Rules of Conduct
Approved by the Board of Trustees on 1 October 2003
1. These rules have been made in accordance with By-law 31. Unless a contrary intention appears, "member" means a member of any category; and "employer" includes "client". Except where inconsistent with the context, words implying the singular shall include the plural, and vice versa, and references to one gender shall include references to each other gender.
2. Members shall at all times take all reasonable care to limit any danger
of death, injury or ill health to any person that may result from their
work and the products of their work.
3. Members shall take all reasonable steps to avoid waste of natural resources,
damage to the environment, and damage or destruction of man-made products.
Lawful work undertaken by members in connection with equipment intended
for the defence of a nation will not infringe this Rule or Rule 2.
4. Members shall take all reasonable steps to maintain and develop their
professional competence, and shall encourage persons working under their
supervision to do the same.
5. Members shall not undertake professional tasks and responsibilities
that they do not believe themselves competent to discharge.
6. Members shall accept personal responsibility for all work done by them
or under their supervision or direction. Members shall also take all reasonable
steps to ensure that persons working under their authority are both suitably
equipped and competent to carry out the tasks assigned to them.
7. Members who are called upon to give an opinion in their professional
capacity shall, to the best of their ability, give an opinion that is
objective and based upon the best available knowledge and information.
8. Members whose professional advice is not accepted shall take all reasonable
steps:
(a) to ensure that the person overruling or neglecting that advice is
aware of any danger or loss which may ensue; and
(b) in appropriate cases, to inform that person's employers of the potential
risks involved.
9. Members shall not make any public statement in their professional capacity
without ensuring that:
(a) their qualifications to make such a statement and
(b) any association that they may have with any party who may benefit
from the statement are known to the person or persons to whom it is directed.
10. Members shall not either advertise or write articles for publications
in any manner that is derogatory to the Institution or to the dignity
of their profession. Neither shall they authorise any such advertisement
or article to be written or published by others.
11. Members shall not recklessly or maliciously injure or attempt to injure,
whether directly or indirectly, the professional reputation, prospects
or business of any other person.
12. Members shall inform their employer in writing of any conflict or
potential conflict that may exist or arise between their personal interests
and the interests of their employer.
13. Members shall not without proper authority disclose any confidential
information concerning the business of their employer or any past employer.
14. Members shall not without their employer's consent accept any payment
or benefit in money or moneys worth from any person other than their employer
in connection with professional services rendered to their employer. Neither
shall they without such consent receive directly or indirectly any such
payment or benefit in respect of any article or process used in or for
the purpose of the work in respect of which they are employed.
15. Members shall not improperly solicit work as independent advisers
or consultants, either directly or by an agent. Neither shall they improperly
pay any person, whether by commission or otherwise, for the introduction
of such work.
16. Members acting as independent advisers or consultants shall not be
the medium of payment made on their employer's behalf unless so requested
by their employer. Neither shall they place contracts or orders in connection
with work on which they are employed, except with the authority of and
on behalf of their employer.
17. Members standing as candidates for election to any board or committee
of the Institution shall not undertake, or permit to be undertaken on
their behalf, organised canvassing by means of circulars or otherwise.
18. Members convicted of a criminal offence anywhere in the world are
required to inform the Institution promptly, and to provide such information
concerning the conviction as the Institution may require, but this rule
does not apply to either a conviction for a motoring offence for which
no term of imprisonment (either immediate or suspended) is imposed or
an offence which is regarded as "spent" within the meaning of
the UK Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 or equivalent legislation
elsewhere.
19. Members shall not use designations or post-nominal letters to which
they are not entitled.
20. Members who are not registered through the Institution as a Chartered
or Incorporated Engineer or Engineering Technician shall not use their
entitlement to the suffix MIET or FIET to imply that they are so registered.
