A review of engineering and technical society codes of ethics have identified the following key areas which are common to all or many of those codes of ethics: public wellbeing; sustainability development and environmental safeguard; revelation of concerns to patrons and establishment and conflict of interests; competence impartiality and honesty; professional improvement; credit to others and criticism of and interference with others; reputation of the occupation; violation of the law; maturity of others in the occupation
The following is a review of each of these key areas, followed by a sample of some of the ways in which these code provisions are stated.
Public Well-Being.
The engineer's position in shielding the public health and safety is normally regarded in the majority of codes as the most elementary requirement. As a member of an erudite occupation, it is commonly implicit that engineers are anticipated to have a very high consideration for the communal good. There is some dissimilarity in the words in the codes concerning the question of whether public well-being and protection should be held supreme above all other apprehensions an contemplations. .
The ASCE code of ethics safeguards this interest by setting their first fundamental principle for engineers to use their knowledge for enhancement of human welfare and environment. They also engrave public welfare in the first canon stating that an Engineer's paramount concern should be the welfare of public and ensure their safety. The ASCE code of ethics also provides guidelines for public safety and welfare which mention that an engineer must approve, use professional judgment, report to authorities about violations and be committed towards public safety and welfare. The NSPE code of ethics also abides by the same regulations as provided by the ASPE, it also holds public safety and welfare as the paramount interest for an engineer and enlists it as the first fundamental canon.