12.2.1 Application of Ethics in the Context of the Construction Industry

The construction industry accounts for a large percentage of the global economy and employs between 2% and 10% of the total workforce in most countries of the world. The performance of the industry can be seen to be a good indicator of the state and health of the wider economy. Despite the scale and importance of the UK construction industry, it is frequently criticised for performing poorly. This could be attributed to a general tendency for those employed in the construction industry to ignore best practice and be resistant to change.

The construction industry has emerged as a bespoke project-based industry where there are many different characteristics to other industries such as manufacturing. This is largely due to construction projects being nearly always unique and ‘tailor made’ to suit clients’ individual requirements. This bespoke project-based industry is made up of mostly small teams, ranging from construction workers to design consultants. Such teams come together on a temporary basis for the life of a project and then disband to undertake different projects and this makes it very different from most other industry such as manufacturing. This also introduces fragmentation which can sometimes present an ever-increasing challenge for the sector. Owing to the fragmentation and bespoke nature of its composition, there are several unknown factors in any construction process which could cause the cost of projects to increase, programmes to be delayed and the quality of buildings to be compromised. This creates two aspects which come into play around commerciality and risk and who incurs any additional costs.

Project teams are made up of many construction professionals who have different roles and responsibilities. Clients are normally the project sponsors and accordingly they should be instrumental in steering, resourcing and leading all stages of the construction process from concept to completion. They appoint design teams which normally consist of project managers, architects, structural engineers, mechanical and electrical engineers and quantity surveyors. All these professional consultants work together closely within their different specialist areas during the design and construction phases. This coordinated and collaborative approach is designed to enhance teamwork for procuring successful project outcomes. On the contracting side of project team there are main contractors, subcontractors and suppliers. Main contractors are responsible for the day-to-day oversight of construction site activities which includes management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of building projects. Normally subcontractors are specialists in a particular area or trade, and they will perform all or part of the obligations of the main contractor’s contract. It is common for a large construction project or renovation to involve many different subcontractors who work together to complete projects in a safe and timely manner.

The meaning of ethics can vary depending between the different roles and responsibilities of many different individuals that make up project teams. Clients for instance will expect ethical behaviours from their teams in managing projects closely and reporting any potential risks to them, as issues can frequently create additional cost and time delay implications for them. Conversely, from the consultant project team’s perspective, there may be other ethical considerations to those of their clients. These may include expectations that clients are transparent in keeping them abreast of all issues especially around budgets and any issues that may affect progress of construction projects. From main contractors’, subcontractors’ and suppliers’ perspectives, their view on ethics can be different again from clients and consultants. One of their main concerns is to be paid on time and to be treated fairly in commercial and contracting matters. Timely payments for these parties are especially important as cash flow for them is critical in their financial dealings.

There is an implied duty of care alongside established values and standards which govern whether decision making by construction professionals can be deemed good, bad or indifferent. However, there are sometimes problems for the construction industry in deciding how we judge what is right and wrong and therein what is acceptable. Models of investigation predicated on different branches of ethics can assist in deciding whether a particular situation or decision is ethical or unethical. These include the ‘moral intensity’, ‘business’, ‘virtuous or professional’ and ‘integrity and reputational’ models.

The life cycle of a building does not purely look at the build period, known commonly as the construction contract period or construction phase, but extends to the operational/occupation period also, known as the ‘in use phase’. There are competing interests at large between the design and construction phase and the in-use phase, normally predicated on capital costs versus operational costs. Decision making at the early stages of the life cycle can have long-lasting effects on the occupation in-use phase. Operational costs during the in-use phase normally represents most of the total cost of a building over its life whereas the capital costs during the development and construction phase representing only a fraction of total costs. Despite this, projects can become compromised by too much emphasis on the initial construction costs where capital savings may be required to meet budgetary requirements. These savings as sometimes referred to as ‘value engineering’ and this short-term planning can have long-lasting detrimental financial effects, which could far outweigh the original cost saving.

