National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Ethics Practice Exam

An engineer's primary obligation when asked to provide expert testimony revolves around maintaining client confidentiality. This principle is crucial because it ensures trust and integrity in the client-engineer relationship. Engineers are often privy to sensitive information, and preserving this confidentiality is not only an ethical responsibility but also a legal requirement in many cases.

In the context of providing expert testimony, the engineer must be cautious to uphold the confidentiality of any privileged information unless there is a legal obligation to disclose it. This maintains the integrity of the professional practice and upholds the ethical standards of the engineering profession.

Maintaining confidentiality until required to disclose specific information is vital to protect the interests of the client and uphold the ethical obligations of the engineer. The other options either misrepresent the engineer's ethical duties or introduce potential conflicts of interest, which could undermine the objectivity and integrity of the expert testimony.