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Being an Ethical Surveyor

Dr. Richard Lucas FACSInformation Systems,University of Canberra

Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE)

Examples

Challenges

Terms

Help (sort of)

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at Charles Sturt University

It needs no proof that neither economic activities

nor any other class of human activities can rightly

be made independent of

moral laws.

1890

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John Maynard Keynes

Terms

Ethics /Morals Surveyor

from the Anglo-Norman French

surveiour

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a set of values for

determining right and wrong

Ethics are what differentiates or creates a profession; without

ethics it becomes a business or service which is sold at the

lowest price.

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Reading (or writing) about the virtues of fictional characters has little power to instill those

virtues in us.

Mark Eddy Smith Tolkien’s Ordinary Virtues

Moral Exemplars

Who?What?Why?

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1.

2.

3.4.5.

6.

7.

Dirk Hartog

Surveyor

Exploring (Dutch)

1616

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Virtue: Courage

George Washington

Surveyor

Duh!!

(Think apple trees)

1770’s

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Virtue: Truthfulness

Rufus PutnamSurveyor

Me (7th Great Grandfather’s brother’s son)

1st U. S. Surveyor General

1796 - 1803

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Virtue:

Diligence

Rufus

Richard

(Gen.)

Henry David Thoreau

Surveyor

Lazing about.

mid 1800’s

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Virtue:(Dis) obedience,Simplicity

William John Wills

Surveyor

Silly walking

mid 1800’s

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Virtue: Courage

George Goyder

Surveyor

Goyder Line

mid 1860’s

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Virtue: Honesty

Irene Martin (nee Barclay)

Surveyor

1st female member of RICS

Patron of the poor

Slum redevelopment

1922 - 1989

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Virtue: Compassion

Len BeadellSurveyor

Gunbarrel Highway

The Last Australian Explorer

mid 1900’s

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Virtue:Generosity

What does all that give us?

TheVirtues

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Courage

Truthfulness

Diligence

(Dis) obedience,Simplicity

Good Faith

CompassionGenerosity

Academics!!

Construction Management and Economics (2001) 19, 19-36A study of quantity surveyors' ethical behaviour

Linda Fan, Christabel Ho, and Vincent Ng

Our code … should be dictated by our conception of Christianity and chivalry, treating Ethics from a practical point of view or rather as a practical service rather than

a speculative or abstract one.

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The Australian Surveyor, November 1928Code of Ethics - A Guide to Professional Conduct

J. Wilkes

dedication to the public interest, conformance to a code of ethics

and the acquisition of a high standard of expertise.

Construction Management and Economics (2001) 19, 481-491Competencies of professional quantity surveyors: a South

African perspectiveRAYMOND NKADO and TERRY MEYER

Does not mention virtue: gets

deontology wrong.

More academics!!

Strategic Integration of Surveying Services FIG Working Week 2007 Hong Kong SAR, China, 13-17 May 2007

Ethics for Surveyors – what are the problems?Ashley DABSON, Frances PLIMMER, Sarah KENNEY and Mike WATERS

Does not mention virtue or rights.

interviewees who have been RICS members for longer and have more involvement with RICS

professional ethics tend to have stronger opinions. They tend to think virtue ethics theory is the most appropriate theory to explain professional ethics.

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Poon, Joanna and Hoxley, Mike 2010, Use of moral theory to analyse the ethical codes of built environment professional

organisations: A case study of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, International Journal of Law in the Built

Environment, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 260-275.

1. Difference between public and private sectors.

2. Work pressures / role of employers.

3. Client entertaining.4. Influence of clients

on ethical behaviour.

Construction Management and Economics (2003) 21, 43–67Quantity surveyors' background and training, and their ethical

concepts, conceptions and interests considerationsHo Man-Fong Christabel and Ng Chi-Wai Vincent

It can be concluded that the

moderating effects of

background variables are contingent upon the specific ethical

perception concerned.

24 Hypotheses!!

Ethics problems

Best account of what

ethics is.

What are the problems?Difference between public and private sectors (more protection in

public)

Work pressures / role of employers (role conflict - see Venn diagram - next slide)

Client entertaining (bribery or hospitality?)

