Professional Ethics
for the Current Industry Regimes
PIA Center
29 January 2010, Pasig City, PH
Ar Armando N. ALLÍ, apec ar
PRBoA Chairman (www.architectureboard.ph)
(Resource Person)
A. Regulating the Ethical Conduct of
Registered and Licensed Architects (RLAs)
1) R.A. No. 9266 (The Architecture Act of 2004)
Secs. 5 (d) & (e), 7 (g) & (h), 9, 14 (1), 20, 22, 23,
29, 30, 32 and 33;
2) Same Secs. under the 2004 IRR of R.A. No. 9266;
3) 2006 Code of Ethical Conduct (CEC);
4) 1979 Standards of Professional Practice (SPP); and
5) Various Issuances/ Resolutions of the PRBoA and
. of the PRC; compliant IAPoA & OAA issuances.
(R
www.architectureboard.ph
B. Industry Regimes
1) Professional Architectural Services by RLAs for
the Private Sector (under P.D. No. 1096/ 1977
2)
3)
4)
5)
(R
NBCP, R.A. No. 9514, B.P. No. 344, P.D. No. 957, B.P.
No. 220, the Civil Code specially Art. 1723, etc. and
their respective IRRs, guidelines, standards, etc.) ;
Professional Services by RLAs for the Public Sector
(under R.A. No. 9184/ 2003 Government Procurement
Reform Act or GPRA and its 2009 Revised IRR); and
Professional Services by RLAs under Allied Fields i.e.
Construction, Development, General Consulting, etc.;
International Professional Services by RLAs ; and
Electronic (Internet-based/ ICT-based) Professional
Services by RLAs e.g. BPO, KPO, etc.
www.architectureboard.ph
C. Ethical Violations Occur as
Solo or Group Acts
1) Are You In or Out? (RLAs engaging in risky and
contemptuous professional behavior gravitating
towards escalating ethical violations, potentially for
attention-getting purposes); no RLA is above the law
i.e. a single Administrative Complaint filed at the PRC
by any entity is sufficient for the eventual suspension
and/or revocation of the RLA status after due process;
2) Are You with Us or Against Us? (ethical violations are
not usually done by a RLA alone; there is always help
from others i.e. collusion and conspiracy to violate
laws, regulations and standards on ethical conduct.)
www.architectureboard.ph
D. Professional Ethical Conduct is the
Road Less Traveled
1) There is Always Seeming Peer Pressure to Go with the
Flow (based on skewed reasoning i.e. as other RLAs
commit ethical violations and get away with it, any RLA
should do the same and reap the same benefits); again,
no RLA is above the law i.e. over the past 3 years, about
25 RLAs have had their certificates and/or licenses
suspended and/or revoked after due process; and
2) The Momentary Benefits Only Appear to be Worth the
Ethical Violations (no amount of material benefit can
ever equal professional integrity and a good name,
which the RLA must first value and put a premium on);
always remember that a good word is worth much more
www.architectureboard.ph
than a full page advertisement.
E. Know Your Thresholds in Your
Professional Service Transactions
1) Always remember Your professional orientation and mooring i.e.
school/s, workplace/s, organization/s, etc.;
2) Treat Your Product as a Professional Service and NEVER as a
Business for Profit; know the real value of Your service and
always remember that if an RLA wishes to sport a different hat i.e.
as a Constructor/ Developer/ Distributor/ Supplier, a different set
of rules apply; try NOT to mix up the two;
3) Know Your Tipping Point i.e. be sensitive enough to know when
You are being taken advantaged of and when You are being
pushed/ shoved around by the entities around You; it is perfectly
alright to be very angry every once in a while; and
4) Establish a Walk Away Point and Don’t Look Back i.e. walk away
from situations where Your professional scruples, Your
reputation, Your self respect and Your profession shall be forever
www.architectureboard.ph
compromised and damaged.
F. Walk Away, RLA
1) NO free architectural plans and designs i.e. only
illegal practitioners do this and we should ALL
work together to hold these criminal violators
and their supporters in Government fully accountable;
NEVER submit a service proposal with a free plan/
design attached to it, even if it is an old/ unutilized
plan/ design - somebody shall use it nonetheless;
2) NO contract/ NO payment - NO architectural
service i.e. never place Yourself in a situation
where You only have Yourself to blame; and
3) Always go for CASH Compensation i.e. swap or
exchange deals are generally recipes for exploitation.
www.architectureboard.ph
G. Your Responsibility & Advocacy as a RLA
1) Educate Your Client and the Other Project Entities as to the
Services and Value of the RLA;
2) Train young RLAs and aspirants to the practice in the correct
ways of the practice i.e. always use R.A. No. 9266, its IRR, the
CEC, the SPP and the Civil Code;
3) Always Protect Your Intellectual Property i.e. always distinguish
between plan/ design ownership (compensated by a fee) and
copyright (compensated by royalty);
4) Try to Correct Wrong Practices at Every Turn by Reminding the
Concerned Entities of Possible Violations and Liabilities; Sue if
You have to;
5) If You are into group practice, register Your firm with the DTI or
with the SEC first, and then with the PRC/ PRBoA;
6) Upgrade and update Your knowledge about the practice – You
owe Your Client this much; specialize by attending CPE/D
seminars to improve Your stock knowledge and skillsets; and
www.architectureboard.ph
7) Pay the Correct Taxes.
Professional Ethics
for the Current Industry Regimes
Thank You
and a
Pleasant Evening to All
www.architectureboard.ph