12.2.2 The Significance and Relevance of Ethics

There are alternative descriptions of what ethics are which highlights that the differentiation and variation around definition could give rise to problems of ambiguity and meaning. Accordingly, an ethical dilemma could ensue from the absence of any universally accepted definition of ethics. Perhaps this is one of the problems when considering professional ethics in the construction industry on a global scale, possibly leading to varying interpretations of ethics for construction professionals and what they mean in practice.

Goals of professional ethics can broadly be classified into two main categories: inward- and outward-facing goals. Inward-facing goals include creating common rules for people and organisations and outlining their responsibilities and duties to act and behave ethically. Conversely, outward-facing goals include providing a platform for evaluation of professions and as a basis for public expectations.

The importance of ethics should not be underestimated as they are considered a vital and essential practice requirement, engendering the trust of the general public and preserving their employers’ interests. Accordingly, one of the benefits of ethics for organisations revolves around trust, especially where firms are heavily reliant on their reputation for conducting business and gaining new work. Furthermore, construction professionals who act in an ethical manner will enhance their performance which will increase the success of projects. Conversely, any compromises on ethics could jeopardise service delivery and damage public perception and the image of the construction industry.

It is important for construction professionals to commit to and encourage project teams to comply with sustainable ethical principles but there are many different aspects and issues that influence and affect professional ethics, and this presents a challenge for the industry. Codes of ethics which have been introduced have provided an indicator that organisations and institutions take ethical principles seriously as they should outline expectations for all personnel with regard to ethical behaviour and intolerance of unethical practices. Notwithstanding this premise, unethical behaviours and practices have been experienced in the construction industry over many years. There are repercussions that can arise from non-ethical practices, especially in the context of the UK construction industry. Construction professionals, as leaders in the procurement of projects, should be leading the way in cultural changes to improve the reputation of the industry. In this pursuit, they should be aware of the importance of ethics, alternative definitions and interpretations of ethics, the reputation of the construction industry, codes of conduct and governance and regulations in avoiding bad practices. In conclusion, measures to improve the practice of professional ethics, such as professional codes of conduct, have gone some way to improve the way the industry works but there are still far too many cases emerging of unethical practices that are blighting the sector. Although arguably these practices are emerging from a small minority of the sector, they are creating a bad press for the whole industry and further measures should be instigated by construction professionals to address this dilemma. Traditional responses in the past, at an institutional level, have been based on governance, regulations and punishment for non-compliance and clearly these have had only limited success. Perhaps construction professionals should be leading the way for a cultural change in the industry to train, educate and motivate construction individuals and organisations in what professional ethics entail, measures to ensure compliance and the benefits that they can bring for the sector. This could be achieved through more focus on FE, and HE course modules linked to professional ethics and CPD through workshops and training events in the workplace. These measures will hopefully contribute to providing a more ethical environment for the industry to work within and reap great benefits not just for all construction-related organisations and the building projects that they procure, but for the future of the construction industry at large. It is accepted, however, that to bring about these cultural changes will take conviction, integrity and in some cases courage not to engage in established unethical practices. These improvements once ingrained within the industry could then reap massive rewards in providing a safer, honest, trusting and more enjoyable working environment for all.

12.2.3 Ethical Dilemmas for Construction Practitioners

Construction-related ethical dilemmas can emanate from a variety of different issues that revolve around financial considerations, planning, conservation, waste management, land contamination, water, irrigation, pollution and energy. Professional ethics are not always aligned with business ethics, and there are sometimes conflicts with doing the right thing and making profits and achieving project targets. In such cases, financial considerations can become a pertinent factor in an imperfect environment where competing factors can create ethical challenges.

Few construction companies still do not include ethical issues as part of their strategic plans or mission statements. Furthermore, some organisations still have no ethical guidelines, policies or programmes for their staff to abide by. Possible improvement measures and reforms could come from business leaders in setting thresholds within their respective organisations for personal ethical standards which could be reflected and applied down the line to their employees. Compliance with such ethical standards maybe something that could be enforced through human resource management. This could take the form of training and education designed to make employees aware of what is acceptable and unacceptable practice and behaviours in the workplace. In this sense, professional conduct and ethical duties of individuals should be applied in the wider public interests and not only confined to the interests of clients and employers. Accordingly, construction professionals must not only take into account the interests of their clients and stakeholders, but the wider communities and the environment as well when taking actions and making decisions.

