Ethics and Professional Practice in Architecture - Essay Example

Proposal- Ethics and Professional Practice A professional is a person who is an expert and has specialized knowledge in a particular field of which one is practices tasks professionally orchestrating them for a fee. Professionalism on the other hand, is defined as the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person. It can also be defines as the following of a profession for gain or livelihood. Professionalism brings about a tone of responsibilities to a professional. Therefore being an architect carries immense responsibility and the issues which arise in the course of the lives of a professional architect should be approached with inherent understanding. Among these responsibilities are the wise use of land, energy conservation, aesthetic delight and the safety and security of buildings. In 2004 and 2005, the American Institute of Architects recognized these responsibilities as it rewrote the AIA public policies and position statements. There exist only 10 public policies which emphasize the power the architect has to affect people and communities, the built environment, and the natural environment. The National Architectural Accrediting Board made it mandatory for all students interested in pursuing architecture as a profession to develop an understanding of the professionalism and ethics involved in the field of architecture at the beginning of their studies and not at the end. This allows for the establishment of a foundation for an individual’s approach to the profession and students formulate the principles for their future professional practice. The Board’s aim was to provide people with knowledge of the diverse needs, values, and behaviors that characterize different cultures and the implications of this diversity on the societal roles and responsibilities. The Board provided guidelines on integration of ethical perspectives on safety and codes. It also explained the role of professional judgment concerning social, cultural and political issues. It outlined the registration laws that should be followed when a contract is being undertaken. The guidelines provided by the Board expect the academic institutions to be more accountable in their objectivity in assessing progress against defined objectives as well as the program’s strengths and weaknesses and then use the results of this assessment to design and implement changes that lead to provide adequate public information regarding accreditation, candidacy, and problems a program may be facing. The ‘Standard of Reasonable Care’ is also a key concern in professionalism especially in architecture. The architect should provide the client with adequate professional advice when sought. They are also expected to ensure that the safety of the public is put into consideration as they design buildings. Reasonable care involves the professional knowing societal and professional responsibilities and integrating community service into the practice of architecture. The historical perspective of ethics in architecture enlightens us by providing a historical overview of the evolution of architectural ethics. The AIA's Code of Ethics describes the principles upon which the Code of Ethics is based upon. It ensures that members of the American Institute of Architects are dedicated to the highest standards of integrity, professionalism, and competence. The Code is arranged in three tiers of statements: Canons, these are broad principles of conduct; Ethical Standards, which are more specific goals that members should aspire to when it comes to performance and behavior; Rules of Conduct, the guidelines which if not followed to the latter leads to a member facing disciplinary action. A commentary is provided to further explain each of the ethical standards and the National Ethics Council enforces the Code of Ethics. Architecture has not always been covered by copyright law unlike books, maps and charts which were included in the first copyright law passed in 1970. In 1909, Congress broadened the scope of copyright but architectural designs still did not get sole recognition instead, they were generalized with drawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical nature. 1976 saw their individual recognition with the Congress amending the Copyright law however, there was still unresolved issues when it came to architects building what they had drawn. It was in 1989, when the United States joined the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works that architectural works were fully protected from infringement. Congress therefore passed the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act (AWCPA), which amended the Copyright Act to specifically include architectural works which are defined as the design of a building as embodied in any tangible medium of expression, including a building, architectural plans, or drawings. The copyright is only valid if the architectural work follows the following requirements to the latter. Firstly, the time of creation affects the work’s validity for copyright protection since only the architectural works published on or after December 1, 1990 are considered to be valid for protection. The only exception made is to the unconstructed work embodied in unpublished plans or drawings before this date. Secondly, the work does not require registration or the issue of a notice because creation of any architectural work automatically qualifies it for copyright protection. It is however beneficial to register despite it not being a requirement just to serve as future proof of ownership. Originality and non-functionality are the other two requirements.  Value Group, Inc. v. Mendham Lake Estates: In this case, the district court granted the plaintiffs (a real estate development company and its architect) a preliminary injunction against the defendant (the plaintiff's sole competitor in the geographic area) from using and constructing a housing design created by the plaintiff-architect after the defendant filed for a building permit using architectural plans that were identical to the plaintiff's. In determining whether to grant equitable relief, the court engaged in a four-part balancing test and concluded that all of the factors weighed in favor of the plaintiff. The court concluded that the architectural plans were "substantially similar" and that the plaintiff demonstrated a high probability of success with respect to its copyright claim. The passage of the AWCPA and the result in Value Group signified a new era in intellectual property protection of architectural works. A contract is considered to be in existence by law if all the parties acknowledge the terms stipulated in writing in the document that serves as proof that all the parties are in agreement. In the event that one party does not agree to the terms of the binding document and does not sign or goes against the stipulated terms and conditions binding the parties, the contract ceases to exist and is considered null and void. All the owners or the interested parties must agree for a contract to exist. The contract is also expected to follow all the laws that stipulate how a contract should look like. A contract is acquired either through bidding or negotiating. In bidding the firm seeking architectural services advertises its requirements in the form of a tender inviting all the interested parties who meet the criteria stipulated to apply. The interested parties express their interest in doing business with the advertising firm through the presentation of an Expression of Interest (EOI). The advertising company might use this as criteria to eliminate some of the companies that they saw did not fit the criteria stipulated. They then invite the qualifying companies to present their technical proposal which contains the technical valuations of how the job is intended to be done and a list of staff with their