IET Consultants' Code of Conduct
1. Subscribers shall at all times take all reasonable care to limit any danger of death, injury or ill health to any person that may result from their work and the products of their work.
2. Subscribers shall take all reasonable steps to avoid waste of natural resources, damage to the environment, and damage or destruction of man-made products. Lawful work undertaken by subscribers in connection with equipment intended for the defence of a nation will not infringe this Rule or Rule 1.
3. Subscribers shall take all reasonable steps to maintain and develop their professional competence, and shall encourage persons working under their supervision to do the same.
4. Subscribers shall not undertake professional tasks and responsibilities that they do not believe themselves competent to discharge.
5. Subscribers shall accept personal responsibility for all work done by them or under their supervision or direction. Subscribers shall also take all reasonable steps to ensure that persons working under their authority are both suitably equipped and competent to carry out the tasks assigned to them.
6. Subscribers who are called upon to give an opinion in their professional capacity shall, to the best of their ability, give an opinion that is objective and based upon the best available knowledge and information.
7. Subscribers whose professional advice is not accepted shall take all reasonable steps:
a. to ensure that the person overruling or neglecting that advice is aware of any danger or loss which may ensue; and
b. in appropriate cases, to inform that person's employers of the potential risks involved.
a. their qualifications to make such a statement and
b. any association that they may have with any party who may benefit from the statement are known to the person or persons to whom it is directed.
a. Is factual and relevant;
b. Is not misleading or unfair to others;
c. Is not discreditable to the institution or the wider profession.
a. withdraw from the assignment
b. eliminate the conflict
c. disclose the conflict and obtain the agreement of the parties concerned as to the manner of the continuing engagement.
8. Subscribers shall not make any public statement in their professional capacity without ensuring that
9. Subscribers shall not either advertise or write articles for publications in any manner that is derogatory to the IET or to the dignity of their profession. Neither shall they authorise any such advertisement or article to be written or published by others.
10. Subscribers shall not recklessly or maliciously injure or attempt to injure, whether directly or indirectly, the professional reputation, prospects or business of any other person.
11. Subscribers shall inform their client in writing of any conflict or potential conflict that may exist or arise between their personal interests and the interests of their client.
12. Subscribers shall not without proper authority disclose any confidential information concerning the business of their client or any past client.
13. Subscribers shall not without their client's consent accept any payment or benefit in money or moneys worth from any person other than their client in connection with professional services rendered to their client. Neither shall they without such consent receive directly or indirectly any such payment or benefit in respect of any article or process used in or for the purpose of the work in respect of which they are employed.
14. Subscribers shall not improperly solicit work as independent advisers or consultants, either directly or by an agent. Neither shall they improperly pay any person, whether by commission or otherwise, for the introduction of such work.
15. Subscribers acting as independent advisers or consultants shall not be the medium of payment made on their client's behalf unless so requested by their client. Neither shall they place contracts or orders in connection with work on which they are employed, except with the authority of and on behalf of their client.
16. Subscribers shall, as appropriate, coach clients in terms of good practice in the engagement of independent consultants, and in particular offer a written contract with appropriate provisions in connection with any assignment.
17. Subscribers shall advise clients of any significant reservations they may have about the client's expectation of benefits from an assignment.
18. Subscribers shall not promote any short-term benefits at the expense of the longer term interests of the client without advising the client of the implications.
19. Subscribers shall, in publicising work or making representations to a client, ensure that the information given:
20. Subscribers shall not publicise information concerning the findings of a commission which explicitly or implicitly identifies the client, unless that client has given permission for that information to be so used or the information is already in the public domain. Subscribers will comply with any stipulation from a client that a commission shall not be used as a reference in publicising the consultant's practice
21. Subscribers shall ensure that clients are kept appropriately informed about the progress of assignments.
22. Subscribers shall that subcontract work will remain responsible for the performance of the work unless otherwise agreed with the client.
23. Subscribers shall avoid any circumstance inconsistent with their professional obligations or which might be construed as compromising their integrity.
24. Subscribers shall as the circumstances require, wherever a conflict or potential conflict of interest arises;
25. Subscribers shall not, with any personal interest, invite any client employee to consider alternative employment, unless specifically commissioned for this purpose.
26. Subscribers shall, if there is any question over the propriety of any activity or course of action, consider whether the activity could be publicly declared without embarrassment or damage to their reputation or the wider reputation of the profession.
27. Any hospitality or gift given as a gesture of thanks, shall be suitably modest so as to avoid any question of impropriety
28. Subscribers shall adopt the whole of this code without qualification. Any deviation shall remove entitlement to declare subscription to this code.