Ethics & Accreditation in Engineering

As conflicts between self-interests of engineers and public interest emerged, client/engineer issues gained prominence in North America in early 1900s and a wave of reforms started to set in place implicit codes of ethics for engineers. Primary examples of these were the codes of ethics of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, (adopted in 1912) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers, both of which were adopted in 1914. 9, 5,14

In a second wave of reforms the Engineers Council for Professional Development (EPCD) was founded in America in 1932 – as an organization of organizations (rather than individuals) – to promote consistency in the licensing, ethics and practice of engineering. Following these developments the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (CCPE) – now Engineers Canada – was set up in 1936 to promote consistency in the engineering educational standards, regulatory and licensing practices of provincial regulators in Canada.