Episode 80:

Hello and Welcome to the Part3 with me podcast, 

The show that helps part 3 students jump start into their careers as qualified architects and also to provide refresher episodes for practicing architects. I am your host Maria Skoutari and this week we will be talking about Ethics Part 2. Todays episode meets PC1 & PC2 of the Part 3 Criteria.

So last week I covered the professions and general industry’s ethical duties towards the climate and wider world, society and clients and this week I will cover the ethical duties towards the workplace, the profession and oneself. 

So jumping straight into the professions and the wider industry's duties towards the Workplace:

Workplace duties can often be forgotten or neglected due to peoples commitment to their clients or external stakeholders. By actually putting more emphasis on the duties towards the workplace, can lead to:

• Resilience of an organisation
• Improving the organisations performance
• Improving staff wellbeing
• And attracting and retaining high-quality staff

Some typical ethical duties that arise from duties towards the workplace include:

• The architect’s duty to those commission the services, the client, can lead to poor duties to the workplace by placing unrealistic deadlines, overtime working impacting staff wellbeing 
• Poor recruitment practices to not attract to a more diverse background
• Lack of staff training, development, diversity and inclusion 
• Lack of transparency, staff leadership and perceptions of unfairness with salaries and promotions

These are the duties owed by architect employers to architect employees and also by all architects in their workplace towards all those they encounter. 

This is were employment law comes in which is relevant across all types of businesses. To avoid issues and court cases, it is best to resolve workplace issues through informal means or through the organisations grievance procedure, although formal dispute resolutions may be sought in the more extreme cases and taken to the Employment Tribunal.

Now in terms of architects workplace duties more specifically, the ARB and RIBA Codes of Conduct set specific standards relating to the architects duty in the workplace. The RIBA specifically, builds more on their Codes with regards to legal obligations towards those in the workplace including standards on Equality, diversity and inclusion, modern slavery and employment and responsibilities as an employer. 

So in order to have an ethical practice, it must consider its structure and set up, as well as culture which are key to setting the foundations, boundaries and ethos of the workplace. One such set up is Employee Ownership, which can take several different forms, but the direct model involves employees becoming registered individual shareholders of the majority of shares in their company, this then creates a level of participation and transparency which is not guaranteed in more traditional company structure. Many have advocated for employee ownership set ups which have been quite successful in recent years with architecture practice as such practices suggest that their are not only more ethical practices but also more productive.  

Many practices ethical duties were challenged during the Covid-19 pandemic by not providing a flexible working approach and requiring staff to attend the office at set times and days. Such practices were directly challenged by the pandemic and their culture questioned by staff and the general public who now expect a more flexible, forward-thinking, ethical workplace culture and ethos which considers staffs personal lives and caring responsibilities. 

This leads to the practices management standards covering the work environment, equity, diversity and inclusion and training and development opportunities. Looking at the work environment in the first instance, it consists of both physical workspaces and other items which construct the employees working life, such as working hours, annual leave, sick pay and so on. The most key ethical issues which tend to be less visible in the work environment and are often neglected are:

• Long working hours
• Unpaid overtime
• Unfair salaries and salary scales
• Poor investment in training and skills
• Poorly communicated and limited work opportunities and career prospects 

These are the key aspects which keep being more regularly challenged in the workplace and are covered by the RIBA Code of Conduct and Code of Practice to reduce and abolish such practices wherever possible but practices can and should do more in addressing such matter.  

Now looking at Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, it should be embedded across all ethical duties of an architect. So architects, particularly RIBA members, should seek to support the Action Plan launched by the RIBA and five other built environment institutions in July 2022 with the aim of creating a built environment sector that is as diverse as the communities it represents. Architects, like other professionals, have a duty to promote equity, diversity and inclusion in the workplace through:

• Recruitment - is it being carried out fairly and unbiased?
• Progression - How does the workplace allow, encourage and support people to progress? Is necessary training provided? 
• Retention - How does the workplace encourage and reward longevity, work-life balance? 

