” yes” if the client is an architect or an inter- course, you are innocent, and your significant other mediary who sees the structural engineer’s fee brings in your attorney, the low bidder. What kind coming out of his or her pocket. Money can be of chance do you think you have to be home at a powerful motivator that obscures reality and Christmas? No society would want its health or blurs the vision. freedom jeopardized by such an absurd procureEngineers historically have enjoyed a high level ment system as applied to these professions. Well, of trustworthiness, as polled by Gallup, fourth how much sense does it make for the low bidder behind doctors and one position in front of to be the designer of an arena that seats 10,000 dentists. The fundamental canon of every set people, a high-rise building, a long span bridge, of ethics rules for engineers is truth. Engineers or even a child daycare facility or nursing home?
Professional issues issues affecting the structural engineering profession
The Ethics of Procurement
STRUCTURE magazine
21
By Marc S. Barter, P.E., S.E., SECB
Marc S. Barter (mbarter@ barterse.com), is the President of Barter & Associates, Inc., a structural engineering consulting firm in Mobile, Alabama. He is a Past President of NCSEA and in his second term as a member of the Alabama Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors.