Influence of clients on ethical behaviour (pressure to cut corners)

Influence of fees/commission (undue influence or mere incentive)

Bids (late bids, fake bids)

Estate agency (gazzumping and gazundering)

Competency (earn while you learn? Bait and switch)

Job specific issues - stories of experiences (preferential promotion)

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You Profession

Client/Boss

http://cartesianproduct.wordpress.com/2012/08/12/venn-diagrams-for-11-sets/

Three Ethics

Thanks for (almost)nothing!

What’s a sheep to do?

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*Turkish

Read:Virtue Ethics for GIS Professionals by

Nancy J. Obermeyer in

Research Trends in Geographic Information Science, 2009 pp.27-37 for a great account of virtue.

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Courage

Honesty

Diligence

Simplicity

Compassion—

social justice

Good Faith

—Trust

Generosity

RICS

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http://www.rics.org/au/the-profession/professional-and-ethical-standards/ethical-case-studies/

Case Studies

Some keywords: may, likely, legal, suggest, should.

and their Decision Tree

Courage

Honesty

Compassion

Trust

Diligence

Simplicity

Generosity

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Dependability

Integrity

What to do with these virtues?

add

Institution of

Surveyors Victoria

Code of Ethics

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welfare and rights (1)

honour and dignity (2)

responsibility and integrity (3)

responsibility and competence (4)

confidentiality (6)

impartiality (7)

transparency (8)

fairness (9) http://www.surveying.org.au

Fédération International

e des Géomètres

Ethical Principles

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Integrity

Independence

Care and competence

Duty

Public interest

iSNSWCode of Ethics

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honesty, justice, and courtesy

welfare and rights

trust

honour and dignity

fairness, honesty and in good faith

consequences

diligence

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The opening of the railway line! — the Governor and all!With flags and banners down the street, a banquet and a ball.

Hark to 'em at the station now! They're raising cheer on cheer!'The man who brought the railway through

— our friend the engineer.'

They cheer his pluck and enterprise and engineering skill!'Twas my old husband found the pass behind that big red hill.

Before the engineer was born we'd settled with our stockBehind that great big mountain chain, a line of range and rock.

A line that kept us starving there in weary weeks of drought,With ne'er a track across the range to let the cattle out.

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"'Twas then, with horses starved and weak and scarcely fit to crawl,My husband went to find a way across the rocky wall.He vanished in the wilderness – God knows where he was gone –He hunted till his food gave out, but still he battled on.His horses strayed ('twas well they did), they made towards the grass,And down behind that big red hill they found an easy pass.

"He followed up and blazed the trees, to show the safest track,Then drew his belt another hole and turned and started back.His horses died – just one pulled through with nothing much to spare;God bless the beast that brought him home, the old white Arab mare!We drove the cattle through the hills, along the new-found way,And this was our first camping-ground – just where I live today.

"Then others came across the range and built the township here,And then there came the railway line and this young engineer;He drove about with tents and traps, a cook to cook his meals,A bath to wash himself at night, a chain-man at his heels.And that was all the pluck and skill for which he's cheered and praised,For after all he took the track, the same my husband blazed!

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"My poor old husband, dead and gone with never a feast nor cheer;He's buried by the railway line! – I wonder can he hearWhen by the very track he marked, and close to where he's laid,The cattle trains go roaring down the one-in-thirty grade.I wonder does he hear them pass, and can he see the sightWhen, whistling shrill, the fast express goes flaming by at night.

"I think 'twould comfort him to know there's someone left to care;I'll take some things this very night and hold a banquet there –The hard old fare we've often shared together, him and me,Some damper and a bite of beef, a pannikin of tea:We'll do without the bands and flags, the speeches and the fuss,We know who ought to get the cheers – and that's enough for us.

"What's that? They wish that I'd come down – the oldest settler here!Present me to the Governor and that young engineer!Well, just you tell his Excellence, and put the thing polite,I'm sorry, but I can't come down – I'm dining out tonight!"

The First Surveyor Banjo Paterson

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Reading (or writing) about the virtues of fictional characters has little power to instill those

virtues in us.

Mark Eddy Smith Tolkien’s Ordinary Virtues

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When the time comes for someone to read your virtues

what will they say?

Thanks for listening

No risk - no life - Do the Right Thing

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Richard