Ethics and Rules of Conduct questions
Ethics is the chair's territory and it is questioned in every assessment. RICS is explicit that there is significant emphasis on the Rules of Conduct, professional practice and ethics, and that you can be referred on this area alone. The questions here are the open, spoken kind a chair actually asks: a scenario, then a follow-up on what you did next and why.
Ethics, Rules of Conduct & professionalism
Understand and apply the RICS Rules of Conduct, the ethical decision tree, and professional standards in practice. The one mandatory competency taken to Level 3, and the one you can be referred on by itself.
What the assessor is listening for
- That you apply a decision process rather than reaching for an instinct. Naming the steps you took, in order, is what separates this from an opinion.
- That you can move from the rule to the situation in front of you. Quoting a rule is Level 1; showing where it bit on a live job is Level 2.
- That you know when to escalate and to whom, and that you did escalate rather than absorbing the problem yourself.
- Consistency with your submission. An ethics answer that contradicts something in your case study is worse than no example at all.
Level 1
Knowledge & understanding - you can explain the principle.
- What are the RICS Rules of Conduct, and who do they apply to?A strong answer covers: The rules as they currently stand, who is bound by them (members and regulated firms, not only chartered members), and the fact that they carry professional obligations rather than guidance. Say when you last read them.
- Walk me through how you would work through an ethical dilemma at work.A strong answer covers: A stated process, step by step, ending in a decision you could defend in writing: establish the facts, identify who is affected, test the options against the rules and your firm's procedures, take advice, act, and record what you did and why.
Level 2
Application - you have done it yourself and can describe how.
- Tell me about a conflict of interest you identified. How did you spot it, and what happened next?A strong answer covers: The specific circumstance that raised it, the check that caught it, who you told and how quickly, whether informed consent was sought or the appointment declined, and what your firm recorded. Personal role throughout, not the firm's.
- A contractor you are administering a contract for offers you tickets to an event. What do you do?A strong answer covers: Your firm's gifts and hospitality policy and threshold, the declaration you would make regardless of value, why the perception matters as much as the intent, and the answer you would actually give the contractor.
- What is your firm's complaints handling procedure, and what triggers it?A strong answer covers: That a CHP exists, is published, and has defined stages and timescales; what a client is told at appointment; and where it goes if the firm cannot resolve it. If you have handled or seen one run, say what you did.
Level 3
Reasoned advice & depth of judgement - you have advised others and can justify decisions and trade-offs.
- How is client money handled in your organisation, and what protects the client if the firm fails?A strong answer covers: Separation from the firm's own funds, the controls on who can move it, the reconciliation and audit expectations, and the protection scheme that stands behind it. If you do not hold client money, say so and explain what would change if you did.
- Your client asks you to leave a figure out of a report because it will not help their case. How do you advise them?A strong answer covers: The advice you give, in the words you would use to the client: why the omission is not available to you, what it would expose them to, and the alternative you can offer instead. Then the escalation route if they insist.
- You realise a mistake of yours has already cost your client money. What do you do?A strong answer covers: Telling them, and how quickly. The internal notification first (your principal, and professional indemnity insurers where the policy requires it), the correction, and what you changed in the process so it does not recur.
How candidates lose this one
A rehearsed ethics answer that never touches the decision tree. Assessors hear the same textbook dilemma constantly and follow it with 'yes, but what did you actually do'.
Bluffing at the limit of your knowledge. Saying you would take advice, and naming who from, is the professional answer and is marked as one.
More RICS APC questions
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