Adversarial attitudes in the construction industry have in the past affected relationships, behaviours, culture and trust in the construction industry. A major contributor in improving cultures with the construction industry has been professional ethics which defines rules of conduct. Notwithstanding these rules, ethical dilemmas and issues still frequently arise especially in the precontract stages and particularly during the tender processes for projects. With the award of construction contracts normally being synonymous with large sums of money and profits for the successful bidder, it is important to adopt best practices tendering procedures, compliant with the financial regulations of the awarding organisation. Any shortcomings in this regard could open the awarding body up for challenges from unsuccessful bidders especially where the awarding body is a public sector body. For this reason, as part of the tender evaluation processes there is a need to document each stage of the process, including the interviews and clarification sessions and treat all tender submissions equally. This documentation process is important as ethical dilemmas and issues around tender processes have in the past sometimes been challenged and escalated into court proceedings by unsuccessful bidders.

Most organisations normally have rules of governance and declaration procedures to cover corporate hospitality and gifts. However, there may be instances where the self-deception of an individual eludes themselves into the belief that a gift or corporate hospitality will not affect their judgement or impartiality in a particular case. To address this potential dilemma, most organisations have clear guidelines on giving and, perhaps more commonly, receiving gifts and hospitality for the benefit of their employees. In addition, some organisations have strict financial regulations which set down requirements for declaring or rejecting gifts and hospitality over a designated limit. The acceptability of the gift or corporate hospitality will depend very much on its value, but for modest infrequent gifts would normally be very much regarded as a ‘token gesture’ of goodwill. Unfortunately, there is no universal guidance on what is acceptable or unacceptable in the area of when gifts and hospitality become bribery. However, in deciding whether a gift should be accepted or rejected one needs to consider whether the offering could be considered to be excessive, be regarded as a norm for the business being conducted or whether it could influence unethical conduct or behaviour.

One of the main dilemmas for the community of professional practitioners and professional institutions is related to self-regulation and autonomy. This dilemma is accentuated by the different roles and responsibilities for the industry where diversity creates an environment of competing interest and conflicting ethical practices and standards. In addition, unethical behaviours and practices have in the past been attributed to the self-deception of individuals. In such cases, the self- deceiver’s perception of things may encourage and enable them to act in immoral and unethical ways and deluding themselves that they are doing anything wrong in the process. Furthermore, there are scenarios where individuals are unaware that they have acted unethically and where their practices and decision making can be open to interpretation about what is right or wrong. Such dilemmas if unchecked could provide the platform for accountability, performance and quality to be compromised, to the detriment of clients and the general public. To address this conundrum, it is important for organisations and institutions to have robust regulation and governance of professional ethics with clear guidelines and rules. This could include whistle-blowing policies which have in the past addressed cases related to health and safety breaches, theft, bullying, cover ups, corruption and bribery. Such governance and regulatory policies and procedure are designed to give staff the ability to report such practices and therein provide a more transparent workplace, without the fears of harassment or victimisation.

12.2.4 Types and Examples of Unethical Conduct and Corruption

The construction industry provides a perfect environment for ethical dilemmas, with its low-price mentality, fierce competition and paper-thin margins. In addition, different cultures exist within the construction industry, and this may make boundaries between ethical and non-ethical behaviour become blurred at times. Categories of unethical behaviour could include breaches of confidence, conflicts of interest, fraudulent practices, deceit and trickery, presenting unrealistic promises, exaggerating expertise, concealing design and construction errors and overcharging. Less obvious examples of unethical behaviour could emanate from the misuse of power within organisations, and this could relate to managers making unfair or unreasonable demands on their subordinates, displaying intimidating behaviours or undermining their staff. There are degrees of understanding of what constitutes ethical compliance around regulations and rules, especially where tendering and procurement practices are concerned. Accordingly, one party may consider one practice to be acceptable and ethical, whereas another may find it totally unacceptable and unethical. This demonstrates that what constitutes unethical behaviour in practice is not always black and white and can come in many shades of grey owing to interpretation difficulties. This is particularly the case where gifts and corporate hospitality are concerned, albeit The Bribery Act 2010 does offer some clarity in the area; making it an offence to accept or give or receive in kind inducements to receive favours.

