ICE CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

Made by the Council on 21 July 2004 to come into effect on 1 November 2004, in
accordance with By-law 35. Modified in accordance with By-law 35 by the
Council on 20 May 2008 and taking effect from 10 June 2008; modified by the
Council on 17 July 2012 and taking immediate effect, further modified by the
Council on 15 April 2014 and taking immediate effect.
Contents
1. Introduction.
2.

The Rules of Professional Conduct.

3.

Guidance Notes on the interpretation and application of the Rules of

Professional Conduct.

INTRODUCTION
The purpose of the Code of Professional Conduct
The ICE has provided a Code of Professional Conduct to lay down, both for its
members and for the general public, the standards of professional conduct and
ethical behaviour by which its members should abide. The code will apply to all
its members, irrespective of their grade, the professional role they fulfil, and the
countries in which they practise. The Code contains, first of all, the specific Rules
of Professional Conduct to which members must adhere. The rules cover, in plain
language, those basic things that members must do. Where appropriate, there
are Guidance Notes to help members interpret and apply the rules (there are no
Guidance Notes for Rule 6). The Guidance Notes are not exhaustive and do not
cover all contingences. However, the Guidance Notes do cover the main areas
where instances of improper conduct have arisen. An act which seriously
breaches one of the Guidance Notes will probably breach the Rule of
Professional Conduct to which that Guidance Note applies.
In the course of their careers members may undertake roles that remove them
from direct involvement with engineering matters. This does not, however,
remove from them the obligation, as members of the ICE, to act in accordance
with the Rules of Professional Conduct in all aspects of their professional lives.
Advice to members
The ICE has published a separate document entitled Advice on Ethical Conduct.
This advice is to help members by providing more information on what the
Institution considers to be ethical conduct. A member will not be considered to
have breached the Rules of Professional Conduct solely because he or she has
not followed the Advice on Ethical Conduct.
The ICE is anxious that any members who are troubled by an ethical problem,
particularly if they are worried about breaching the Rules of Professional
Conduct, should be able to discuss their concerns with one or more of the senior
members of the ICE. Any members who wish to do this should contact the
Professional Conduct Department so that arrangements can be made.

The duty to behave ethically

The duty upon members of the ICE to behave ethically is, in effect, the duty to
behave honourably; in modern words, to do the right thing. At its most basic, it
means that members should be truthful and honest in dealings with clients,
colleagues, other professionals, and anyone else they come into contact with in
the course of their duties. Being a member of the ICE is a badge of probity and
good faith, and members should do nothing that in any way could diminish the
high standing of the profession. This includes any aspect of a members
personal conduct which could have a negative impact upon the profession.
Members of the ICE should always be aware of their overriding responsibility to
the public good. A members obligations to the client can never override this, and
members of the ICE should not enter undertakings which compromise this
responsibility. The public good includes care and respect for humanitys
cultural, historical and archaeological heritage, in addition to the duties specified
in the Rules of Professional Conduct to protect the health and well being of
present and future generations and to show due regard for the environment and
for the sustainable management of natural resources.
THE RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
1.

All members shall discharge their professional duties with integrity and
shall behave with integrity in relation to all conduct bearing upon the
standing, reputation and dignity of the Institution and of the profession
of civil engineering.

2.

All members shall only undertake work that they are competent to do.

3.

All members shall have full regard for the public interest, particularly in
relation to matters of health and safety, and in relation to the well-being
of future generations.

4.

All members shall show due regard for the environment and for the
sustainable management of natural resources.

5.

All members shall develop their professional knowledge, skills and

competence on a continuing basis and shall give all reasonable
assistance to further the education, training and continuing professional
development of others.

6.

All members shall:

a. notify the Institution if convicted of a criminal offence;
b. notify the Institution upon becoming bankrupt or disqualified as a
Company Director;
c. notify the Institution of any significant breach of the Rules of
Professional Conduct by another member.

GUIDANCE NOTES ON THE INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION OF THE

RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
Rule 1: All members shall discharge their professional duties with integrity
and shall behave with integrity in relation to all conduct bearing upon the
standing, reputation and dignity of the Institution and of the profession of civil
engineering.
The manner in which members can fulfil this Rule includes, but is not limited to,
the following:

Carry out their professional duties with complete objectivity and

impartiality.

If a member has an interest, the member must declare it.

