Advice on Ethical Conduct

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ADVICE ON ETHICAL CONDUCT

Made by the Council on 21 July 2004, to come into effect on 1 November 2004.

Introduction

The purpose of the !dvice on "thical Conduct# is to $ive members

further advice and information about particular areas of professional

practice that the %nstitution &ould li'e its members to follo& in order to

behave ethically. %n most instances, a member#s failure to adhere to

the $uidance is unli'ely, of itself, to constitute a breach of the (ules of

)rofessional Conduct. The advice covers those matters &hich

members should consider and ta'e into account rather than simply

those thin$s &hich, if disre$arded, &ould be li'ely to attract censure.

The e*ception to this is the additional advice re$ardin$ the prevention

of bribery and corruption. !ny form of involvement in bribery and

corruption &ould be li'ely to breach (ule 1 of the (ules of )rofessional

Conduct, as &ell as the la& in the + and many other countries.

Sustainability and the Environment

(NB: this section will need to be updated to take account of

changes currently being developed to the ICE requirements to

attain Chartered status

Members should promote the use of recycled or reusable materials

&herever practicable and should ma'e use of ener$y-efficient

techniues in the construction and life maintenance of pro/ects.Members should, as far as practicable, use their influence to minimise

the production of &aste and should ma*imise environment-friendly

reuse, recyclin$ or disposal. Members should minimise the impact on

the natural and non-built environment, e.$. by recommendin$ the use

of bro&n-field# sites in preference to $reen-field# sites &here

practicable, and conserve natural environments &herever practicable.

They should ta'e account of the $lobal# environmental impact of any

pro/ect they underta'e, includin$ foreseeable future effects, not simply

the immediate effect upon the site of the pro/ect and the ad/acent area.

Bibliography:

+ tandard for )rofessional "n$ineerin$ Competence also 'no&n as

the +-)"C# published by "C+ on its &ebsite3

&&&.u'spec.or$.u'. This contains thereuirement for both Chartered

and %ncorporated "n$ineers to underta'e en$ineerin$ activities in a

&ay that contributes to sustainable development5. 6or more details,

see the &ebsite.

is!

!ll pro/ects or business ventures involve some sort of ris'. !ll pro/ects

can $o &ron$7 this does not vary &ith their si8e. 9hether a pro/ect can

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be said to have been a failure# &ill depend not only on its performance

in simple structural terms. %t &ill be /ud$ed accordin$ to its lifetime

performance in relation to the investment concerned and the ne$ative

impact concomitant &ith every addition to the built environment.

!ny member &ith responsibility for a pro/ect, or any part of it, must, bymaintainin$ a&areness in his discipline, be a&are of the ris's and their

causes and &here the responsibility for them lies. Members should be

sufficiently familiar &ith the underlyin$ procedures, processes and

mechanisms to analyse their ris's, recommend sensible mana$ement

measures and $ive informed, e*pert /ud$ements on the causes and

probabilities of failure, based on the residual ris's. This may involve

assistance from trained ris' analysts, but the member#s responsibility

for the /ud$ement is his alone.

No member can be e*pected to eliminate all ris'. :ut members of the%C" have an ethical responsibility to ta'e all appropriate measures to

limit ris', in particular by ensurin$ that there is adeuate ris'

analysis;assessment, and an effective mana$ement process both

durin$ the construction and post-construction phases in any pro/ect,

e.$. throu$h the use of such tools as (is' !nalysis and Mana$ement

for )ro/ects (!M). (!M), in particular, is desi$ned to evaluate all

ma/or ris's over the lifetime of a pro/ect, includin$ the ris' that the net

revenue stream may vary si$nificantly from that forecast.

Bibliography:

(is' !nalysis and Mana$ement for )ro/ects (!M) 2002 < %C",6aculty of !ctuaries, %nstitute of !ctuaries. )ublished by Thomas Telford

)ublishin$ =td. (!M) &ebsite3 &&&. (!M)ris'.com.

