NCARB Competency Standard 15 Understand ethical & professional standards for architectural practice

NCARB Competency Standard 15 Understand ethical & professional standards for architectural practice

At the point of initial licensure, architects with this competency can …

• Understand the role of the architect in society and the duties and responsibilities to clients, building occupants, co-professionals, and the public.

• Understand regulatory and professional ethical standards and how to adhere to applicable ethical standards.

• Provide services that they, in collaboration with consultants, can effectively deliver.

• Identify and manage risks arising from conflicts of interest.

These last 3 Competencies, 14, 15 and 16 are the most challenging competencies in this entire list of 16.

Understanding ethical and professional standards is just kind of vague. What is it? What are ethical and professional standards?

These are things that ultimately take 10 years or more to learn, maybe your lifetime, to learn through various experiences that you have along the way.

Somebody will challenge you unexpectedly and unwittingly on their part.

• Maybe they want to pay you in cash. Why would they want to do that?

• Maybe they have a conflict of interest.

• Maybe they want to get around the system.

Always be on the lookout. We call those red flags. Always be on the lookout for challenges to your ethics, things that maybe the client doesn't understand, that architects are a professional group of people who are upholding really strong standards, ultimately, for the protection of the public, and some clients don't get that.

Mostly, the 4 bullet points in this competency are about learning what are those standards. What's the best way to practice architecture that is on the high ground? This is our task as architects. We're creating the built environment that people for generations will occupy, and that's not a responsibility to bear lightly.

What can you do right now?

First of all, ask everybody in your firm about ethics. Have a discussion about ethics in architecture. What does your design principle think about this? Your senior architects, people with a lot of experience, and ask other architects, ask your co workers. This is a dialog.

This is about building that framework of understanding, so that when you are in practice as a licensed architect, you've got a foundation that you've built for yourself that is founded on taking that high ground. So you can start right now.