Some have argued that new players in the construction industry could be emerging with a general lack of appreciation of construction ethics. Notwithstanding this premise, causes of corruption can be exacerbated by factors such as greed, poverty, politics in the award of building contracts, professional indiscipline and favouritism. Corruption is particularly a problem in some developing countries where as much as 10% of total global construction expenditure was lost to some form of corruption. Notwithstanding this premise, corruption is not confined to developing countries and financial irregularities, scandals, blacklisting and what could the press have referred to as ‘dirty tricks’ have brought the UK construction industry into disrepute in recent years. Where corruption has occurred, it can be very damaging for the reputation of those organisations involved, especially where they have been found guilty of breaching ethical standards and committing criminal offences. Many cases of financial impropriety, false reporting and fraud have entered the courtroom sometimes resulting in fines, and in extreme cases imprisonment. The case of construction and professional services company Sweett Group PLC in February 2016 was one such example on a global scale, where they were ordered to pay £2.25 m after a bribery conviction. Other non-fine–related consequences for unethical breaches could include damage to reputation (personal and organisational), liberty (maximum 10 years prison sentence) and the inability to participate in tendering for public contracts. It is perhaps not surprising that the reputation of the construction industry has been tarnished over many years, which has culminated in a general lack of public trust and confidence in some countries.

Conflicts of interests have links with corruption and occur where there is a clash of commercial and private interests by individuals who hold a position of authority and trust. It could also be synonymous with an individual who has interests or obligations to two or more parties to a contract. Negligence in the design and construction of buildings represents another type of unethical action. Where contractors or designers have compromised the health, safety and well-being of individuals, including members of the public, through poor design or construction quality this could have catastrophic results with potential loss of life. Some examples of such cases include the partial collapse of Ronan Point tower block in 1968 and more recently the devastating fire spread at Grenfell Tower in 2017.

To reduce corruption across the world and restore trust in politics, it is recommended that global governments reinforce checks and balances around financial auditing, promote separation of powers, tackle preferential treatment, reduce biased towards special interests and prevent excessive money and influence in politics. Finally, other recommendations include managing conflicts of interest, promoting open and meaningful access to decision making and empowering citizens whilst protecting activists, whistle-blowers and journalists.

12.2.5 Regulation and Governance of Ethical Standards and Expectations

Regulation of ethics should be focused on maintaining standards for all professionals practising within their respective areas of the construction industry. Such regulation should encompass expectations from the public and include responsibility, accountability, competence, honesty and willingness to serve the public. Notwithstanding this premise, there are dilemmas around how to regulate and govern such standards and expectations. Traditionally this has relied on self-regulation through professional institutions or governing bodies where behaviour of construction professionals has been controlled and monitored by strict code of conduct. However, in some cases, ethical quality control has been found to have fallen short in terms of projects not being completed on time and budget and to an acceptable level of quality, resulting in low client satisfaction levels.

Finance and governance regulations that organisations introduce provide the necessary framework for financial governance. The rules set down within these regulations should be operated transparently, consistently and designed to maintain the integrity of companies and their employees. In addition, they should be updated as necessary following consultation with internal and external stakeholders. Some organisations make it mandatory, when such changes are made for staff to undertake an induction to familiarise them with the new regulations, possibly via an online module. This is designed to ensure that they fully understand the new rules and regulations and it is not unusual for companies to make employees sign an undertaking to adhere to them. Financial governance policies and systems should be designed to address risks around ethical compliance. The pressures and temptations to cut ethical corners and to continue questionable practices can be a constant source of difficulty for companies. In this regard ethical risk could take the form of perceived pressure, perceived risk or rationalisation. In a concerted attempt to deter employees for breaching these ethical dilemmas, companies will normally impose rules and regulations related to purchase cards and raising purchase orders.

