Keep this glossary open while you study — these are the terms that show up repeatedly across NPPE scenario questions, and being able to recognize them instantly, without pausing to translate, saves real time on exam day.

Contract Law Terms

• Offer — a proposal by one party to enter into an agreement on specific terms.
• Acceptance — the other party's agreement to those terms, forming the basis of a contract.
• Consideration — something of value exchanged between the parties, required for a contract to be enforceable.
• Breach — a failure to perform an obligation set out in the contract.
• Damages — monetary compensation awarded to a party harmed by a breach.
• Scope of work — the defined boundaries of the services or deliverables a contract covers.

Tort and Liability Terms

• Negligence — a failure to meet the standard of care, causing foreseeable harm.
• Duty of care — a recognized obligation to act with reasonable skill toward someone who could foreseeably be affected by your work.
• Standard of care — the level of skill a reasonably competent engineer, in similar circumstances, would exercise.
• Liability — legal responsibility for harm caused, which can arise from contract or tort.
• Contributory negligence — negligence on the part of the harmed party that contributed to their own injury.
• Vicarious liability — liability that can attach to an employer for the actions of an employee performed within the scope of their work.

Professional Practice and Regulatory Terms

• Duty to the public — the engineer's paramount obligation to public safety, health, and welfare, above other competing interests.
• Conflict of interest — a situation where a personal or financial interest could reasonably appear to influence professional judgment.
• Competence — the requirement to only practice within areas where you have adequate knowledge and skill, or with appropriate supervision.
• Confidentiality — the obligation to protect client and employer information from unauthorized disclosure.
• Professional seal — an engineer's certification that work meets applicable professional standards, carrying personal responsibility for its accuracy.
• Discipline (regulatory) — the process by which a professional association investigates and sanctions professional misconduct.

How to Use This Glossary While Studying

Don't just memorize these definitions in isolation — the exam rarely asks "what does negligence mean." It presents a scenario and expects you to recognize which of these concepts applies. Use this glossary as a quick-reference check while working through practice questions: when you get one wrong, come back here and confirm you actually understood the underlying term correctly, rather than just misapplying it.

Wiscademy's NPPE practice questions are tagged by these same underlying concepts, so you can see exactly which terms and principles you're strongest and weakest on as you go.