Obligation-Conflict Resolution
Case 85-3 (1985) · P.E. Requirement for County Surveyor Position
Professional obligations conflict, and the board applies no fixed rule for which one wins.
Each resolution is recorded as three edges:
competesWith (the tension),
prevailsOver (the obligation the board allowed to win in this case), and
defeasibleUnder (the situation under which the yielding obligation gives way).
The same tension is then traced across comparable cases, where its resolution shifts with context.
Hover any obligation or state to see its definition; click to open it in OntServe.
How this case resolved it
Featured
Engineer A Inescapable Ethical Violation County Surveyor Position
prevails over
Engineer A Consulting Practice Flexibility Non-Transferability County Surveyor
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A Consulting vs. Employment Asymmetry Inapplicability
Engineer A Public Sector Out-of-Competence Appointment Acceptance Prohibition
prevails over
County Commissioners Appointing Authority Competence Verification County Surveyor
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- County Ordinance PE Requirement Regulatory Context
Engineer A Statutory Oversight Non-Delegability County Surveyor
prevails over
Engineer A Consulting Practice Flexibility Non-Transferability County Surveyor
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A Consulting vs. Employment Asymmetry Inapplicability
Engineer A Public Sector Out-of-Competence Appointment Acceptance County Surveyor
prevails over
Engineer A Section II.2.c Specialist Retention Provision Misapplication County Surveyor
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A Employment Context Competence Constraint — No Remediation Pathway
Engineer A Domain-Specific Competence Verification County Surveyor Acceptance
prevails over
Engineer A Ethics Exceeds Legal Permissibility County Surveyor PE License
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A Formal Credential Without Substantive Domain Competence — Employment Instance
Board Mutually Dependent Code Provision Integrated Reading Section II.2 County Surveyor
prevails over
Engineer A Section II.2.c Specialist Retention Provision Misapplication County Surveyor
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A Employment Context Competence Constraint — No Remediation Pathway
Engineer A Oversight Role Domain Competence Prerequisite County Surveyor
prevails over
Engineer A Institutional Role Non-Expansion Competence County Surveyor
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A Chemical PE Appointed as County Surveyor
Open tensions recorded without a resolution:
Board Prior Consulting Precedent Employment Context Inapplicability BER Cases 71-2 78-5 vs Engineer A Consulting Practice Flexibility Non-Transferability County Surveyor
Engineer A Cross-Discipline PE License Non-Sufficiency County Surveyor vs Engineer A Ethics Exceeds Legal Permissibility County Surveyor PE License
Engineer A Domain-Specific Competence Verification County Surveyor Acceptance vs Engineer A Oversight Role Domain Competence Prerequisite County Surveyor
What the board concluded
- It was unethical for Engineer A to accept the position as county surveyor.
How comparable cases resolved the same tension
Engineer A Consulting Practice Flexibility Non-Transferability County Surveyor yields to Engineer A Inescapable Ethical Violation County Surveyor Position. The yielding obligation ("Engineer A Consulting Practice Flexibility Non-Transferability County Surveyor") recurs across cases; the obligation that overrides it and the context under which it yields differ case by case. This is the case-law move: not a single rule, but a family of context-indexed resolutions.
| Case | Obligation that prevailed | Yielding obligation | Context (defeasibleUnder) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
23-1
Competence in Design Services
|
Engineer B Political Lobbying Non-Substitution County Commission | Engineer B Political Lobbying County Commission Rural Roadway Contract | Engineer B Financial Pressure Driving Scope Overreach |
|
19-3
Expert Witness—Chair of Standards and...
|
Engineer A DOE Coal Bed Methane Governmental Employee Private Consulting Conflict | Engineer A DOT Traffic Engineer Airport Consulting Dual Role Conflict | Engineer A State DOT Airport Consulting Dual Role Conflict |
|
74-2
Conflict of Interest - Municipal Engineer
|
Engineer-to-Client Relationship Prerequisite — Consulting Firm Principal as Municipal Engineer | Consulting Engineer Non-Employee Status Recognition — Small Municipality Statutory Compliance | Small Municipality Consultant-Municipal-Engineer Appointment |
|
86-4
Modification of Signed and Sealed Plans by...
|
Engineer B Public Welfare Paramount Subdivision Plan Integrity Safety Obligation | Subdivision Development Client Sealed Plan Transfer Non-Authorization of Successor Alteration | Engineer A Original Plans Transferred to Client and Successor |
|
22-10
Sustainability - Lawn Irrigation Design
|
Wasser Environmental Risk Escalation Water Table Hydrogeological Study | Wasser Interdisciplinary Scope Boundary Respect Landscape Architect Specification | Historically Underserved Regional Water Access Impact; Water Table Depletion Risk from Irrigation Design |