Architectural engineering is a challenging endeavor, and it comes with some weighty responsibilities. It’s a role that straddles the line between the technical side of architectural design and the functional and aesthetic side. The results of an architectural engineer’s work can affect everything from the safety of a building to its utility for its occupants. As such, architectural engineers must abide by some specific standards and practices. They ensure a work product that clients and the general public can depend on and that the engineer can be proud of. Here are the four most important standards that architectural engineers must abide by.

1- Prioritize the Safety, Health, and Welfare of the Public

Above all else, architectural engineers must make the safety and well-being of everyone interacting with their work paramount. That means never taking shortcuts that may compromise the safety of a building or designing systems that may harm users. It also means architectural engineers have a moral and ethical obligation to refuse client orders that violate that principle. They must also report such violations to all relevant regulatory authorities. In short, architectural engineers are front-line defenders of the general public welfare.

2- Issue Only Objective and Truthful Public Statements

Architectural engineers occupy a position of trust within society. As such, their public utterances carry significant weight with the public. For example, if an architectural engineer assures the public that a given building is safe to occupy, there’s no room for ambiguity. Architectural engineers must only issue wholly objective and truthful statements. That also means they must identify anyone with a financial stake in their statements and only speak based on facts and their subject-matter competence.

3- Represent Clients’ Interests Faithfully

Another essential standard architectural engineers must abide by is to always faithfully represent the interests of their clients. That includes scrupulously divulging potential conflicts of interest before taking any job. It also includes refusing outside compensation for any project from anyone besides their client or authorized agents. Those principles ensure that architectural engineers remain free of undue external pressures that might compromise their work.

4- Avoid Deceptive Practices

Finally, architectural engineers must endeavor to avoid engaging in deceptive practices. That includes never falsifying their qualifications or misrepresenting their role in earlier works. They must also avoid doing anything to influence the awarding of contracts beyond submitting their qualifications and proposals for review. Those standards ensure clients can confidently hire qualified engineers and engineering firms for their projects. It also ensures that completed work represents the product of the engineer’s genuine specialties and experience.

Industry Standards That Uphold the Public Trust

The unifying constant of the standards mentioned here is that they all serve to uphold the public’s trust in the architectural engineering field. Otherwise, myriad public and private construction projects society depends on would grind to a halt under the weight of necessary additional scrutiny. To avoid that, architectural engineers must always do everything possible to abide by these high standards. Even the slightest misstep could make their essential work much harder and profoundly damage the profession.