critique this letter please

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m composing a letter to another engineering company, in which I’d like to delicately point out that they are in violation of our State Board of Registration’s laws pertaining to Engineering Interns. I want to come off as one who is gently raising an issue which has been the source of much talk around various other engineering companies in the area, before some hard-nose files a complaint against them with the Board. Please tell me what you think about this e-mail:

"Hi Clint, I hope this finds you doing well.

I’ve had something on my mind for quite some time now, concerning ABC Engineering Co., since y’all started working as Any County’s Engineer, and I finally decided to speak up about it. I hope I don’t come off as being angry; I don’t mean to step on anyone’s toes or appear like a jerk. I feel that as your colleague it’s part of my duty to point this out to you, as I would hope you would do for me.

I recieved a copy of a letter sent to So-and-So Consultants, which ABC sent as the Any County Engineer, which consists of review comments for XYZ Subdivison This letter is styled similarly to several I have read over the past few months. I have two problems with this letter.

The first is the fact that it is signed by an E.I. and not a P.E. It’s my understanding that E.I.'s are not supposed to issue review comment letters. My interpretation of this issue stems from a ruckus that several engineers raised a few years ago concerning DEQ and MSDH, when the State Board agreed that E.I.'s should not issue review comment letters. I think it’s O.K. for the E.I. to prepare correspondence for your signature, but the P.E. should review the correspondence and sign it himself, just as he would review any other work of the E.I. under his guidance.

The second is that the E.I. is using the title “Engineer”. It is my understanding that our State Law prohibits E.I.'s from using the title “Engineer”. They can be “Assistant” or “Associate” engineers, but not Engineer. Of course, it’s ABC’s business if they want to let E.I.'s do it, but it’s bad form in my opinion.

ABC is y’alls company, and I don’t mean be telling you how to run your business, but I respectfully request that any further review comment letters generated for my designs be signed by a P.E.

Thanks and have a great day!

90Wt"
What think?

2

Whats with all the “y’alls”?
If this is a formal letter, I would drop it, and replace it with something else.

And the paragraph I quoted above sounds a bit timid. You aren’t doing anything wrong, so you shouldn’t have to worry about stepping on toes. (Unless there are political factors involved)

The rest of it looks fine. Short and to-the-point.
:slight_smile:
Good Luck.

3

I don’t think too many formal letters open “Hi Clint…”

4

well, I was going to send this as an e-mail, thus the informality. And, around here, “y’all” would tend to soften the agressive element.

5

I work for an engineering company under a business unit manager who has had to make others aware of infractions a few times over his 30 years as a P.Eng.

He telephones the highest up in the offending company first. The minute you put something in writing, you put the offending party on the defensive.

The phone call should be made by your highest up, who should say something like:

[ul]this is a courtesy call because they are putting themselves at risk with the county and your governing engineering association[/ul]
[ul]he hopes they would do the same for him in a similar situation[/ul]
[ul]noticed so-and-so is signing review letters and did they know xyz regulation requires such to be signed by an engineer?[/ul]
[ul]noticed so-and-so is signing as an engineer and not as an EI, which contravenes section whatever[/ul]

He should then prepare a Record of Telephone Conversation and file it away. If the other company continues its offending behaviour, he should then put it in writing, stating if they continue to ignore the regulations, you will have to inform the county or association, as required by xyz rule(s) of your association.

6

If for some reason you feel more comfortable writing and are going for casual, I would rephrase this to “I see two potential problems…” or something along those lines. Otherwise, it makes it more of a personal issue you have, rather than an objective assessment of a rules violation. I would also take out the “y’alls” and simplify the message. There are too many details and disclaimers regarding your observation.

Overall, I would agree that an initial phone call would be best. You can get your tone across better that way and it seems more of a casual “tip” , if that’s what you’re going for.

7

OK, I get the picture. Since I’m the “highest up” as Imperial says, I will call their president. Thanks for the help!!

8

All states vary on this, I suppose, but my job titles have always been ‘project engineer’, ‘engineer’, or ‘geotechnical engineer’. I am an EIT, but not a PE.

In firms I’ve worked in, either the principal or project manager has signed the letter alone, or he/she has signed it and I have co-signed. Only the principals have signed with their PEs, as they are the only ones to have their stamps insured. For a design review document, I think the principal would sign it after reviewing the lowly EIT’s work.

9

You’re correct that it varies by state. In FL (perhaps near NinetyWt?) there was a fairly recent brouhaha about who is permitted to use the title Engineer with the result that lowly EI’s like myself may not. I think it was a court decision rather than a state law, though.

My company, which is active in many states, made an across the board decision to adhere to this standard so that we’d be protected wherever we practice. (I had to get new business cards!)

Incidentally, NinetyWt, don’t worry about hurting Engineers’ feelings. Request that review comments submitted to you be signed by a PE. If Clint wants to know why, then you can explain the regulations. However, I doubt you will have to explain your reasons to him, and you shouldn’t have to ask twice.

10

I called him this morning and it went very well. The tack which I took was “Hey, I don’t know if you’ve realized it, but you might get in hot water with the State Board about this …”. I explained to him about the ruckus that those two State agencies got into about the very same issue, and I basically said “I’d hate to see y’all get dragged down before the Board”. He thanked me for my call, and said that although he thought they were “in the clear” on the issue, he would look into it. So. I think I’ve discharged my duty, and he can go on and do what he wants.

Yes, the Registration laws vary by state. I have a friend who sits on our Board, and he actually took this same situation up with them (same company, same E.I.)at their last meeting. They agreed that it is Board Policy that E.I.'s should not issue review comment letters. The Board also advised him that if he didn’t want to file a formal complaint, he should call the other firm’s president just as I did.

Thanks for the input, everyone.

11

Sounds like you handled it just right. Glad it worked out well!

12

You even got to throw a “y’all” in there. :wink: