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Ethics Case Studies

Ethics Case Studies. cs 28 - Construction Observation cs 07 - Neighbor’s House cs 11 - Employee Rights cs 12 - 2 Clients / 1 Project cs 18 - Cash Flow Bind. cs 07 - Neighbor’s House Set up. Client = John & Suzie Normal Architect = Domicile Plus

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Ethics Case Studies

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  1. Ethics Case Studies cs 28 - Construction Observation cs 07 - Neighbor’s House cs 11 - Employee Rights cs 12 - 2 Clients / 1 Project cs 18 - Cash Flow Bind

  2. cs 07 - Neighbor’s HouseSet up • Client = John & Suzie Normal • Architect = Domicile Plus • Site – Lot at cul-de-sac in an exclusive subdivision • Developer = Mr. Tract • Neighbors = The Bellushis • Lawyer = Mr. Tort

  3. cs 7 – Neighbor’s House • What is the responsibility of the Domicile + architects to their original client? • What is the firm’s responsibility of the Domicile + architects to their new client? • What is the firm’s responsibility of Domicile + to themselves regarding their design? • What is the firm’s responsibility of the new architect, Mr. Clean, to all parties?

  4. cs 28 - Construction ObservationSetup • Client = Contractor/developer • Architect = Young Firm • Site – Condo on sloping site • Sevivce: Drawings only • Limited site info shows a buried storm/sanitary sewer; no exact location

  5. cs 28 - Construction Observation • Should the architect tell the potential investor about the construction history? • What are the obligations of the architect to is original client? • What obligation does the architect have to report to the city building inspector the changes? • Should the architect agree to provide the observation services?

  6. cs 11 - Employee Rights Setup • Firm A is busy; needs help-temp • Firm B is temporarily slow; work will start • Firm B principal contacts friend who is principal at Firm A about lending a worker for 6 months

  7. cs 11 - Employee Rights • Should Firm A offer a permanent position to the employee? • Should Firm A advise the employee that it would like to have her join the firm, but indicate it feels a commitment to honoring its agreement with Firm B? and therefore return her to Firm A and advertise for new staff • Does the employe have any responsibility to Firm B? • Does Firm B have any obligation to honor the employee’s wishes? • If the employee returns to Firm B and then quits shortly after her return and seeks to be hired by Firm A, what should be the position of Firm A?

  8. cs12 - 2 Clients / 1 ProjectSetup • You are architect for a shopping center • Good client with more work – core and shell • Tenant improvement is additional service

  9. cs12 - 2 Clients / 1 Project • Do you tell the shell-and-core work client that you are obligaed to pursue the application for the tenant client and risk losing this client? • Do your tell the tenant client that you feel that such a sign would be undesirable from the point of view of the overall project appearance and decline to pursue the application? • Do you share your delemma with both clients? If so, on what basis do you pursue a resolution? • Do you have any ethical obligations to either client?

  10. Ethics • Registration Statutes & Regulations • Professional Conduct Rules • AIA Code of Ethics • Antitrust Concerns

  11. General • A combination of laws, statues and codes regulate and influence the behavior of practicing architects. Some are mandated and others are voluntary. • Mandated controls are included in the state licensing statutes for the practice of architecture as well as federal antitrust statutes that set rules for how businesses compete.

  12. General, cont. • On the voluntary side, architects electing to join professionalsocieties must subscribe to rules of conduct and ethics established and administered by those societies. • Architects play roles in establishing and administrating some legal and professional ethical regulations. • They participate in professional degree programs, serve on registration boards, establish codes of ethics and adjudicate professional misconduct.

  13. REGISTRATION STATUTES & REGULATIONS • The authority to enact legislation protecting public health, safety and welfare – including the authority to regulate professions – is exercised primarily by the states. • The Bill of Rights reserves to the states all powers not specifically granted by the Constitution to the federal government. Protecting public health, safety and welfare is one of these reserved powers. Thus the regulation of most aspects of design and construction falls to the states under the Bill of Rights.

  14. REGISTRATION STATUTES & REGULATIONS, cont. • States enact legislation governing the registration of architects and a more detailed set of administrative rules and regulations, these typically include: • Define the practice of architecture and limit it to those who are registered as architects within that jurisdiction • Restrict the use of the title architect to those who are licensed as architects • Establish requirements for entry to the profession

  15. REGISTRATION STATUTES & REGULATIONS, cont. • Empower a registration board to establish rules and regulations • Indicate how architects registered in other jurisdictions may become registered to practice in the jurisdiction • Define professional conduct and misconduct • Outline penalties for those who practice architecture illegally within the jurisdiction

  16. PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT RULES • These rules deal with the governing of architectural practice and include: • The use of the architect’s seal • Conflict of interest • Disclosure of financial interest in projects and other aspects of professional behavior • Each jurisdiction’s regulations include: • Provisions for filling complaints • Investigating the allegations made in the complaints • Hearing both sides of the issue • Administering penalties

  17. A jurisdiction designates an administrative agency that typically has the power to admonish, censure, suspend or revoke an architect’s registration to practice in that jurisdiction. • New Jersey State Board of Architects

  18. Common Questions

  19. AIA CODE OF ETHICS • 3 Tier Organization • Canons are broad principles of conduct. The code’s 5 canons are general statements that address professional responsibilities to the discipline, the public, the client, the profession and professional colleagues. • Ethical Standards are specific goals toward which members should aspire in professional practice and conduct, the 1st ethical standard (E.S. 3.1) under Canon lll Obligations to the Client, reads: • “Members should serve their clients in a timely and competent manner”

  20. AIA CODE OF ETHICS, cont. • Rules of conduct implement the canons and ethical standards. The canons and ethical standards are stated in aspirational terms; the rules are mandatory and describe the floor below which a member’s actions may not fall. Only a violation of a specific rule of conduct can be the basis for disciplinary action by the AIA. Ethical Standard 3.1 states (in part): • “Members shall not materially alter the scope or objectives of a project without the client’s consent”

  21. Fiduciary Relationship • The retention of a professional designer by a client – like the relationship between employer and employee and between partners- creates a fiduciary relationship • A fiduciary relationship is contrasted with thearm’s length relationship. In a commercial setting parties generally deal at “arm’s length”: each party must look out for itself. On the other hand, a fiduciary relationship is a close one, and the parties must be able to trust each other.

  22. ANTITRUST CONCERNS • As with all business enterprises, architects are prohibited under federal law from combining with others to engage in activities that restrain trade or are otherwise anticompetitive.

  23. ANTITRUST CONCERNS, cont. • Basic Principles • Agreements or other joint conduct between 2 or more competitors that unreasonably restrain trade are illegal • Fix or maintain prices; (price fixing) architects must make independent decisions on fees for their services

  24. ANTITRUST CONCERNS, cont. • Boycott a competitor or customer; an agreement or understanding among competing architects not to deal with another architect or a particular client or category of client if the purpose is to limit customer choices

  25. ANTITRUST CONCERNS, cont. • Allocate business or customers; a decision among architects to divide or allocate customers or markets is unlawful. Even informal, unwritten understandings that architects will refrain from doing business with one another’s clients violate the law.

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