Original question written by FE Exam AI Prep from the public FE Civil exam specification. Before release, a solver model re-derived the answer twice from the question alone, without its answer key, and a critic model checked the result. No licensed engineer reviews these questions. It is not an NCEES question and does not come from any NCEES practice exam. FE Exam AI Prep is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NCEES.
Professional Ethics and Public Welfare: FE Civil practice problem 1
For the Iron Ridge concrete-lined channel, a hydrology reviewer preparing a capacity verification worksheet is offered event tickets by a contractor bidding on the same work package being evaluated. What response best protects professional judgment?
- AAccept the tickets because no construction work has started yet.
- BAccept the gift privately if the bid tabulation is already prepared.
- CRequest a larger gift so every evaluator receives equal treatment.
- DDecline or disclose the gift under the employer's conflict-of-interest procedure before participating further.
Show the answer and worked solution
Answer: D — Decline or disclose the gift under the employer's conflict-of-interest procedure before participating further.
Worked solution
- Step 1. Identify the professional obligation
Public welfare, competence, honesty, and conflict disclosure control the decision.
- Step 2. Select the defensible action
The correct response preserves transparent review and avoids misleading reliance.
Why the other choices are wrong
- Choice A
- This reasoning ties the conflict to whether construction on the Iron Ridge concrete-lined channel has begun, but the reviewer is actively judging the same contractor's bid right now, so the influence risk exists during the capacity verification worksheet itself and not only once field work starts.
- Choice B
- This assumes finishing the bid tabulation first removes the conflict and that keeping the tickets secret is acceptable, but an undisclosed benefit from a competing bidder taints the reviewer's judgment on the Iron Ridge concrete-lined channel regardless of when that tabulation was completed.
- Choice C
- This treats equal distribution among evaluators as the ethical fix, as if spreading a bigger gift around cures the problem, when any gift from a contractor bidding on the Iron Ridge concrete-lined channel creates a conflict no matter how it gets shared.