Ethics, professional responsibility and practice management
Scope
Ethics questions test 土地家屋調査士法, the 会則, and the professional judgments that appear in no measurement manual.
Core rules
- 土地家屋調査士法1条 states the profession's role in 表示に関する登記 and 筆界; 品位保持 and 信用維持 are continuing duties, not entry requirements.
- 秘密保持: information learned in the course of business may not be disclosed without 正当な理由. This covers client data, draft 地積測量図, and the existence of the engagement itself.
- 利益相反: acting for both sides of a boundary dispute approximates 双方代理 (民法108条); disclose the conflict and refer one party elsewhere.
- Registration and practice: 名簿登録, 調査士会 加入, 事務所 の届出, 業務報酬 の明示, 賠償責任保険.
- 犯罪収益移転防止法 requires 本人確認 and 取引記録の保存 for designated transactions.
- Advertising must not be 虚偽 or 誇大; outcome guarantees are prohibited.
Worked example
Client A asks you to survey a boundary and also to 「have a word」 with neighbour B, who is your client on an unrelated matter. Analysis: surveying A's boundary against B is adverse to B. You disclose the conflict, decline the second engagement, and return B's documents. When A then asks for B's old 地積測量図, you cannot hand it over - it was obtained within B's engagement.
Traps
- Believing 守秘義務 ends when the engagement ends; it does not.
- Accepting both sides because 「it is only a measurement」.
- Promising a specific 筆界 result to win the engagement.