Professional Practice and Rules of Conduct
What this domain tests
Professional practice questions test judgement under pressure: statutory duties, the HKIE Code of Conduct, and the bribery and safety law an electrical engineer meets on site. The correct answer is usually the one that discloses and declines, not the one that quietly manages.
Core rules
- Work only within your competence, and sign or certify only work you personally directed or supervised and can verify.
- Registered electrical worker grades under the Electricity Ordinance (Cap. 406) define who may carry out and certify electrical work; an engineering title is not a substitute for a grade or for a Registered Electrical Contractor.
- Safety duties arise under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance and the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance, including site supervision expectations.
- Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Cap. 201): section 9 makes it an offence for an agent (an employee) to solicit or accept an advantage without the principal's permission; section 4 covers public servants. There is no minimum value and no requirement that a favour actually be shown.
- Disclose conflicts of interest, preserve confidentiality, report test results honestly, deal fairly with contractors, and report unprofessional conduct through the proper channel.
Worked example
A cable supplier tendering for a package you are evaluating offers your team a "technical visit" to Shenzhen with hotel and meals, plus a HK$2,000 study allowance paid to you personally. Analysis: the hospitality is an advantage offered because of your official position, and the personal payment falls squarely within section 9 - accepting it without your employer's permission is an offence whether or not you intended to favour the supplier. Correct action: decline the personal payment, declare the offer in writing to your employer and the tender panel, record it in the gift register, and if the visit is genuinely needed for evaluation, attend with employer approval and no supplier-funded personal benefit.
Traps that cost marks
- "No favour was intended" as a defence - Cap. 201 turns on the offer and acceptance, not the outcome.
- Certifying a test result you did not witness, or signing for a subordinate's unchecked work.
- Undisclosed outside work for a supplier or competitor in your employer's field.
- Staying silent about a colleague's falsified test certificate because "it is not my business".