Ethics questions are some of the most winnable on the exam. They reward one habit: put public safety first, then honesty, then the client.
Choose any section below to get a free practice problem. Work it with the FE Reference Handbook open, tap your answer, then check the solution.
Every ethics question on the FE starts from one principle: protecting public health, safety and welfare comes first, ahead of the client, the employer and the engineer’s own interests.
A client asks an engineer to sign drawings that a non-engineer changed after review, reducing a safety factor below code. The engineer should:
Licensees may not seal work that does not meet applicable standards or that they did not review. Refuse to sign or seal.
Common trap: (A) still puts a seal on unsafe work.
EthicsModel RulesLicensee’s Obligation to SocietyThat was 1 of 3 problems in this section. The full course has the lesson, a worked example and every problem. Try all of it free for 3 days →
A Professional Engineer (PE) license is issued by each state or jurisdiction.
A PE licensed only in Connecticut is offered a project in New York. Before providing engineering services there, the engineer must:
Licenses are issued by each jurisdiction. The engineer must be licensed in New York, usually by comity based on the existing license.
licensuresealresponsible chargeThat was 1 of 3 problems in this section. The full course has the lesson, a worked example and every problem. Try all of it free for 3 days →
An engineer must disclose any interest that could influence, or appear to influence, their judgment, and must not accept gifts or other valuable consideration from parties who could gain from their decisions.
A contractor whose work an engineer inspects offers the engineer expensive event tickets. The engineer should:
Engineers must not accept gifts of value from parties whose work they review. Decline.
conflict of interestLicensee’s Obligation to Employer and ClientsThat was 1 of 3 problems in this section. The full course has the lesson, a worked example and every problem. Try all of it free for 3 days →
Four kinds of protection show up on the exam.
A U.S. utility patent generally lasts:
Utility patents generally run 20 years from the filing date. (Life plus 70 years is a copyright term.)
intellectual propertypatentcopyrighttrademarkThat was 1 of 3 problems in this section. The full course has the lesson, a worked example and every problem. Try all of it free for 3 days →
Engineers practice only within their competence, represent their qualifications truthfully, and make public statements objectively.
On a proposal, an engineer lists a project they only reviewed as one they “designed.” This is:
Engineers must not falsify or exaggerate their qualifications or role on past projects: misrepresentation.
professional conductcompetencemisrepresentationThat was 1 of 3 problems in this section. The full course has the lesson, a worked example and every problem. Try all of it free for 3 days →
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