ETHICS IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE; A MANDATORY REQUIREMENT FOR ESTATE SURVEYORS AND VALUERS

By ESV Douglas Omachugo

Among the various definitions of a professional, Collins English Dictionary and Thesaurus (Fourth edition 2006), submits that; a professional is a person who engages for his or her livelihood in some activity also pursued by amateurs. This suggests that to qualify as a professional in any field, extreme competence on the job is mandatory. It is this quality of competence that distinguishes professionals from amateurs, impostors and passerby.

Rigorous, in-depth academic and practical training are more often than not basic requirements to becoming a professional in any field of human endeavor such as; Medicine, Law, Engineering, Arts, Surveying among others.

Ethics on the other hand are set of rules that guide the behavior of a person or group. These set of rules are referred to as codes which members of the same professional body must observe as ethical principles regarding the practice of their profession. Ethical principles differ from one profession to the other, however, honesty, trust, loyalty, respect for others, adherence to rule of law and accountability are established as generic and common to all professionals.

Codes of conducts define the minimum standard of appropriate behavior of a professional for the promotion of ethics in making decisions.

In the context of Estate Surveying and Valuation Practice, Professional ethics are the principle that guides members of the profession of Estate Surveying and Valuation on the conduct and practice of Estate Surveying and Valuation.

Estate Surveyors and Valuers render professional services to members of the public within the public and private sectors of the economy. Well entrenched professional ethical standards builds confidence in the profession because it provides greater transparency and certainty of how affairs of professionals are conducted leading to greater trust by beneficiaries of the services rendered. In addition, it provides members with a structure for resisting pressure to act in a manner that would be repugnant to public expectations while making decisions. Above all else, professional ethical standards benefits the entire profession by providing a common understanding of acceptable practice which makes others dealing with the profession to see it as reliable and easy to deal with.

Professional ethical standard could be regarded as the “Soul” of the profession, whatever diminishes it ultimately could destroy the very foundation of the profession. This is why practitioners must jealously guard their conduct and regulators ensure that understanding professional ethical standards by all the membership cadre of the institution should be mandatory.
ESV Douglas Omachugo is an Abuja based registered Estate Surveyor and Valuer