International construction ethics standard launched
The first set of global ethics principles has been produced for professionals working in land, property, construction, infrastructure and related professions.
In December, a coalition of more than 100 property professional bodies worldwide, of which CIAT is a full member, published the first set of ethics principles for professionals working in land, property, construction, infrastructure and related professions.
The IES Coalition believes that creating a universally applicable set of ethics values will help assert the role of ethics and help ensure greater professionalism.
Globally, real estate assets reached a value of $217 trillion in 2015 which compares with global GDP of about $80 trillion and it is vital that organisations in these sectors continue to collaborate and bring greater recognition to the role that ethical values play in contributing to efficient property markets.
President Gary Mees said 'The absence of a single, clearly understood and internationally adopted approach meant that for clients of professionals and for the public at large, ethics can sometimes be seen as fragmented. Creating one over-arching set of ethical principles brings improved clarity and transparency, helping to de-risk markets; which is an excellent achievement on working on a global platform.'
Peter Bolton King, Chair of the International Ethics Standard Coalition, said: 'Ethical values act as an anchor to appropriate behaviours and research tells us that investment in real estate markets by pension funds and sovereign wealth funds is predicted to double over the next decade. Therefore, publishing one set of International Ethics Standards helps to underpin existing codes of ethics and create an opportunity to strengthen the role these values play in the property industry.'
Other professions have long-established global ethics standards including accountancy, law, auditing and medicine and the IES Trustees felt that it was time for real estate and related professions, which are among the largest industries in the world, to produce one set of global ethics standards.
Download the standards here: www.ies-coalition.org/standards