Ethical Responsibilities of Design Professionals in the Current Climate & Beyond

Marvin holds a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland. Marvin Bennett is also a Professor in the School of Architecture and Planning at Morgan State University teaching a variety of Construction Management courses. He has professional engineering licenses in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and New Jersey, and is affiliated with the American Society of Civil Engineers, National Association of Home Builders. Marvin serves on the Quorum Editorial Committee and Maryland Legislative Committee of the Washington Metropolitan Chapter Community Association (WMCCAI). Marvin has many years of experience in providing risk management services to developers including peer reviews, observations during construction, observations at substantial completion, preclosing observations plus completion of condition assessments, transition studies and managing complex construction projects.

Ethical Responsibilities of Design Professionals

in the Current Climate & Beyond

Ethical issues rarely have simple solutions and this matter is no easier for an architect nor an engineer than it is for any other professional. A designer’s (architect, engineer and professional consultant) role and responsibilities during the bidding process is extremely crucial as he or she has a moral, legal and ethical duty to set the tone and convey the principles relevant to the contractual engagement.

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Premium reserve products are for new money only (money not currently held by CIT Bank, N.A.) Funds in excess of FDIC insurance coverage limits are covered by a third-party issued surety bond. Such excess funds are not subject to FDIC deposit insurance. The surety bond providing excess coverage over FDIC insurance may be cancelled at any time upon 30 days’ written notice. Should a notice of cancellation be given, CIT will contact the client to discuss alternatives to provide for the continued safety of funds. May not be available in every state. ©2020 CIT Group Inc. All rights reserved. CIT and the CIT logo are registered trademarks of CIT Group Inc. Deposit and loan products are offered through CIT Bank, N.A., the FDIC-insured national bank subsidiary of CIT Group Inc. MM#7877 It is therefore essential for design firms to provide training to their employees, educate their clients, and document ethical guidelines, which provide a framework for ethics in decision-making and set a measurable process for navigating future interactions. An ethical code framework enables design professionals to examine the procurement process. From team selection to proper communication with all project partners, ethics should be embedded into the bidding process. An area of ethics, built into a firm’s culture that achieves positive outcomes, focuses on embracing diversity & inclusion.

A more recent ethical conversation that community boards, clients, developers, contractors and design professionals are entertaining involves diversity and inclusion. Diversity and inclusion is paramount in the team selection process, as research has shown multiple business and ethical advantages in doing so. Diverse teams include professionals of different genders, ages, races, cultural backgrounds, abilities,

languages and national origins. Authentic and intentional diversity and inclusion offer numerous advantages, some the following are listed below:

• Improve creativity, and problem-solving • Enhanced decision-making and diversity of ideas • Increased profitability and productivity • Greater team engagement and retention • Improved company reputation • More relate-ability with diverse clients • Broader reach to serve geographically distanced populations • Repeat business that is established on valued relationships Enhanced team engagement and retention is achieved when a firm focuses on creating a diverse team. Team members tend to be more loyal and typically stay longer at companies where their broad contributions are respected and accepted. Ethically responsible and conscious decisions require intentionality when designers choose to reflect the communities that they serve. A key question that professional teams should ask themselves is “does our team reflect the demographics of the communities that we serve”? Clients are sometimes more receptive to solutions of a team that they can relate to and ultimately trust. Companies are perceived as more relatable and socially responsible when they truly foster team diversity throughout the firm, as this is displayed both internally and externally.

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Ethical principles, typically woven into the culture of a designer firm, are revealed during the bidding process. To preserve the reputation of the firm and client and to bring fairness and transparency to the process, there are some behaviors and poor, yet common, practices that should be avoided. “Bid rigging” and “Low balling,” are two of the unethical concerns that may arise in the procurement process.

“Bid rigging” involves designers and/or clients knowingly providing confidential information to select bidders in an effort to influence one design firm’s bid and giving them an unfair advantage over other competing design firm. Ethically, design firms should not engage in such activities regardless of the short-term financial gains, nor existing relationships and best of intentions. Unfortunately, this occurs more often than expected and more frequently than acknowledged. As a professional engineer and designer, following an ethical code of conduct, and recommending to the client that a minimum of three competitive bidders be entertained suggest a transparent and fair process.

“Low balling” is also a common practice, where bidders attempt to “buy the project” by bidding low and making up extensively with change orders, contract renegotiations, or simply by cutting corners. An experienced engineer often sees the signs of this practice prior to contract award and is able to assist their client by inquiring about the critical items to expose this unethical business practice. Additionally, when following the ethical standards of a professional engineer, we identify possibilities of excessive and/or unwarranted change orders.

Additional unethical concerns that are prevalent in the industry include overstating capabilities, falsifying estimates and providing overly aggressive and unachievable schedules. During the implementation and execution phase of projects, concerns may arise including padding of expense accounts, allowing use of inferior materials, compromising health and safety standards, and withholding key information from clients and owners.