Have due regard to their duty of confidence in relation to all parties with
whom they have dealings as part of their professional duties.

Have due regard to their duty of care to clients, especially lay clients in
domestic or small works engagements.

Put terms of the engagement in writing and state the fees to be charged;
whenever practicable, these should be issued to the client before the
project is begun.

Members who do not carry appropriate insurance, either personally or

through their employers must advise their clients of the position before
accepting the engagement. Members must take all reasonable steps to
ensure that their prospective clients understand the extent to which they
are covered by appropriate insurance.

Members must show due consideration for other colleagues and for other
persons with whom they have dealings in the course of their professional
duties. Members must treat all persons with respect and without bias.
o

Members must never behave in a way that discriminates against

persons because of their race, gender, disability, sexual orientation,
age, religion, or country of origin.

Members must not treat anyone more favourably because of their

race, nationality, country of origin, religion, gender, status, or
because they are related to the member or have family connections
with the member. In their professional dealings, members must treat
everyone the same and must be fair to all.

Members must not, directly or indirectly, improperly attempt to

supplant another person, and must take all reasonable steps to
establish that any previous engagement in relation to the project they
are to enter into has been terminated.

When commenting on another persons work, members must advise

that person of their involvement, except for routine or statutory
checks or where the members client or employer requires
confidentiality.

When competing with another person, and when taking actions likely
to adversely affect the professional, business or other interests of
another person, members must not act maliciously or recklessly.

Members who are responsible for the work of others or who have a
management responsibility for other persons must take responsibility for
the work produced. Members must therefore ensure that all such persons
are appropriately qualified and supervised in a manner appropriate to their
competence and that such persons have full regard to the public interest,
particularly in relation to matters of health and safety. Members must also
ensure that they have the knowledge and expertise to effectively oversee
the work for which they are accountable.

Members must not have any form of involvement, whether direct or

indirect, and whether for the benefit of the member, the members
employer, or a third party, in bribery, extortion, fraud, deception, collusion
or any other corrupt activity. Members must be especially rigorous when
operating in countries where the offering and accepting of inducements
and favours, or the inflation and falsification of claims, is endemic.

Members must report in accordance with their employing organisations

instructions or code of conduct what they know of any corrupt activity in
which their employing organisation has become engaged. Members must
not ignore wrong-doing and must not act with wilful blindness.

Members who are senior managers or senior officers in an organisation

must properly investigate any suspicion of corruption of which they
become aware and for which their organisation may be responsible, and
must in all other ways act with reasonable care in relation to evidence of
such corruption. Above all, members must not act with wilful blindness.

Breaching the Bribery Act 2010. Members who are UK citizens or who
work for UK registered companies should be aware that under the Bribery
Act 2010, bribery committed anywhere in the world by a UK citizen or a UK
registered company is a criminal offence both in the UK and in the country
in which the offence is committed. The maximum penalty in the UK for
bribery is an unlimited fine and/or imprisonment for seven years. For more
information, members should refer to the following website, showing the
Act in full and the Explanatory Notes:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/23/introduction

Members must not be guilty of any form of plagiarism.

Plagiarism is using the work of others but presenting it without

permission, acknowledgement or reference as if it were the persons
original work, e.g. copying electronically by cut and paste from the
source document. It will include the use of such material as written
text, statistics or similar data, diagrams or illustrations, and
photographs.

Examples of where plagiarism might occur are as follows: reports

and publications of any kind including articles and books; and course
work or answers in examination papers submitted for academic or
professional qualifications. This will include the use of model
reports, and model answers to examination questions, where text is
copied and used verbatim or with minor alteration. In some
circumstances plagiarism might constitute criminal deception, thus
rendering the guilty person liable to prosecution and a criminal
conviction, and, in the case of published works, civil action for
damages where copyright law has been breached.

Members must not collude with any form of plagiarism and they must
exercise reasonable care in relation to evidence of any form of plagiarism.

Members must not make any untrue or misleading statements in job

applications, Curricula Vitae, applications for admission to any grade of
ICE membership or grade of membership of any other professional body,
and applications for admission to any academic body or institution or for
any course of study. In some circumstances this might constitute criminal
deception, thus rendering the guilty person liable to prosecution and a
criminal conviction.

