Draft version 1.7 beta — Revised October 2, 2026

← Return to the table in Chapter 4, § 5

Incompetent or unlicensed practice

A topic page linked from Chapter 4, § 5, Examples of Reported Violations of Enforceable Ethics Codes.

Definition

Incompetent practice occurs when a person accepts paid employment to do a task as a geoscientist that they do not know how to do. They are not competent to do the task. Black's Law Dictionary defines competence, in this sense, as "a basic or minimal ability to do something; adequate qualifications." ¹

Perhaps a person engaged in incompetent practice has self-justified the deception of letting the client or their boss think that they are capable of completing the task properly by meditating on the quip, "fake it till you make it." If a failure occurs that causes tangible harm because of incompetent practice, the unethical geoscientist will be responsible — morally and perhaps legally and financially liable — for the damages.

Unlicensed or unauthorized practice. Approximately 31 states in the United States regulate the professional practice of geoscience in some way.² Those individuals who are approved (licensed, certified) to practice geoscience have demonstrated their general competency, and those who have not been approved are not legally permitted to practice in that state.

Just because you are a licensed geoscientist in a given state, as a practical matter you might not be competent to perform some specific professional task. A licensed geoscientist engages in incompetent practice if they perform professional work that they do not know how to complete properly.

(A licensed geoscientist who performed substandard work that they knew how to do properly would be engaged in negligent practice. That is, they knew how to do the job correctly, but they just did not do so.)

ASBOG included practicing without a license and practicing outside area of competence as two of the 13 ethical issues in its Task Analysis surveys in 2010 and 2015, each of which was completed by a few thousand respondents—professional geoscientists and academics in the United States and Canada.^5-7 The results of those surveys indicated that both issues were considered very serious problems.

Relevant provisions in geoethics codes

AEG – § 2.6, 2.7, 2.9; AIPG – § 3.3.1; ASBOG – § 16.3e, 16.4e, 16.7b; CAL – § b1-2, c5.

Code Abbreviations

• AEG — Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists, AEG Code of Conduct (2018), Link to current document
• AIPG — American Institute of Professional Geologists, AIPG Code of Ethics (2019), Link to current document
• ASBOG — Association of State Boards of Geology, Model Rules and Regulations, Section 16, Code of Ethics (2019), Link to current document; see pages 27 to 29.
• Cal — Regulations Relating to the Practices of Geology and Geophysics, California Code of Regulations, Title 16, Division 29, Section 3065, Professional Standards and Code of Professional Conduct – Professional Geology and Professional Geophysics (2026), Link to current document; see pages 30 to 33.

Notes and References

← Return to the table in Chapter 4, § 5