With regard to purchasing goods and services for companies, it is normal for thresholds to be created to mandate the procedures that need to be followed according to the value of those goods and services. In addition, companies normally regulate that all invoices require a purchase order to be raised in advance. This safeguards against individuals inadvertently verbally instructing work orders before such work orders are approved through the finance systems of their respective organisations. It is normal, certainly for public sector organisations, to have delegated authority limits for different individuals, boards and committees. These delegated authority thresholds are also a mechanism to prevent the large-scale abuse of budgets and expenditure and to deter unethical practices and corruption.

It is critical for employers to have ethically procedures in place during tendering and appointment stages for those contractors and consultants that they are planning to appoint. Maintaining records of each stage of the tendering process is very important especially when the awarding organisation is public sector, as challenges by unsuccessful bidders may necessitate documentation being presented in the public domain as part of the audit trail. By evaluating contractors and consultants on pre-determined criteria, it should allow employers to consider the quality of bids as well as the price. There is an ethical dimension to tendering, when contractors are required to contribute large sums of money and time to formulating bids that they stand little chance of winning. For this reason, it is both sensible and ethical to limit the number of tendering contractors to an appropriate level for them to invest the time and costs and stand a reasonable chance of success. Utilising recognised national procurement frameworks are regarded in the UK as a reputable and robust instrument for managing the award of contracts. Consultants and contractors on such frameworks are normally grouped into different categories according to the type a of work they undertake. In addition, for large public sector projects in Europe there are EU Procurement Directives which must be abided by. The most common directive for public sector procurement of goods, services, works and utilities is known as the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).

12.2.6 Ethical Project Controls in Construction Management

The book has articulated the importance of construction professionals having robust financial processes in place. Accordingly, it is imperative that they understand their roles, responsibilities and authorisation levels when leading their project team. Furthermore, it is important for construction professionals to have robust decision-making processes in place within their respective organisations whilst ensuring governance procedures are maintained.

Project and programme boards are normally the vehicle by which the decision-making process is governed. Their main purpose is to provide governance and transparency to projects and avoiding the responsibility and accountability for decision making falling to one individual. With this in mind, where the value of a decision-making process exceeds the authorisation level of the project board then the decision making needs to be referred to a higher level. Accordingly, construction professionals need to be mindful when their projects require a higher tier of approval within their respective organisations, that they allow sufficient time in their project programme for the approval process.

In considering the approval processes for projects through the individual boards, it is commonplace for robust and financially rigorous business cases to be prepared to support the business venture. In some organisations, mostly public sector, there are gateway processes for project approval and business cases. The gateway processes will highlight different levels of approval for projects depending on which design stage they are at. Practical examples and templates of gateway applications, supported by business cases, have been presented in the book, to assist readers in this regard.

12.2.7 Developing an Ethics Toolkit, as a Practical Guide for Managing Projects

In general terms the information included in this book could become a useful, simple and innovative practical guide for construction professionals, especially those with little or no previous experience in managing projects. It could offer them a useful management tool, as relative beginners to the task of carrying out complex building projects, and hopefully narrows the gap between their existing knowledge base and those skills required for successful construction management. The various pro forma and templates, tailored to what is believed construction professionals require, should form the impetus for improved practices as checklists to ensure critical information and processes for ethical and legal compliance are strictly adhered to.

The opportunities for the guidance contained in this book could support future development for professional practice and in education context a useful teaching and learning resource or handbook. This is it presents a more effective and efficient means of collating building information and a step-by-step route map through complex procurement stages and processes. It has the potential to become integrated into BIM systems which client organisations may wish to implement. This technology could be networked and downloaded on to a software system that could effectively prepare a report automatically. This would make the whole process so much more efficient and greatly reduce the resources and time currently expended by construction professionals’ staff in preparing various reports. This is particularly relevant for client companies seeking alternative ways to reduce costs and become more competitive accordingly.

