Ethics, Rules of Conduct and Professionalism Flashcards
What are the five Rules of Conduct?
Members and first must…
1. Act with honest and maintain high levels of integrity
2. Ensure they are competent in the work they are completing
3. Maintain a high level of service
4. Treat all with respect
5. Take responsibility for the work they are completing.
Name some typical behaviours for each of the rules of conduct?
- Honesty - Ensure a conflict of interest check is completed before agreeing to any new projects
- Competency - Ensure lessons learnt from previous projects are implemented into new schemes
- High levels of service - Meeting with clients prior to agreeing scope of service to ensure the scope of service is inclusive of all work the client requires from you within my capacity
- Respect - treat everyone with respect and ensure equal opportunities for all, I.e. women in construction career events
- Responsibility - Provide my companies complaints handling procedure within fee proposals so clients are aware at early onset that complaints will be taken seriously
Give an example of a time you complied with a Rule of conduct
Service - Met with my client on Bexhill medical centre to ensure our scope of service was in line with the work they required from me. This included identifying that the client needed a detailed cost plan identifying cost abnormalities for their project viability meeting
Name the professional obligations for members?
- To comply with the RICS CPD requirements, 20 hours per year, 10 formal
- Cooperate with the RICS
- Promptly provide all information reasonably requested by the Standards and
Regulation Board
What do you need to do when starting up your own firm?
- Assign a RICS member as a principal,
- Adequate insurances including PI
- Complaints Handling Procedure
- Training and development programme for employees to undertake CPD
- Locum agreement.
Name some RICS policy documents
- Conflict of Interest
- Professional Indemnity Insurance
- Complaints Handling
What do the RICS regulations cover?
- Definitions
2.Membership and registration
3.Designations - Contributions to funds
- Conduct
- Governing council officers and staff,
- Subordinate boards committees and groups,
- Procedure for general meetings and voting, 9. Accounts and audit
- General.
What is the RICS CPD policy? What is required in regards to ethics?
Students - 48 hours per year
Members - 20 hours per year, 10 to be formal
What is RICS Lionheart and Matrix?
Lionheart - Counselling services for RICS members and students
Matrix - An organisation for networking and general support of young members
What are terms of engagement?
A written record of the agreement between the client and the firm.
Where would you find guidance for PI Insurance?
RICS Professional Indemnity Insurance Requirements 2022
How do you distinguish between professional statements, code of practice document and guidance notes?
Professional Statements - Rules for members to obide by
Guidance Notes - Guidance on best practice
Code of Practice - A document developed in collaboration with other professional bodies, like IPMS measurement.
Provide different examples of professional statements and guidance notes?
What is involved in a conflict check email?
- States the property, service being provided and client.
- Requests that if anyone is bidding or working with the client or properties to make the sender aware before a specified date.
- System search undertaken at same time.
Q
Is there anything that your PI Insurance doesn’t let you advise on?
Anything that falls outside of Quantity Surveying expertise.
a. VAT
b. Bespoke contract production
c. Fire stopping specification
d. Re-cladding specification
Give an example of a time when you dealt with a complaint? How did you resolve the complaint?
Give an example of a particularly interesting CPD you attended?
What does a sole practitioner need to have in place as a precaution? What does the agreement include?
What is the purpose of ethical standards?
Name some key guidance notes for Quantity Surveyors?
What is a conflict of interest? What are the different types?
- Being potentially influenced in your decision making due to a relationship with a person or organization.
- Own conflict
- Party conflict
- Confidential Information conflict
What is informed consent? What information should be provided when gaining informed consent?
Name a recent RICS article you have read? What did you learn?
What is PI insurance? Why is it required?
Professional Indemnity insurance is to protect a firm, individual or client against financial loss that it can’t meet from its own resources from a negligence claim against them.
What is the client money protection scheme?
The scheme provides protection, at a last resort, in the unlikely event that the firm is unable to repay clients money, up to the limits and exceptions set out in the scheme rules.
What are the requirements of the client money protection scheme?
- Ensure the RICS annual fee is paid for the scheme
- Ensure it is held in a designated account and the client is aware of the details
- Ensure that the client can access the account
- Ensure that cash books and client ledgers are being undertaken
- Ensure the account is not overdrawn
Do you deal with client money? Why do you not?
Give an example of a time you refused tasks beyond your capabilities?
Would you attend a football match if the client invited you?
What are the requirements stated in the RICS PII requirements document?
What is formal and what is informal cpd?
What is the definition of ethics?
How is RICS governed? How are breaches dealt with?
What is the Annual Return?
What RICS guidance should a firm refer to when registering with RICS? What does this document include?
When are firms required to register with RICS? When are firms eligible to register with RICS?
What RICS documents advise on money laundering? What are the key requirements on money laundering?
- RICS Countering Bribery and Corruption, Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing 2019
- RICS Anti-Money Laundering Sanctions Update March 2022
What legislation prevents bribery?