All these aspects need to be considered as part of the practices ethical duty in the workplace. Employers have an ethical duty to improve equity, diversity and inclusion through recruitment, progression and retention. 

Now looking at training and development opportunities, which form part of the equity, diversity and inclusion aspect, connect to the other five ethical duties of an architect, without proper training and development staff cannot honour and deliver on their duties to the wider world, society or those commissioning services since their lack of knowledge and expertise will not serve others and cannot uphold the reputation of the profession and the duty to oneself. Training and development opportunities can be in the form of mentoring schemes, leadership training, technical learning and accreditation/certification or through support programmes.  

The ethical duty owed to the workplace should also extend beyond the office and also include duties to co-professional encountered on projects, those working on construction sites, employees working from home and those working within supply chains to name a few.

A key ethical duty to highlight, is the ethical duty required by architect to issues of modern slavery in construction and exercise reasonable skill and care to use supply chains which are free from modern slavery.  Ethical duty to those in the workplace is not only for those in positions of authority but everyone, it is a collaborative duty for the benefit of all. 

So that covers the professions and industry’s duties towards the workplace, now lets look at their duties towards the profession in more depth:

The duty to the profession encompasses broadly to giving and advancing knowledge, through collaboration, sharing research, data, knowledge and experience allowing the collective to thrive and better care for the wider world safeguarding society’s and end users interests.

This duty, however, of knowledge sharing, can be limiting sometimes as:

• Sharing data can be seen as potentially detrimental to a practice’s commercial advantage
• Also due to client confidentiality can restrict the ability to share and publish information
• And due to low fees, research, teaching and knowledge sharing are costly tasks to undertake  

But these obstacles can be overcome, for example through discussions with the client and making data anonymous the second point can potentially be overcome, with the other two its for the practice to make the decision to invest in research, teaching and so on and focus on the long term cost benefit to their practice and giving back to the profession. Such steps help to strengthen the profession which can result to being able to charge more fees.

In terms of laws and regulations contributing to the architects duty to the profession, not much has been produced, apart from intellectual property laws and consequences imposed to architects who behave with unprofessional misconduct and break the codes of conduct which provides public confidence that the profession is upheld and safeguarded if someone acts unprofessionally. The law surrounding the professional regulation recognises that the reputation of the profession is more important than any individual member and the duty to the profession is a duty towards the collective or greater good.

So this where the Codes of Professional Conduct come in. The ARB’s Architects Code gives emphasis under Standard 9 for architect to maintain the reputation of architects by conducting themselves in a way which doesn’t bring the member or the profession into disrepute. Matters that should be notified if a member does act inappropriately include:

• If they have been convicted of a criminal offence
• If they are made the subject of a court order disqualifying them from acting as a company director
• If they have been given a bankruptcy order, debt relief order or bankruptcy restriction order
• If they have been given a director disqualification undertaking or bankruptcy undertaking
• If they are a director of a company which is wound up or placed in administration 
• If they make an accommodation with creditors
• Or if they fail to pay a judgment debt

Then under the RIBA Code of Professional Conduct, and Code of Practice under Principle 1, it expects member to be honest, truthful, not offer bribes, not accept bribes and not be prosecuted of a criminal conviction. Then under Principle 3 members are expected to respect and follow copyright laws and intellectual property and under Principle 2 to promote and support the value and benefits of monitoring and reporting on how a building operates and performs. Essentially expecting architects to uphold their duty to:

• Share knowledge
• Respect previous appointments and not damage another architects reputation
• Be open and transparent about appointments
• Fairly appraise another architects work
• Report possible breaches and wrongdoing

As mentioned, by members following and upholding the ARB and RIBA Codes of Conduct, provides the public with trust and confidence in the profession, that’s why architects are required to undertake continuing professional development aka CPD, with specific compliance requirements keeping themselves up to date and developing their knowledge and expertise.  

