by Brianna Crandall — October 31, 2014—Organizations representing property and related professional services from around the world met at the United Nations in New York October 21-22 to establish the International Ethics Standards Coalition (IESC). The coalition, which is made up of leading professional bodies from Asia, Europe, Oceania, and North and South America, aims to develop and implement the first industry-wide ethics standards for property and related professional services.
Member organizations of the coalition, many of which already have their own codes of conduct focusing on things like trustworthiness, integrity and respect, will seek to align fundamental ethics principles through the new international standard. The ultimate goal is that professionals will undertake their work in an ethically consistent way, regardless of where in the world they are located and the nature of their work.
The coalition hopes the new International Ethics Standard will be ready in early 2016, following which the member bodies of the Coalition will implement it through their own training and guidance to professionals.
According to Peter Bolton King, RICS global residential director, “Many professions already have their own robust ethics standards and codes. However, whilst the principles set out in these codes often overlap the extent to which they are understood consistently by members of the public, clients and consumers of professional services is poor. This can lead to confusion, but it can also impact the legitimacy of professionals in an increasingly global and interconnected marketplace. Establishing a common, internationally applied ethics standard will enhance transparency, consistency and trust in the services being offered by professionals wherever they operate.”
The introduction of clear and transparent international ethics standards is intended to improve professional services and promote stable property markets around the world.
The ethics principles set out in the standard will be drafted and published for public consultation by an independent group of experts, which will be appointed by the coalition early next year. The expert group will represent both the diverse nature of professional practice as well as the international scope of the project.
Organizations that participated at the United Nations meeting:
- Asociación Española de Análisis de Valor (AEV, Spain)
- American Institute of Architects (AIA, U.S.)
- American Society of Appraisers (U.S.)
- Appraisal Foundation (TAF, U.S.)
- Asociación Profesional de Sociedades de Valoración (ATASA, Spain)
- Counselors of Real Estate (CRE – U.S.)
- German Property Federation (ZIA, Germany)
- Initiative Corporate Governance (ICG, Germany)
- International Consortium of Real Estate Associations (ICREA, Switzerland)
- Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM, U.S.)
- International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI, France)
- International Right of Way Association (IRWA, U.S.)
- Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA, U.K.)
- Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS, U.K.)
- SECOVI-SP (Brazil)
- Russian Society of Appraisers (Russia)
Professional and not-for-profit organizations are invited and encouraged to join the International Ethics Standards Coalition now by contacting any of the organizations listed above for more information.
