I85PREP
⌘ K
RICS Ethics Test study materials
RICS Ethics Test study resources

RICS Ethics Test: Rules of Conduct: applying the five mandatory rules

RICS Ethics Test · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Rules of Conduct: applying the five mandatory rules

What this domain tests

The Rules of Conduct domain tests whether you can apply the five rules that bind RICS members and firms to realistic instructions. Questions often place you under pressure from a client, employer or colleague and ask what the rules require, not what is commercially convenient.

The five rules

  • Rule 1: Be honest, act with integrity and comply with your professional obligations, including obligations to RICS.
  • Rule 2: Maintain professional competence and ensure services are provided by competent individuals.
  • Rule 3: Provide good-quality and diligent service.
  • Rule 4: Treat others with respect and encourage diversity and inclusion.
  • Rule 5: Act in the public interest, take responsibility for your actions and act to prevent harm and maintain public confidence in the profession.

The rules apply to individual members and to firms. Firms also have obligations such as professional indemnity insurance, a complaints handling procedure and a nominated contact. Members must keep CPD records (at least 20 hours a year, 10 of which are formal), cooperate with RICS and notify RICS of specified matters.

Worked example

A client asks you to issue a valuation dated before your inspection because a loan deadline has passed. You have not inspected the property. The correct response is to refuse. Rule 1 prohibits dishonesty; backdating is a false record even if the value would be the same. Rule 5 requires you to act in the public interest and maintain confidence in the profession. Rule 2 is also engaged because you cannot provide a competent valuation without inspection. Explain the reason, offer a lawful alternative such as inspecting and issuing today, and record the request. If the client insists, decline the instruction and consider whether the matter is reportable.

Traps that cost marks

  • Treating the rules as aspirational. Must is mandatory.
  • Assuming an instruction from a senior colleague justifies a breach.
  • Forgetting that firms have separate rule obligations.
  • Confusing confidentiality with a duty to conceal wrongdoing.
  • Ignoring Rule 5 when a client instruction harms third parties.