Now expanding on some of the duties mentioned earlier, specifically with architects respecting previous appointments, meaning they don’t approach client who have already engaged another architect, asking questions about previous appointment when taking on a project halfway through the process, contacting and informing previously appointed architects about the new appointment and confirming that the clients previous engagements have been properly terminated. Architects need to be able to trust their colleagues and not worry about another architect trying to poach their client, or their fess being unfairly undercut, that’s why this duty is key for the profession as a whole. 

Then is the copyright duty, requiring professionals to respect and adhere to the laws of copyright infringement. Some examples of ethical duty breach include passing off another’s design for their own, taking the credit where it is not due and failing to give credit where it is due. 

So to maintain the reputation of the profession can also be addressed through knowledge and development, such as teaching and learning and the professions duty to pass on knowledge to others such as emerging architects for example, through teaching in schools of architecture, or through webinars, workshops, and so on. Architectural charities and foundations also assist with this duty to collectively honour the duty to the profession, such as the ‘Challenging Practice’ which is an independent-learning programme that seeks to enable built environment practitioners to engage reflexively with the challenges of inclusive and sustainable urban development. 

Similarly, conducting and sharing research is also crucial to the professions success and growth. Commercial interests and the advantage of individuals and practices can be seen as barriers of research sharing. Undertaking more post-occupancy evaluations should be more widely utilised and shared throughout the profession to improve the built environment as well as pan-professional collaboration with other built environment professions which leads to more learning opportunities and better outcomes enhancing public trust and confidence again in the profession. 

Equity, diversity and inclusion is also very important to duty of the profession and providing access to the profession as whole from all backgrounds, which currently the profession seems to unfortunately lack. Every member of the profession can work with the institutes and schools to try and tackle these barriers and promote more people from a diverse background to enter the profession by speaking to schools, mentoring or career sharing stories.  

So essentially, the most common ethical issues arising in the context of the duty to the profession are that its:

• Perceived weakening commercial advantage
• And perceived as costly and distracting from fee-earning work

The architect profession must, therefore, respond with more transparency in delivering their duty to the profession and demonstrating how the duty is balanced with the other ethical imperatives, including the duty to society. The ethical duty to the profession is a shared, mutual duty for the benefit of all within the profession. 

So that covers the professions and industry’s duties towards the profession, now lets look at the final duty towards oneself in more depth:

The duty to oneself is a very important but often a forgotten duty. A career in architecture as we all know is not an easy one and you go through a lengthy process of actually becoming an architect, that’s why its key to value oneself and find ways to keep their career developing, interesting, fulfilling and meaningful as well as balanced with your personal needs. 

Similarly with the previous duty to the profession, the duties which an architect must uphold is through the Architects Act 1997. The ARB sets out the architects code for all architects to follow, failing to meet those standards isn’t itself considered as unacceptable professional conduct but the professional conduct committee may find the architect guilty upon investigation. Architects should therefore keep themselves regularly updated on the types of breaches which occur within the profession to ensure they are aware of the risks and how to conduct themselves appropriately. Apart from the architects code, chartered architects will also be held accountable under the RIBA Code of Professional Conduct. Both codes of conduct make provisions on how a professional conducts themself, the key one being Honesty and Integrity within the ARB code urging architects to avoid any situations which are inconsistent with their professional obligations. Situations architects would also be held accountable for breaching professional codes through actions outside their professional life. If an architect is convicted of a criminal offence, they must be reported to the ARB who will consider whether it effects their fitness to practice as an architect, a similar process if also carried out by the RIBA. 