Bribery Act 2010
What legislation prevents money laundering and terrorist financing?
The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Amendment Regulations 2022
What is the rics conflict of interest advise document and date / edition?
RICS Conflict of Interest Professional Statement 2017 1st Ed. Effective January 2018.
What steps should be taken if there’s a conflict of interest?
- Be open and transparent
- Declare any potential Conflict of Interest to all parties ASAP
- Offer to stand down which will enable the client to make an informed decision.
Define what a bribe is?
A bribe is giving someone a financial or other advantage to encourage them to perform their functions improperly
What should you do if someone tries to bribe you?
Decline and report to your line manager and local authority.
Who is president and CEO of RICS?
What is the structure of RICS?
What are the procedures for setting up a RICS practice?
What insurances are required for a RICS practice?
a. Professional Indemnity Insurance
b. Employers Liability Insurance
c. Building Insurance (if they own their office building)
d. Public Liability Insurance
How do you complete the RICS annual return? What happens if you fail to do this?
What does the RICS annual return require firms to submit?
Why did the previous global professional and ethical standards change?
Name the professional obligations for firms?
Q
What is the purpose of undertaking and recording CPD? What are the CPD requirements for a RICS member?
When was RICS founded?
What is RICS motto?
What is the purpose of the Royal Charter?
What is the mission statement of the RICS?
How is RICS regulated?
Who manage and set the strategy for RICS?
What is the Client Money Protection Scheme and how is it provided?
What actions should a firm take that operate a client account?
What requirements do RICS set for complaint handling?
The RICS provides a model form.
The process must include a redress mechanism.
Details of the policy should be issued to the client with the Terms of Business.
It must be clear, quick, transparent and impartial and free of charge within the first stage.
Names and contact details of the nominated investigating person must be stated.
The complaint must be investigated within 28 days.
All complaints, their progress and outcomes must be recorded.
We must note the need to advise PI insurers of a complaint immediately.
The process must have two stages as a minimum: 1. consideration of the complaint by a senior member of the firm or complaint handling officer. 2. If the issue is not resolved, the complaint is referred to an independent third party with the authority to award redress. The complainant may be expected to contribute to costs at this stages.
What is the maximum uninsured excess?
What are the minimum levels of indemnity?
What are the PII requirements?
What is a claims made basis?
What are the limitation periods for PII?
What is the purpose of PII?
What happened during the Merrit vs Babb case law?
Can you identify the case law showing the need for run off cover?
What is a locum agreement? What is included in a locum agreement?
How can you tell if there is an individual classed as a modern slave working on a construction site?
- Unsuitable clothing
- Doesn’t give eye contact
- Under control by someone
- Malnourished / Tired
What is your company’s professional indemnity insurance?
£10 million
What is professional indemnity insurance based on?
The level of cover is based off the firms previous years turnover
How many professional obligations are there for firms? How many for members?
Name some of the requirements included within the Rules of the RICS Logo and Designation by Firms?
What is meant by the RICS logo?
Please define the three conflicts of interest that could be present?
Own Interest Conflict - Where the duty of an RICS member or a regulated firm to act in the interests of a client in a professional assignment conflicts with the interests of that same RICS member/ firm.
Party Interest Conflict - Where the duty of an RICS member to act in the interests of a client or other party in a professional assignment conflicts with a duty owed to another client or party in relation to another professional assignment.
Confidential Information Conflict - A conflict between the duty of an RICS member to provide material information to one client, and the duty of that RICS member to another client to keep that same information confidential.
Where can you find an example form for obtaining informed consent?
Appendix A of the RICS Conflict of Interest guidance
Provide an example of a time there was a conflict of interest? How did you deal with this?
Who would step in if there is a locum agreement?
What would you do if the fee was underpriced for the work provided?
What legislation prevents you from taking money to presuade your decision?
How long should it take you to acknowledge and log a complaint?
48 hours.
What do you use to organise your CPD?
How is an hourly rate calculated?
How do you know when you should have been paid by a client?
What is included in the RICS Conflict of Interest Professional Statement?
The statement includes commentary on:
- Conflict of interest types
- Confidential information
- Firm controls
- Record keeping
- Informed consent
What is your company’s hospitality policy?
What is Professional Indemnity Insurance?
PII is to protect a firm, individual or client against financial loss that it cant meet from its own resources from a negligence claim against them
What does the RICS stand for?
What are the RICS Regulations? What is included in this?
Why do you want to join the RICS?
Why does your company’s CHP differ to the RICS model CHP?
What is the RICS Business Plan? What are the five key objectives within the plan?
What should you do to close down a business?
In what situations would you decline work for a client?
What are RICS information papers?
What is the Companies Act 2006?
In case of a breach of a rule of conduct what is the procedure?
What are the requirements under the money laundering regulations?
- Customer Due-Diligence
- Keep Records
- Internal Procedures to Identify
- Report Suspicious Activity to ML Officer
- Train Employees
- Register to HMRC any cash payments over £10,000