)ro/ect (is' !nalysis and Mana$ement )(!M 1>>? < !ssociation

for )ro/ect Mana$ement &&&. apm.or$.u'

"reventin# Disasters

Members should ma'e themselves a&are of relevant $ood practice

advice on the prevention of disasters7 for e*ample, +-based members

need to 'no& of the (oyal !cademy of "n$ineerin$ @uidelines for9arnin$s of )reventable Aisasters#. %f a situation is developin$ &hich is

causin$ a member concern, the member should not hesitate to consult

the %C" for $uidance if this is needed. Members &or'in$ in the +

should also be a&are of the provisions of the )ublic %nterest Aisclosure

!ct 1>>B, &hich permits certain disclosures in the public interest and

prohibits dismissal in relation to those disclosures.

The responsibility to prevent disasters does not lie simply &ith those

&ho first become a&are that a set of circumstances has arisen &hich

mi$ht lead to a disaster. Members &ho are in senior mana$ementpositions have a duty to establish procedures so that potentially

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Bibliography:

!$reement for consultancy &or' in respect of domestic or small &or's.

)ublished by Thomas Telford )ublishin$ %:N3 0 ?2?? 2F2F >.

Gbtainable from the %C" boo'shop, Gne, @reat @eor$e treet,

9estminster, =ondon 91) E!!.

!C" hort 6orm !$reement 2002. )ublished by the !ssociation of

Consultin$ "n$ineers !lliance Douse, 12 Ca*ton treet, =ondon 91D

0H, tel. - 020 ?222 FII?, fa* - 020 ?222 0?I0, e-mail

consultacenet.co.u'.

Aefinitions of %nspections and urveys of :uildin$s. Gbtainable direct

from the Construction %ndustry Council, 2F tore treet, =ondon 9C1"

?:T, tel.020 ?FE? BF>2, fa* 020 ?IB0 F140, e-mail ciccic.or$.u'.

Con$licts o$ InterestThe Code of )rofessional Conduct states that members must declare

conflicts of interest. Members should also be mindful of the need to

avoid, &herever possible, any conflict of interest and to consider

carefully before enterin$ into any en$a$ement &here this may arise.

Members should in all cases ma'e full disclosure of any conflict of

interest, or possible conflict of interest, to all the relevant parties. :ut

even thou$h the parties involved may have said at the outset that they

are content &ith the arran$ements, their vie&s may chan$e if

unforeseen difficulties arise. This is li'ely if some parties are affected

more adversely, or benefit disproportionately, relative to others,particularly if this arises from decisions in &hich the member has had to

apply his or her professional /ud$ement. The disadvanta$ed parties

may then challen$e the member#s ob/ectivity and it may become

difficult to resolve this in such a &ay that the member#s inte$rity

remains unuestioned. uch an outcome is clearly undesirable.

"rovisions o$ the "arty &all etc Act '(()

Members should comply &ith the la& in all the countries in &hich they

operate. The )arty 9all etc !ct 1>>F, &hich applies throu$hout"n$land and 9ales, is hi$hli$hted because it is a continuin$ source of

complaints about the professional conduct of members.

Ne& construction pro/ects and pro/ects on e*istin$ structures freuently

involve &or' affectin$ ad/acent properties and may be covered by the

)arty 9all etc !ct 1>>F. Members must therefore ensure that they are

sufficiently a&are of the provisions of the !ct to be able to apply them

properly, to$ether &ith the procedures the !ct lays do&n. 6ailure to

apply the !ct properly mi$ht, in certain circumstances, cause a

member to be in breach of the %C"#s Code of )rofessional Conduct,and thus in dan$er of disciplinary action.

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Bibliography:

The )arty 9all etc !ct 1>>F3 e*planatory boo'let. )ublished by the

Gffice of the Aeputy )rime Minister. This contains basic advice about

the !ct and $ives details of other sources of information about the !ct.