Ethical challenges are common to all professionals, but key attention is now being directed to architects, engineers and specialty consultants in the public and private sectors. Design professionals should prevent the following unethical actions:

• Accepting gifts from contractors or vendors in an effort to influence a particular decision • Caving to pressure to alter status reports with backdated signatures or documentation to mask the reality of project status • Abusing power, openness and transparency of information • Divulging confidential information about a project or client • Gaining a competitive advantage during an open and fair process • Remaining silent with unethical behaviors are observed All design firms should have documented ethical guidelines and a code of conduct clearly articulating how employees and management teams should conduct themselves individually and collectively. Design firms should foster a workplace of diversity. Fostering a workplace diversity in a design firm is beneficial to the client, the design firm and the communities served. Some best practices for championing diversity and inclusion are as follows:

• Engage in authentic conversations • Be fair, open and honest when ascertaining current state • Promote deserving employees • Educate your workplace • Support diverse collaboration • Eliminate silos • Recruit inclusively

A design professional firm should strive to ethically uphold its responsibility of maintaining a diverse and inclusive environment as it benefits all parties involved, client, contractors, developers, attorneys, and vendors in addition to the communities they collectively serve.

Kirby is the Director of Restoration for Walker Consultants Washington, DC Metro office. He has nearly 20 years of experience in the Baltimore/Washington Metro areas, providing forensic investigation, evaluation, remediation, construction phase and expert witness services relative to the remediation of existing building envelope and structural defects and deficiencies. He is a registered professional engineer in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.

Contractor Code of Ethics

A Mythical Unicorn?

Contractors sometimes get a bad rap, so this article is in no way meant to represent that the majority of contractors are unethical. Most people do not realize or understand that they typically take on significant risk and liability for increasingly complex projects. That said, when a contractor owns a boat named “Change Order” you may start to wonder what code of ethics they follow. The National Society for Professional Engineers provides a well-defined and industry accepted code of ethics that engineers are to follow. The professional engineering exams

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for licensure include ethics questions and continuing education requirements include ethics training, depending upon the jurisdiction. The architecture and property management industries are similar in how ethics are included and handled within the industry. In Montgomery County, Maryland community association board members are even required to complete a training program which includes ethics.

You may then ask, what is the industry code of ethics for contractors? Well, that’s a good question. The alphabet soup of organizations for the construction industry includes ABC (Associated Builders and Contractors), AGC (Associated General Contractors of America) and CMAA (Construction Management Association of America), among others. Contractors company size and area of specialty also vary greatly and so there does not seem to be a one-sized fits all organization that covers the contractor industry. Neither ABC nor AGC appear to provide a defined code of ethics and while CMAA does have a defined code of ethics, it’s primarily focused on Construction Managers whose role differs slightly from that of general contractors.

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So, without a clearly or widely accepted code of ethics apparent for contractors, you might ask about licensure requirements for contractors and whether ethics is covered by that process. The District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia contractor licensing programs vary greatly.

In Maryland, contractor licensing is handled through the MHIC (Maryland Home Improvement Commission) and does require an exam. However, this applies to contractors performing home improvement work for homeowners and condominium unit owners (for work performed within a unit). The exam topics do not specifically include ethics questions. Commercial Construction Licenses in Maryland are handled through applications with each County Circuit Court as a specific type of business license which does not appear to cover ethics or require an exam.

The District of Columbia provides a “Home Improvement Contractor License” and “General Contractor/Construction Manager License” depending upon the level and scope of work to be provided. The licensure process appears to be more like a business license and there is no exam or other requirements specific to ethics.

Virginia’s licensing requirements are more stringent for commercial contractors with various license classes depending upon project dollar amount and there are required exams. Specifically, there is a “Commercial Building Construction Exam.” However, even this exam does not specifically cover ethics. It seems then that ethics needs to be a team effort for everyone involved in a construction project. If the professionals/consultants, property managers, and boards adhere to their respective code of ethics then contractor ethics issues should be reduced or avoided altogether.

Retaining appropriate professionals to prepare detailed construction documents and provide construction phase services as well as having association counsel review contracts may further reduce the potential for contractor ethics issues. You can also ask contractors to provide their Code of Ethics and Business Standards statement or policy prior to hiring them. If they do not have one, consider including the CMAA “Code of Ethics” as a requirement for the contractor as part of your agreement.

Again, this article is not to say that the construction industry as it relates to contractors is unethical but without a widely accepted industry code of ethics it is important that everyone remember and take responsibility for maintaining construction ethics as a team effort. In that way, we’ve all helped ensure that in this area, a contractor code of ethics is not in fact a mythical unicorn.