12.2.8 Ethical Selection and Appointment Processes for the Construction Industry

It is importance for construction professionals to be aware and practice ethical processes around selection and appointment of their contracting partners. If processes and procedure leading to contract award do not have the right level of transparency and sense of impartiality, then this can have very damaging repercussions. Having the right consultants and main contractors on board, in terms of ethics and trust, is arguably one of the most important aspects for construction professionals. For this reason, it is critical for selection processes, especially when using collaborative procurement strategies, in choosing the most appropriate consultants and contractors to realise benefits of partnering through pro-activity, building team spirit, employing lateral thinking and exploring alternatives. Furthermore, the selection processes should carefully evaluate the consultants’ and contractors’ experience, skills, resources, and expertise rather than simply appointing on lowest tender price. Selection criteria and competition should be based on life cycle value for money rather than simply reliant on initial capital costs. However, history has shown that the full range of good-quality pre-qualification processes available to practitioners are not used consistently. Furthermore, practitioners frequently fail to follow up with consultant and contractor reference checks and do not always use objective assessments of key performance indicators (KPIs) as benchmarking for their selection methods. The effects of clients selecting the wrong contracting partners are that schemes can suffer from viability issues leading to large delays in the pre-construction phase or in some instances with projects being jettisoned. Construction professionals should be able to undertake the selection processes for their consultants and main contractors, and it is important for them to be able to benchmark each contender against certain criteria. This enables them to measure using such criteria and weightings each submission, based on what they believe is important for them and their projects. Benchmarking is identifying ‘best practice’ used by others and comparing the results of organisations using a set of predetermined key performance indicators. To maximise the chances of successful projects, construction professionals should first consider and decide what represents quality to their organisations or to projects. This criterion can then be used to compile a weighted list of requirements from which contractors can be judged on their respective attributes against the set values and a scoring matrix. The more checks that are carried out at pre-qualification stage to determine if a contractor is a natural fit for a given project and has the right ethical credentials the greater the chances of generating successful construction outcomes.

12.2.9 Codes of Conduct for Professional Ethics

For a professional institution to gain public confidence, maintaining ethical practices are very important, as they have a direct influence on quality of those services provided to clients and the public image and perception. Codes of ethics can be described as a statement of the core values of organisations and of the principles which guide the conduct and behaviour of organisations and their employees in all their business activities. Members of professional bodies are bound by these codes of ethics, sometimes referred to as ethical principles, to address the issue of non-ethical behaviour and to attempt to provide a context of governance. These institutions have strict charters, professional codes of conduct and ethics, rules and regulations relating to professional standards that individual members are required to follow and adhere to and they reserve the rights to take action against members who breach rules and regulations laid down. Accordingly, introducing codes of conduct, codes of ethics, rules and regulations by professional institutions instils a strong message and indication to members on what is expected of them and can serve as ‘checks and balances’ for individual members to try to curb unethical or immoral behaviours. They can also send a strong signal to other stakeholders that unethical practices will not be tolerated, and this could assist in reducing the undesirable practices and behaviours on a global level.

In considering the governance and regulation, professional ethics are policed by a national or international body to ensure a minimum standard of practice for organisations to strictly adhere to. Professional institutions or organisations can impose strict penalties for codes which are violated to deter unethical practices and behaviours. In this sense, however, ethical codes of conduct should not be regarded negatively as a framework for punishing breaches but positively in assisting professionals in recognising their own moral parameters. Clearly corrupt behaviour is subject to more than just policing by professional institutions and in some cases can be deemed criminal offences.

Where misconduct and unprofessional behaviours have been identified in the past, this has had negative implications on the way the construction industry has been viewed and, in some cases, this has led to public concern and government attention. To address this, there has been a concerted effort to improve confidence and trust amongst the general public in light of some cases of professional misconduct. Professional ethics, reinforced through professional standards of professional bodies and codes of practice, have played an important part in gaining this confidence and trust alongside respectability and integrity. However, these codes and standards need to be embodied in management practices and roles and responsibilities assigned to ensure compliance across ethics programmes.

Codes of conduct are sometimes anchored around the Seven Nolan Principles and embedded as core requirements for organisational financial regulations, and these are selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership. Codes of ethics should reflect the practices and cultures which construction clients want to encourage for their respective organisations and project teams. The Code of Ethics Checklist devised by the Chartered Management Institute provides clear guidance for employees on what is expected of them in terms of ethical behaviors and practices. This sends a clear signal to other parties including customers and suppliers that unethical practices are not acceptable. To support their Codes of Conduct and Professional and Ethical Standards, the RICS have quite helpfully created a decision tree for proceeding or not proceeding with certain courses of action, and for decision making in these situations.

