Page 153 - Forensic Structural Engineering Handbook

4.2 DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION PRACTICES

This brief chapter addresses the concept of the standard of care of structural engineers. 1
At the end of the chapter are several examples of situations in which questions arose regard-
ing structural engineers’ performance relative to the standard of care.

SOURCE OF THE DUTY OF CARE

Society requires us to behave civilly toward one another despite our varying needs and our
different points of view. Laws are established by the society to define acceptable and unac-
ceptable behavior, and criminal penalties can be imposed if our actions are so detestable
or egregious that they are contrary to those laws. In addition to criminal laws, other laws,
such as those dealing with contracts, are established to spell out the rules for how we get
along. Tort laws address circumstances in which one person’s behavior injures another
regardless of whether that behavior is subject to criminal law penalties, such as when mis-
takes are made or accidents happen. These laws require us to behave reasonably as indi-
viduals and, as structural engineers, to exercise an adequate degree of care.
Laws have also been established defining liability, or responsibility to pay for damages.
Liability is not a recent concept. During his reign from 1792 to 1750 B.C. in the golden age
of the first Babylonian dynasty, the great King Hammurabi assembled, revised, and
expanded on the old Akkadian and Sumerian laws which his society inherited; and he wrote
one of the first codes of law in human history, including laws concerning liability. The
Code of Hammurabi defined acceptable behavior among Babylonians in their personal and
business interactions, addressing such issues as family law, military service, land dealings,
business regulations, wages, prices, taxes, and debts. Fairness was the main principle of the
Code of Hammurabi; it institutionalized a social order based on the rights of the individual
and based on the assertion that “the strong shall not injure the weak.” 2
A portion of the Code of Hammurabi defines statutory liability for construction failures.
It states:

If a builder builds a house for a man and does not make its construction firm and the house
which he has built collapses and causes the death of the owner of the house, that builder shall
be put to death.
If it causes the death of the son of the owner of the house, they shall put to death a son of
that builder.
If it causes the death of a slave of the owner of the house, he shall give to the owner of the
house a slave of equal value.
If it destroys property, he shall restore whatever it destroyed, and because he did not make
the house which he built firm and it collapsed, he shall rebuild the house which collapsed at his
own expense.
If a builder builds a house for a man, and does not make its construction meet the require-
ments and a wall falls in, that builder shall strengthen the wall at his own expense. 3

Liability laws have changed in the intervening four millennia, some would say for the
better. This fact illustrates an important characteristic of liability: The definition of liabil-
ity is not rigid, but varies with the cultural and societal environment, both in time and from
place to place. However, the Code of Hammurabi also dramatically presents a basic ele-
ment of liability which still applies today: Someone who causes injury to another could be
held responsible for the injuries and for paying the injured party restitution for the injury.
Hammurabi’s statutory liability for construction failures includes the idea of negligence
in the wording “If a builder builds a house for a man and does not make its construction
firm and the house which he has built collapses. . . .” A question of fact—that is, “Was the