%t can be reached via the %C" 9ebsite no&led$e# section, under

tructures and :uildin$s =in's# or the &ebsite of the Gffice of the

Aeputy )rime Minister &&&. odpm.$ov.u'. Dard copy may be

obtained direct via the Gffice of the Aeputy )rime Minister 6ree

=iterature telephone number 0B?0 122F 2EF.

The )arty 9all !ct "*plained. )ublished by the )yramus K Thisbe

Club. The )yramus K Thisbe Club &as founded in 1>?4 as a forum for

discussion on all matters in connection &ith party &all matters.

"nuiries of the )yramus K Thisbe Club should be made via the (oyal

%nstitution of Chartered urveyors (%C, 12 @reat @eor$e treet,

)arliament uare, =ondon 91) E!A, telephone 0B?0 EEE 1F00, e-

mail contactricsrics.or$.

The )arty 9all etc !ct 1>>F. This is sho&n in full on the )arliamentary

&ebsite3 &&&. parliament.u'.

)roceedin$s of the %nstitution of Civil "n$ineers < Civil "n$ineerin$

6ebruary 200E :riefin$ Note Do& to avoid complaints# %N 0>FI

0B> L

"reventin# *ribery and Corru+tion

Members should familiarise themselves &ith, and comply &ith, the

relevant anti-corruption la&s of the countries in &hich they &or' or of&hich they are citi8ens or residents. Members based in the + or

&or'in$ for +-based firms should be mindful of the provisions of the

!nti-Terrorism, Crime and ecurity !ct 2001, under &hich +-

re$istered companies and + nationals can be prosecuted in the +

for an act of bribery committed either in the + or partially or &holly

overseas.

:ut irrespective of anti-corruption le$islation, &hether in the + or in

other countries, and the %C"#s (ules of )rofessional Conduct, members

should be a&are of the &holly mali$n effect of bribery and corruption,particularly upon the poorest nations. %n some parts of the developin$

&orld bribery and corruption in construction and civil en$ineerin$ is so

&idespread that it has si$nificantly reduced the number of infrastructure

pro/ects. This could not have occurred &ithout the participation in

bribery and corruption of contractors and consultants based in the

developed &orld. The effect has been to mar'edly reduce the amount

of &or' that these contractors and consultants mi$ht other&ise have

obtain

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+ntil recently, it has been a standard /ustification for such behaviourthat competitors indul$e in these practices, and that failure to do so

may disadvanta$e companies &ho are not dishonest. This can never

be accepted as an e*cuse for members of the %C" to participate in

bribery and corruption. Members &ho have senior mana$ement

positions have a particular obli$ation here. They should ma'e positive

efforts to ensure that, as far as reasonably possible, bribery and

corruption does not e*ist, and cannot occur, in the or$anisations for

&hich they &or'. They should set in place anti-corruption protocols and

procedures so that /unior employees are not dra&n into corrupt

practices throu$h intimidation or persuasion by senior collea$ues, and&hereby they are able to report such practices &ithout fear of reprisals

of any 'ind, in particular, dama$e to their careers or prospects of

advancement.

T%+, the + sector of Transparency %nternational, the &orld-&ide

coalition a$ainst corruption, has published a number of :usiness Tools

&hich are desi$ned to assist in the prevention of corruption in the

construction and en$ineerin$ industry. The %C" recommends all

members of the %C", especially senior mana$ers, to ta'e advanta$e of

the &or' that T%+ has done here.

Bibliography:

Transparency %nternational :usiness Tools. These are freely

do&nloadable from the T%+ &ebsite &&&. transparency.or$.u',

mostly as 9ord documents.

End Note , $uture revisions and contact +oint $or advice

%t is intended that from time to time this document &ill be updated.

Members are invited to comment upon it, and to propose ne& topics for

inclusion. To do so, please contact the )rofessional ConductAepartment at the %C".

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Advice on Ethical Conduct