12.2.10 Implications in Practice for Ethics in the Construction Industry

There are many implications for the construction industry from unethical practices, which will include reputational damage and image considerations for organisations. Report of high-profile cases that have received widespread press coverage and highlighted cartels, collusion on tenders, blacklisting of subcontractors and other illegal practices which have led to widescale public condemnation of the construction industry. For this reason, when unethical practices and behaviour come to light and especially when they come to light in the public domain, this can be extremely damaging not just for the individuals and organisation involved but for the reputation of the industry as a whole. Notwithstanding the fact that such practices may only represent a small minority of case, there is the perception that such behaviours are commonplace in the sector. It is clear that unethical practice can take a negative toll on the performance and ultimately the outcome of construction projects. Negative consequences associated with poor outcomes are numerous and lead to assertions that the industry is inefficient, unsafe, wasteful, compromised on quality and cannot deliver to time and budgetary constraints. Quality and ethics are inextricably linked through a common care premise to do the right things and therein a proven way to improve competitiveness, reduce costs and increase client satisfaction. From case studies in Nigeria, this chapter has highlighted many examples of unethical conduct associated with failures during bidding processes, with reports of lowest price awards, at the expense of quality being commonplace. Other more serious examples of bribery and corruption have also been covered, especially in developing countries, which have served to undermine public confidence and hinder economic development and capital investment. For these reasons it has become an important priority for governments to address such practices to curb practices and cultures around unethical practices. This has put more centrally governed focus on creating policies designed to implement and police ethical reforms, and this could be through public procurement agencies. Notwithstanding this premise, low participation in training and education, certainly in developing countries, could possibly explain why the respondents felt that construction staff are not aware of the importance of ethics within their respective organisations. Accordingly, one of the contributory factors for unethical behaviours could be a lack of education and training of those individuals entering the industry. To respond to this deficiency, organisations should promote continued professional development in the workplace for the teaching and learning around ethics in practice to improve quality in construction outcomes and raise the reputation of the industry. In addition, it has been suggested that colleges and universities should tailor more academic modules and courses to the subject of professional ethics in an attempt to address this deficiency in knowledge and education. Furthermore, organisations should be encouraged to instigate continued professional development (CPD) of their employees to counteract unethical practices and behaviours within their companies. These organisations alongside public agencies and professional bodies, especially in developing countries, should also adopt strict rules and regulations to enforce the values of ethical standards and outlaw those deemed by be unethical.

12.3 Final Reflections, Overview and Closing Remarks

This book has discussed many different aspects and issues that influence and affect professional ethics and the repercussions that can arise from non-ethical practices, especially in the context of the UK construction industry. Construction clients, as leaders in the procurement of projects, should be leading the way in cultural changes to improve the reputation of the industry. In this pursuit, they should be aware of the importance of ethics, alternative definitions and interpretations of ethics, the reputation of the construction industry, codes of conduct and governance and regulations in avoiding bad practices. In conclusion, it would appear that measures to improve the practice of professional ethics, such as professional codes of conduct, have gone some way to improve the way the industry works but there are still far too many cases emerging of unethical practices that are blighting the sector. Although arguably these practices are emerging from a small minority of the sector, they are creating a bad press for the whole industry and further measures should be instigated by construction clients to address this dilemma. Traditional responses in the past, at an institutional level, have been based on governance, regulations and punishment for non-compliance and clearly these have had only limited success. Perhaps construction clients should be leading the way for a cultural change in the industry to train, educate and motivate construction individuals and organisations in what professional ethics entail, measures to ensure compliance and the benefits that they can bring for the sector. This could be achieved through more focus on further education and higher education course modules linked to professional ethics and continued professional development (CPD) through workshops and training events in the workplace. These measures will hopefully contribute to providing a more ethical environment for the industry to work within and reap great benefits not just for clients, all construction-related organisations and the building projects that they procure but for the future of the construction industry at large. It is accepted, however, that to bring about these cultural changes will take conviction, integrity and in some cases courage not to engage in established unethical practices. These improvements once ingrained within the industry could then reap massive rewards in providing a safer, honest, trusting and more enjoyable working environment for all.