Under the RIBA Code of Professional Conduct, it sets out provisions towards to the duty to oneself in demonstrating competence through life-long learning, research, training and so on. This can be undertaken through Continuing Professional Development (CPD) enabling architects to keep developing skills and remain up to date with current legislation and policy. The RIBA expects members to carry out a minimum of 35 hours per year obtaining at least 20 of these 35 hours from the 10 mandatory RIBA core curriculum CPD topics, which include:

• Architecture for social purpose
• Health, safety and well-being
• Business, clients and services
• Legal, regulatory and statutory compliance 
• Procurement and contracts
• Sustainable architecture
• Inclusive environments
• Places, planning and communities
• Building conservation and heritage
• Design, construction and technology   

CPD choices are entirely flexible and personal and can be chosen to the architects specific needs. CPD can be either structured or informal and reflect the statutory and regulatory rules. 

Another important aspect of the duty to oneself is ensuring they protect their own health and wellbeing, ensuring they are mentally and physically fit. Some actions that can be taken by architects to protect their health and wellbeing include:

• Considering the office culture and overtime
• Looking at support systems and staff education  creating a more open culture for staff to feel comfortable 
• Offering care for students in practice such as study leave
• Good contracts and client relationships management
• Considering the physical office environment, such as the office set up to be comfortable for all staff 
• Also technology considerations, such as software training  
• Generally monitoring staff wellbeing 
• And championing an active, mindful approach by promoting staff to actually take their lunches or explore active commuting or for staff to get up and move throughout the day 

There are a number of support networks that architects can reach out to to discuss any concerns or mental health, such as the United Voices of the World - Section of Architectural Workers which is a trade union for architectural workers in the UK taking action against the negative impacts of architecture work on workers, there’s also the Architects Benevolent Society which is a charity offering support to the architectural community and their families, we also have the Architect’s Mental Wellbeing Forum seeking to improve mental health within architecture, another is the Architects Climate Action Network taking action to confront the crises of the climate and ecology, there’s also the Black Females in Architecture founded to increase the visibility of Black and Black mixed-heritage women within the architectural industry and other built environment fields addressing issues of inequality and diversity within the industry, another is the Low Energy Transformation Initiative which is LETI working towards a path to a zero-carbon future, there’s also the Paradigm Network which is a professional network for construction industry professionals who are passionate about increasing Black and Asian representation within the built environment and so on. 

So the key principles to meeting the duty to oneself is through:

• Accountability to oneself and to others following the principle that we treat the other as we would want to be treated ourselves. 
• Another principle is Positionality whereby architects should understand their unique position in any situation if they are to use their influence with due care and respect for others. 
• Also Reflexivity is also important to consider which is the reflection on ones motives to better understand how a particular view has been reached 
• And lastly, Relationally which considers the recognition that none of us exist in isolation and that we are all connected to those around us. 

To conclude:

Key ways to spot ethical issues or concerns is when a problem:

• Raises moral questions 
• Is not considered by law but is still hard to decide on
• Is potentially against any code of ethics the architect or practice follows
• Makes you think about your duties and responsibilities 

Therefore, its best when presented with a challenging situation to pause and reassess and reflect on the possible consequences and ethical issues anticipated as well as your core values. Core values of a practice or an architect are a foundational tool for tackling ethical dilemmas in practice and should be centred around honesty, integrity, awareness, competence, care, fairness, objectivity and being critical and inquisitive.

So to sum up what I discussed today:

• A duty towards those in the workplace: meaning showing respect to those in the immediate and wider workplace including their backgrounds and views, encouraging equity, diversity and inclusion, adopting good employment practices, providing training and learning opportunities to staff, promoting a healthy work environment and company culture, promoting collaboration and protecting whistleblowing. 
• A duty towards the profession: meaning maintaining the reputation and value of the profession, promoting high standards, contributing to knowledge through research and innovation, reporting misconduct
• And a duty to oneself: meaning identifying your principles and values, acting with integrity, truthfulness and accountability at all times, looking after your own wellbeing and mental health, evaluating and reflecting on yourself, and maintaining competence. 
• Remembering that the future of the profession depends on architects being more involved and making better decisions that bring more long-term value to their clients, including through properly considering and respecting all six ethical duties