More than 100 property professional bodies worldwide, which make up a body known as the IES Coalition, have published the first set of ethics principles for professionals working in land, property, construction, infrastructure and related professions.
Members based in the UK include the CIOB, the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
The IES Coalition believes that creating a universally applicable set of ethics values will bring greater recognition to the role that ethical values play in efficient property markets.
Peter Bolton King, who chairs the coalition, said: “Ethical values act as an anchor to appropriate behaviours and research tells us that investment in real estate markets by pension funds and sovereign wealth funds is predicted to double over the next decade. Therefore, publishing one set of International Ethics Standards helps to underpin existing codes of ethics and create an opportunity to strengthen the role these values play in the property industry.”
The standard covers 10 principles, which are considered to be of equal importance. If two or more come into conflict during an assignment, the practititioner should give precedence to the principle that best serves the public interest in the circumstances. The 10 principles are:
- Accountability
- Confidentiality
- Conflict of interest
- Financial responsibility
- Integrity
- Lawfulness
- Reflection
- Standard of service
- Transparency
- Trust
Other professions have long-established global ethics standards including accountancy, law, auditing and medicine and the IES Trustees felt that it was time for real estate and related professions, which are among the largest industries in the world, to produce one set of global ethics standards.
Paul Nash, president of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), said: “Ethics is central to being a professional. Construction is a challenging environment and that will only increase as national players and agendas mix together on the international stage.
“By creating one over-arching set of ethical principles brings improved clarity and transparency, helping to de-risk markets and ensure greater standardisation of professionalism across the globe.”
The IES standards can be downloaded from: www.ies-coalition.org/standards
