- Firm policy first: what tools are approved, what data may enter them. Client/project data into unapproved tools = potential contract breach. When unsure: don’t paste, ask.
- AI drafts; sources decide. Every technical value/criterion from an AI answer gets traced to the official reference (edition + §) before real use — the citation in your report is the manual, never the model.
- Engineering judgment is not delegable — to AI or to anyone unlicensed. AI accelerates the 80% (drafting, reformatting, code, summarizing, option-listing); the 20% (conclusions, recommendations, seal-adjacent calls) is human + PE.
- Keep the receipts: prompts that produced deliverable-touching output noted in the project record; AI-assisted calcs verified like any calc (second method — QAQC System).
- Turn output into work product: rewrite in firm voice · verify every number · add sources · run the domain checklist. AI text pasted raw is a style AND liability tell.