Ethics and professional standards
Domain 2: Ethics and professional standards
This domain tests the conduct expected of a registered quantity surveyor under pressure: integrity, objectivity, competence, confidentiality and service to the public interest. Scenarios typically ask what to disclose, decline, document or escalate.
Core rules and concepts
- Integrity and objectivity. Give advice that is impartial and evidence-based. Do not let fee arrangements, repeat work, friendship or client pressure override professional judgment.
- Conflicts of interest. Identify actual, potential and perceived conflicts early. Disclose in writing, manage by separation or independent review, and withdraw where the conflict is material. Appearance matters as well as actual bias.
- Confidentiality. Tender prices, cost data and client commercial information are confidential. Disclose only with authority or where law requires; do not reuse a previous employer's data without permission.
- Competence and due care. Accept instructions only within your expertise; use specialists and check their advice; keep records and undertake continuing professional development. State assumptions and qualifications clearly.
- Procurement integrity. Evaluate tenders consistently against published criteria. Do not accept gifts, hospitality or secret commissions that could influence decisions. Avoid bid-rigging, collusion and improper contact with bidders.
Worked example
During a tender evaluation, a bidder offers the lead evaluator an expensive holiday after submission but before the recommendation; the evaluator also discovers a close relative is a shareholder in that bidder. Correct action: decline the gift, declare the shareholding immediately, withdraw from the evaluation if the interest is material, and inform the client and professional lead in writing. The reasoning is not merely that the gift is generous; accepting it creates a bribe risk, and the undisclosed interest undermines the audit trail and the fairness of the recommendation.
Traps that cost marks
Believing disclosure alone cures a material conflict; treating customary hospitality as always acceptable; discussing one client's costs with another; claiming competence in an unfamiliar specialty; failing to document oral advice; letting employer loyalty override safety or legal duties.