Engineering Side-Work for a Surveying Firm

[gibson64]

All,

I recently ran into an old friend's dad who owns a surveying firm in my home town. We got to talking and he said he could use my help performing small scale drainage evaluations (one or two a month). I currently work for a large scale environmental firm and this side work would in absolutely no way conflict with my current work (both clients and/or working hours). My full-time job is strictly remediation. I am qualified to do the side work from a previous job. If anything I will be helping a friend and earning a small amount of money on the side. Can anyone see any conflicts in doing this (ethically and/or legally)? I'm most curious about who am I am going to work for; the surveyor or the client? Isn't there rules about working through a third-party company (i.e., the surveying company)?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Maury]

Tallk to your employer first. Outside employment (moonlighting) may not be allowed, or requires company permission. Will you be asked to seal plans or reports? You need to be concerned about liability, so you should work for the surveying firm, not directly for the client. You should have an agreement with the survey firm that makes you an employee and brings you under their errors and omissions coverage rather than work as an independent contractor.

 

[dcasto]

You don't have to "talk" directly with your boss or anything, there should be a written policy or you have signed an agreement with your employee stating the rules of outside work.
The ethics part is what you brought up about conflict, error on the conservative side.

 

[l3city]

Hi there, check this 1-out, thread765-160122

 

[IRstuff]

Are you a PE? If not, then you'd probably be in violation of the PE law in your state.

TTFN

 

[JStephen]

Generally, the PE laws allow moonlighting work like this- check and see. Don't try to sneak it over at your work, ask around to see if it's okay; if so, give or get some kind of confirmation in writing that everyone's okay with it.

Where you might run into the PE laws is if they require a firm to be licensed, they generally won't base that license on a part-time employee- so the surveying company wouldn't be able to get the necessary license to do engineering.