Architecture 645: Architectural Practice in Canada

Study Guide

Unit 3: The Ethical Context

Commentary

Unit 3 provides an overview of professional ethics in general and the specific rights and obligations of architects in particular. An understanding of ethics is critical because architects are required by their regulations to apply ethics in their day-to-day practice, whether it involves awarding a contract, following a tender call, or processing a change order. The twenty-first century is bringing new ethical concerns to the profession that may require some expansion of the existing ethic codes in Canada.

CHOP 1.1.3 (pp. 1–2) discusses codes of ethics and relevant bylaws and regulations applicable to the architectural profession. Professional liability is touched on in CHOP 2.1.9 (p. 2).

Learning Outcomes

After completing Unit 3, you should be able to

1. Identify and discuss how rules of conduct govern professionals in general and architects in particular.
2. Compare the relative importance of laws, regulations, ethics, and administrative rules.
3. Analyze when architects must identify and declare a conflict of interest in business and professional matters.
4. Identify the range of new ethical issues that accompany the twenty-first century.

Required Readings

1. Read the following in CHOP (2009):
   • Chapter 1.1.2, The Architect as a Professional
   • Chapter 1.1.3, Professional Conduct and Ethics
   • Chapter 2.1.9, Risk Management and Professional Liability
2. City Perils: The Fifty-Nine-Story Crisis by Joe Morgenstern
3. 2016 Venice Biennale – What is the worst act ever committed by an architect? Chilling Exhibit The Evidence Room Recreates a Nazi Gas Chamber. University of Waterloo architecture professor Robert Jan van Pelt created an exhibition for the 2016 Venice Architectural Biennale on the subject of what is the worst act ever committed by an architect. The referenced link is to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation interview with van Pelt where he talks about the reason why architects need to know about this historic breach of human ethics. Give thought to the architectural code of ethics in your province or territory in light of this exhibition. To obtain more information about this important architectural exhibition, do an Internet search for “The Evidence Room revisits Auschwitz for the Venice Biennale.”
4. Ethics in the twenty-first century – It Is Zaha Hadid’s Duty to Look at Human Rights Issues

Resources

1. Women in Architecture
2. Architecture 2030 – The 2030 Challenge
3. AIA 2018 Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

Self-Study Questions

Work through the following self-study questions. Use the Course Discussion Forum to post comments/questions.

1. What are the differences between administrative rules and codes or regulations governing professional conduct?
2. What are the limits of your competence and the limits of your firm’s competence? When do you need to seek expertise outside your own office?
3. What are some of the various conflicts of interest faced by architects regularly? How are such conflicts of interest normally resolved?
4. How do architectural associations deal with complaints against members? Checking your provincial/territorial association website, list some examples of complaints and discipline illustrating where architects can go wrong.
5. Give some thought to changes in society, the environment, and architectural practice in the twenty-first century. What issues might be reflected in how an architectural association’s Code of Ethics could be updated in order to respond to changes in society and architectural practice.

Assessment

Complete and submit Assignment 1: Regulation and Ethics.