Members must not collude with, or fail to exercise reasonable care in

relation to, any form of untrue or misleading job application, or any
application for admission to any grade of ICE membership or grade of
membership of any other professional body, e.g. when acting as a sponsor
or referee. References must only be given where the referee is sufficiently
familiar with the person to be able to vouch for them authoritatively. To
provide a reference where this is not the case, or which is in any way
untruthful or misleading, will breach this Rule.

When acting as expert witnesses, members must ensure that the

testimony they give is both independent and impartial. In such a role,
members must be mindful that their prime duty is to the Court or Tribunal,
not to the client who engaged them to give evidence, and they should not
give any professional opinion that does not accurately reflect their honest
professional judgement or belief. To do otherwise would not only place
members in danger of perjury but would clearly breach the requirement in
the Rules of Professional Conduct to discharge their professional duties
with integrity.

Rule 2: All members shall only undertake work that they are competent to do.

Members must be competent in relation to every project that they

undertake. They must ensure that, having regard to the nature and extent
of their involvement in a project, they have the relevant knowledge and
expertise. Where appropriate, this may include access to the knowledge
and experience of others, or access to other relevant sources of
knowledge, in addition to the members own knowledge and experience. In
so doing, they must pay due regard to the laws on copyright and other
rights of intellectual property. They must disclose, where appropriate, any
relevant limitations upon their competence.

Being competent means that members have ensured that their knowledge
has remained up to date, and has covered all relevant developments; in
other words, members must maintain structured programme of continuing
professional development to improve and update their technical
knowledge.

Rule 3: All members shall have full regard for the public interest, particularly
in relation to matters of health and safety, and in relation to the well-being of
future generations.
The manner in which members can fulfil this Rule includes, but is not limited to,
the following:

Take all reasonable steps to protect the health and safety of members of
the public and of those engaged in the project. This covers the whole life
of a project during construction, operation, maintenance and
decommissioning.

All laws and regulations on health and safety must be obeyed. However,
taking all reasonable steps may sometimes mean doing more if the legal
provisions are inadequate to protect the health and safety of those who
are, or could be, affected.

Members must not enter into any contracts which compromise their overall
responsibility to protect health and safety.

Members must assess and manage relevant risks and communicate these
appropriately.

Where new or under-tested materials or methods are being used,

members must pay attention to the public safety implications, and must
have regard to the possibility that performance of the materials or methods
may be worse than forecast. The use of such materials or methods and
the risks involved must be drawn specifically to the clients notice.

Other matters relating to this Rule include:

Producing competitive bids should not result in the inappropriate exposure

to hazard of any person at any time. Members have a duty, as far as is
reasonable, to keep abreast of emerging hazards, and to inform interested
parties accordingly.

Members must take all reasonable steps to avoid preventable disasters

and should act in accordance with relevant good practice; for example, for
UK-based members this will be the Royal Academy of Engineering
Guidelines for Warnings of Preventable Disasters. If members are in any
doubt about the action they should take, they should seek the advice of
the Institution.

Members must take account of the broader public interest - the interests of
all stakeholders in any project must be taken properly into account,
including the impact on future generations. This must include regard for
the impact upon the society and quality of life of affected individuals,
groups or communities, and upon their cultural, archaeological and ethnic
heritage, and the broader interests of humanity as a whole.

Members must act with due regard to international law. In particular,

members must:
o Show due respect for the rights of other peoples under
international law and for their culture and customs, in particular
their right to live in peace without fear of oppression,
dispossession or exile.
o Take into account that a project that is legal according to the
administrative power concerned may have been judged illegal
under international law or may be subject to UN censure,
especially in relation to territory that has been illegally annexed,
illegally occupied or is disputed.

Rule 4: All members shall show due regard for the environment and for the
sustainable management of natural resources.

In all the work that members do, they must be able to demonstrate, by an
appropriate audit trail, that they have taken all reasonable steps to take
account of all the relevant factors in relation to the impact upon the
environment and the sustainable management of natural resources. It is
increasingly the case that engineers are called to account for their
decisions, especially where projects are controversial or are opposed by
particular interest groups.

Rule 5: All members shall develop their professional knowledge, skills and
competence on a continuing basis and shall give all reasonable assistance
to further the education, training and continuing professional development
of others.

All members have a duty to improve and update technical knowledge, and
to keep abreast of relevant developments, including new or changed
statutory provisions.

Every member has a duty to be pro-active in the training and continuing professional
development of others, especially those for whom the member has line management
responsibility.