I did not see anyone mention this in the discussion, so I am adding 2 cents worth. As a licensed P.E., I am obligated to follow the licensing statutue in the states where I am licensed and practice. One of the tenets of practice is to "hold the public health, safety and welfare paramount" Another tenet is to "hold your client's information confidential". These obviously can come into conflict and considered judgment must prevail, but notice that the confidentiality provision is not "paramount". Thus, in engineering curricula, many include a course in professional ethics to help students, and then working professionals, to sort out these issues. The bottom line is that where the threat of a serious and imminent danger to the H, S and W of the public (school kids in this case), then a P.E. probably has an ethical and legal duty to notify the AHJ. A non-P.E. performing a routine inspection may not have a legal duty, but may have an ethical one. Regardless, this is a situation where finesse is needed. I have looked at these situations before and approached them as follows: - prepare the report identifying all the issues, - if any of them appear to involve a serious and immiment threat, call those out and recommend prompt action, - present the report to the client (holding all information confidential), - gauge the response of the client, - decide if the response of the client appears to be appropriate, - if not, then look at other options, including notifying the client that as a licensed P.E. (or contractor, or ethical professional) you are obligated to notify the AHJ and see if that gets the appropriate response, - finally, if client takes no action to serious and immiment threats, call in the AHJ. There may be other ways of notifying the AHJ short of sending the report. If you have an established relationship, a call to talk about a "hypothetical situation" may prompt the AHJ to investigate on her own. In any case the seriousness of the situation should drive the process. Good luck, Forest.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I just had a school district call me and yell at me for a report I did. I conducted a water flow test 2 months ago at this school. The water department and I observed that the PIV was shut. It had been shut for the past 6 years. Long story short the school asked me to open the valve and inspect for other problems. I spent an entire day surveying the school and wrote a 13 page report with pictures. Serious issues like rooms missing sprinklers. Ceiling clouds missing sprinklers etc. No drains or inspectors tests etc. I sent a copy to the fire marshal and building dept. Well fed ex delivered it to the fire marshal first and called the district before they got their copy. The school dist manager said that he emailed every school district in the area advising them not to use us and is threatening to sue us over sending a copy to the fire marshal. Forest Wilson Cherokee Fire Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry -----Original Message----- From: Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 07:56:27 To: Subject: Seismic information Brownsville, TX - Monterrey, MX I am in desperate need of some seismic information for the area around Monterrey Mexico, Or someone familiar with the Mexican "Manual for Design of Seismic, CFE)? Here's the data I've gotten. I need to know if it parallels IBC as far as when EQ bracing is required or if it's totally different and how these numbers and descriptions relate to IBC? "5.2.- Seismic Data: (Per Manual of Design for Seismic, CFE) Occupancy classification B Structural System classification Type 1 Soil Profile Type From geotechnical report Seismic Zone A Response Spectra c= 0.16 Ta= 0.30 Tb= 1.50 R= 2/3 Ductility Factor Q= 2" Thanks! Craig L. Prahl, CET Fire Protection Specialist Mechanical Department CH2MHILL Lockwood Greene 1500 International Drive PO Box 491, Spartanburg, SC 29304-0491 Direct - 864.599.4102 Fax - 864.599.8439 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.ch2m.com _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