qualifications who will work on the project are also given. The technical proposal is evaluated and the companies are scored. The next step is the inviting of those companies who were ranked at the top during the evaluation process to come for the opening of their financial proposal which shows the proposed budget of the project. Whoever scores highly when the marks of both the technical and financial proposals are added wins the bid and is allowed to enter into a contract with the advertising company. Negotiation is slightly different because the contract agreement is reached through a series of meetings between the parties interested. If both parties reach an agreement after a series of negotiations the deal is considered sealed and a contract can be drawn up. The construction documentation contains the following documents: Architectural drawings, these show the layout of the site showing all access points. The drawing set includes plans, elevations and door-window schedules of both the exterior and interior. There are also axonometric drawings that show the 3-dimensional form of the development. Secondly the other document is the structural drawings which show the foundation plan, roofing details, pre-stressed structure drawings, the chimney and the quantity estimations with the measurement sheet. The document is the electrical drawing which shows the layout of all the electric wiring and devices. The last documentation is the HVAC and plumbing drawings that show the pipe sizing and the equipment selection layout of the air conditioning machinery. Constraints might arise during the construction administration phase. Failure of the design team to be current with construction costs, and any potential cost increases during the design phase could cause project delays if the construction documents must be redone to reduce costs. This leads to poor quality work since the only way of cutting down on costs is to hire contractors that are cheap who compromise in the quality work because they have a limited access to the resources. A building built under such conditions puts the public at risk in the event the building collapses. The role of the architect is therefore to ensure that no compromises are made in the design and that the contractors hired do not compromise on the quality of the project. The architect should observe the strong code of ethics which calls for reasonable care to the latter as he exercises his duties. Every business starts off with the securing of a Business Permit from your local Internal Revenue Office and selects a good place to house your operation. The location of an architectural firm is near big construction company or any civil Engineering or Construction Firms. This allows for convenience for both firms because they both mutually benefit each other through their services. Advertising and promotion of your business helps in putting the firm’s name out there to the public. A business card is highly recommended because it shows the type of business the firm is involved in. Maintaining of close contact with former colleagues also helps to advertise the business. This is also a quick way to staff your firm with contractual consultants who have specialized in different sub-fields in architecture. The contacts are insightful and more understanding because they already know you and a rapport has already been established between everyone. Because this business offers service and there are no raw materials or resources that require higher capital, you can always offer a better and lower price while you are starting your business. This helps a lot in building customer and gaining clients’ trust. The startup capital is used to furnish the offices and employ the necessary day-to-day staff required in the operations of the firm. For management and accountability purposes, proper records should be kept and every staff member should be held accountable for the role they play within the firm. Internal and external auditing of financial records should be done as the business sees fit putting into consideration that auditing is a cumbersome, time consuming process which requires large amounts of funds. The external auditors should therefore be employed in a contractual basis to ease the expense and also to ensure non-biased audit reports. The audit intervals should also be spaced at regular intervals e.g. once every year instead of impromptu scheduling where some years ago unaudited. The firm should also invest in a proper legal structure because of the sensitivity of architectural work. The legal department will be tasked in making the necessary follow ups on issues such as title deeds of lands, copyrights pertaining to architectural works and also in the drafting and review of contracts that the firm is committed to through the provision of services. The lawyers should also be well equipped in handling all the legal issues that might affect the firm’s image in a negative way. Presently, subornation and administrative dishonesty is being dealt with by a number of architectural professional organizations and commercial groups all over the world. Nevertheless, different ethical matters have come up, they include: offshoring, viable progress, and environmental conservation, that the architectural business business is required to deliberate on and look into. When looking into architectural ethics one ethical predicament is the fact that an architect is required to put forward the name of any engineer going against the architecture Code of Ethics to the proper authority. This is due to the fact that this architect going against the engineering Code of Ethics or standards may pose a conceivable risk to civilians from a customer or business not adhering to the architect's instructions. Looking at the first ethical standards required by the architecture Code of Ethics, this responsibility supersedes the obligation to a customer and/or employer. An architect could get into trouble by having their license annulled, even in the case that refusal to report that kind of a threat to the relevant authorities does not lead to any loss of human life or injuries. In most instances, this obligation can be satisfied by informing the client of the penalties in a straightforward manner, and ensuring that the client heeds to the engineer's instruction. Nonetheless, it is up to the engineer to warrant that the counteractive steps are followed to the letter, failure to which, the circumstances surrounding this situation ought to be taken forward to the relevant authority. It is very unlikely that a governmental authority should fail to take appropriate action due to the circumstances surrounding the case. However, it is possible. In such a case, the engineer has an obligation of publicizing this breach of engineering ethics. Consequently, whistleblowing by proficient architects is not an uncommon occurrence, and judges have many a time ruled in favor of the engineers in these cases, superseding responsibilities to employers and privacy matters that bar the architect from speaking out. In conclusion, professional architects are seen to be guided by the code of ethics in their professionalism. This has helped prevent many accidents arising from incompetent behavior from the part of the architects. The AIA as a professional body has also safe guarded the rights of the professional architects and has ensured that future architects are taught at a very early stage the importance of professionalism. References Greg Hancks, (AIA) Copy right or copy wrong 4th in the series. 2009. Print Rashida Y.V. MacMurray. Trademarks Or Copyrights: Which Intellectual Property Right Affords Its Owner The Greatest Protection Of Architectural Ingenuity? 2005. Print Douglas L Steidl. Professionalism and Ethics in Architectural Education. 2009. Print American Society of Engineers  [1914]. Code of Ethics. Reston, Virginia, USA: ASCE Press. Retrieved 2006-10-20. (2006) Read More