Mandatory Competencies Flashcards
What are the five principles of better regulation guiding RICS Rules of Conduct?
Proportionality Accountability Consistency Targeting Transparency
How is the RICS governed?
RICS’ Governance is comprised of four teams:
- Governing council
- Presidential team
- Executive team
- Regulatory board
What is the RICS governing council?
- Manages the Royal Charter Obligations, setting direction and strategy
- Establishes the Regulatory Board, Management Board and other committees
How is the RICS Governing Council elected?
- Elections are held every 2 years and are open to all members of the RICS.
- All members can vote in the whole membership category
- Comprises members from world regions, specific countries, professional groups, Matrics and members as a whole
How many RICS regional boards are there in the UK?
Nine regional boards:
- East Midlands
- East of England
- London
- North East
- North West
- South East
- South West
- West Midlands
- Yorkshire and the Humber
What is the purpose of the RICS?
- Regulate and promote the surveying profession
- Maintain the highest educational and professional standards
- Protect clients and consumers via a strict code of ethics
- Provide impartial advice and guidance
What professional groups are there within the RICS?
Three sectors contain different RICS professional groups:
• Land (e.g. environment, minerals and waste, planning and development etc.)
• Property (e.g. valuation, facilities management, residential property etc.)
• Construction (e.g. building surveying, building control, project management, quantity surveying etc.)
What are the differences between Practice Statements, Codes of Practice, Guidance Notes and Information Papers?
- Practice Statements - provides members with mandatory requirements in order to comply with the RICS bye-laws and regulations in the interest of maintaining the highest professional standards
- Codes of Practice - documents approved by the RICS and endorsed by another professional body/stakeholder that provides recommended best practice to practitioners
- Guidance Notes - provides users with recommendations for accepted good practice as followed by competent and conscientious practitioners
- Information Papers - practice based information that provides users with the latest information and/or research
As a surveyor, why should you follow the guidance produced by the RICS?
If an allegation of professional negligence is made against a surveyor, the court is likely to take into account compliance with relevant professional standards published by the RICS in deciding whether or not the surveyor acted with reasonable competence.
Who regulates members of the RICS and ensures they comply with the rules?
- The RICS is a self-regulatory body, meaning members are not regulated by government but are internally monitored and inspected
- The Regulatory Board helps regulate the profession, deciding on policy and overseeing the implementation of regulatory matters
- The Conduct and Appeals Committee also help in regulating the profession
What is the purpose of the Royal Charter?
- Changes a body from a collection of individuals into a single legal entity
- Written description of the RICS’ powers (e.g. self-regulation) and obligations (e.g. advancement of knowledge, appointment of a Governing Council etc.)
- Requires the RICS to develop the profession for the public advantage
- Allows members to use the term ‘chartered’ in their job title
What are bye-laws?
A list of laws applied internally using powers granted by the Royal Charter (aka the RICS’ constitution)
Explain the relationship between the Privy Council and the RICS.
Privy Council - a body set up in the early days of the monarchy to advise the king/queen on matters of state and not put before parliament
Any changes to the bye-laws have to be approved by the UK Government, through the Privy Council, even if the changes have already been approved by a majority vote of RICS members
What are the turnover limits for professional indemnity insurance?
The minimum level of indemnity is based on the firm’s turnover in the previous year:
Turnover in previous year
£100,000 or less = £250,000
£100,001 to £200,000 = £500,000
£200,001 and above = £1million
What are the legal requirements to sue for professional negligence?
A claimant will need to demonstrate that he or she is was owed a duty of care by the defendant professional, the professional breached the duty of care and the breach caused a loss to the claimant.
What are the five Global Professional and Ethical standards?
1) Act with integrity
2) Always provide a high level of service
3) Act in a way that promotes trust in the profession
4) Treat others with respect
5) Take Responsibility
What do you understand by the standard ‘Act with Integrity’, High level of service, etc?
1) Act with integrity – Being honest and straightforward
2) Always provide a high level of service – Always ensuring that your client receives the best possible advice, support or performance of the terms of engagement you have agreed.
3) Act in a way that promotes trust in the profession – Acting in a manner, both in your professional life and private life, to promote you, your firm or organisation you work for the profession in a professional and positive way.
4) Treat others with respect – Treating people with courtesy, politeness and consideration.
5) Take Responsibility – Being accountable for all your actions.
Can you prove working examples of each Ethical Standard?
- Integrity - turning down an invitation from a contractor whilst settling the final account
- High standard of service - referring clients to specialists when scope is outside competence
- Trust - rejecting the early certification of work
- Respect - working with people from different backgrounds equally
- Responsibility - questioning unsafe working on site
What is the RICS Decision Tree?
Flowchart to help members decide how to act in difficult situations where their professional ethics may be at stake.
What factors does the RICS Decision Tree consider?
- Sufficient facts
- Legality
- Ethical standards
- Consultation of appropriate people
- Clear reasoning
- Impact if actions made public
What is a conflict of interest?
Anything that impedes or might be perceived to impede an individual’s or firm’s ability to act impartially and in the best interest of a client
What are the five principles under the Rules of Conduct for Firms?
Proportionality Accountability Consistency Targeting Transparency
As a qualified surveyor how much CPD are you required to complete each year?
- All members must undertake a minimum of 20 hours CPD each calendar year (January to December). Members must record their CPD activity online by 31 January.
- All members must maintain a relevant and current understanding of our professional and ethical standards during a rolling three-year period.
What would count as formal CPD? How much do you have to do?
Of the 20 hours at least 10 hours must be formal CPD. Formal CPD can be any form of structured learning that has clear learning objectives and outcomes, such as a professional course, structured online training, technical authorship, learning that includes an assessment measure.
What would count as informal CPD?
Informal CPD is any self-managed learning that is relevant or related to your professional role. This could include activities such as private study, on-the-job training, attendance at informal seminars or events where the focus is on knowledge sharing.
A client calls you to confirm that they wish to make a complaint. How do you deal with the call?
If the complaint is made orally the client should be asked for a written summary and when received it should be sent to the Office Manager and provide a copy of the Complaints Handling Policy.
What do you understand by the term Clients Money?
Clients money is money held on behalf of a client and it does not belong to the Principals of the firm.
How should Clients Money be held?
Clients money should be held in a separate client account and should be clearly identifiable include in its title the word ‘client’. The account should not contain any sums other than the whole or any part of client money paid into it.
What word needs to be included in the account title?
The word ‘Client’ must be on the bank account title and cheque book.
A client asks you to pay an invoice but this will result in the client account becoming overdrawn. What do you do?
Overdrawn balances on client ledgers should be prevented by the appropriate accounting systems and controls in place and where they do occur they should be investigate and rectified immediately.
What instance would you need a Locum agreement in place?
A locum should be appointed if a sole practitioner. A locum is an authorised person or authorised company that can step in when needed, to ensure the smooth running of your business. There is no regulatory requirement to have a locum but if you do, you must make sure they have the right permissions to work for your business.
What level of PI cover does Brown and Co hold?
£20 million.
