Ethics and the Legal Framework of Practice
Ethics and the legal framework in the Israeli licensing exam are tested through situations, not definitions. You are expected to recognise a conflict of interest, a confidentiality breach, an unlawful client instruction, and the point at which a professional duty to the public overrides a commercial relationship.
Core duties
- Competence and honesty: sign only what you have personally checked; never certify completion you have not seen.
- Loyalty to the client within the law. Public safety, planning law and building regulations override client preference.
- Confidentiality about the client's affairs, including after the engagement ends.
- Disclosure of conflicts of interest, and refusal of undisclosed benefits from contractors, suppliers or authorities.
- Fair dealing with competitors and employees, and no misleading advertising or claims of official status.
Legal exposure
Three sources run in parallel: the engagement contract, tort liability for negligence, and statutory duties under the Planning and Building Law. Professional indemnity insurance does not replace the duty to warn the client in writing about risks, cost consequences and unlawful instructions.
Worked example
A contractor offers to renovate your office for free while building the client's project. Reasoning: this is a benefit connected to the project that the client has not approved, so it creates a conflict and may amount to a prohibited benefit. Decline and document the refusal. If the contractor wants to give a genuine discount, it should be recorded as a reduction of the contract sum for the client.
Traps
Approving "as built" drawings without site visits; accepting a commission contingent on a permit being granted; treating a widespread illegal practice as acceptable; discussing one client's project with a competing bidder.