Civil engineers have been urged to resist commercial, client and institutional pressure to compromise professional standards and endanger lives, property and the environment.
Professor Kwaku Amaning Adjei, Dean of the Faculty of Civil and Geo-Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), said engineers must have the courage to reject instructions that lacked technical justification or posed safety risks.
He said practitioners should never approve or certify work they had not properly reviewed, inspected or supervised.
“We must have the courage to say no. This is not acceptable engineering practice. We should never sign, certify, approve, or endorse work that we have not adequately reviewed, inspected, or supervised,” he said.
Prof. Adjei was delivering the keynote address virtually at the 2026 Civil Technical Division Mini Conference of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) in Accra.
The conference was held on the theme: “Engineering Integrity in Action: The Role of Civil Division Practitioners.”
He said Ghana had over the years experienced the consequences of compromising engineering integrity, including structural failures and infrastructure deterioration that had resulted in loss of lives, property and livelihoods.
He called for stronger collaboration between the GhIE, the Engineering Council and Metropolitan, Municipal and other regulatory and professional institutions to improve supervision, reporting of unsafe practices and enforcement of standards.
“There must be clear mechanisms for professional accountability, supervision, inspection, reporting of unsafe practice, enforcement of standards, and appropriate sanctions for professional misconduct,” he said.
Prof. Adjei stressed that regulations would only be effective when properly enforced, saying stop-work notices must be respected and professional certifications taken seriously.
He also urged engineers to continuously update their knowledge and embrace emerging technologies to respond effectively to changing challenges in the built environment.
“Engineering is ultimately a covenant of trust with society. Therefore, let us not allow commercial pressure, political pressure, institutional weakness, or personal gain to undermine that responsibility,” he said.
Mr Michael Obeng Konadu, Chairman of the Civil Division of the GhIE, said the conference was organised to remind practitioners of the importance of integrity and professional ethics and encourage them to apply those principles in their daily work.
Mr Ludwig Annang Hesse, President of the GhIE, said integrity was central to engineering and was reflected in the Institution’s Constitution, Code of Ethics and Engineering Practitioner’s Oath.
He said adherence to those principles would help practitioners maintain professional standards and distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable engineering practice.
Prof. Adjei noted that Article 8.2 of the GhIE Constitution required members and registered entities to uphold the highest standards of integrity in engineering practice.
The conference also featured demonstrations of modern infrastructure development equipment by the main sponsors, Leica Geosystems and ATTACHY.
