Anthony Brabazon made a presentation at the Conference
entitled “Does Integrity Matter?” The 2011 EBEN Research Conference was held at
Chartered Accountants House in Dublin, Ireland, from Wednesday 8th
to Friday 10th June 2011. The event was hosted by EBEN Ireland, a newly founded chapter and
registered charity with three experienced business people as its founding
directors, in conjunction with Trinity College Dublin Business School and
Chartered Accountants Ireland.
Anthony Brabazon is a professional architect, CEO of ABA Architects and founder of
HelpMyHouse.ie. He served as
Honorary Secretary in the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland and sat for
four years on their Professional Conduct Committee. Anthony is known for his integrity in a construction sector
not universally applauded for the highest ethical standards.
Anthony opened by stating that “Ethics is the oil
that flows between business relationships to stop sparks flying.” He suggested that ethics are regulated by two
policemen:
The first is the internal policeman or conscience, which may or may not be
effective depending on how the conscience is informed and the second is the external policeman comprising Contracts, Regulations and
Enforcement as well as the fear of reputation loss.
He observed the effect of regulatory failures with the
quotation: “When the sentence for a crime is not carried out, the hearts of
the people are filled with schemes to do wrong” and then noted that ‘light-touch’ regulation is not a
recent development, as the quotation was taken from the Book of Ecclesiastes
written by King Solomon a few millennia earlier!
Anthony then
contrasted the construction industry with manufacturing where a tested product can be seen before purchase. In construction the outcome, in most cases, is not seen until the end of
the process, which raises the requirement for trust between parties involved in
each project. The architect applies
professional judgement on matters of quality at each stage to get the end
‘product’. While construction may not be a precise business, it can be a fair
business.
He then discussed a variety of ethical issues facing
the construction industry.
Ethics of tendering Due to costs associated with preparing prices it is
important in an open economy to limit the number of tenderers in a transparent
manner. He noted that the
depressed economy has been exploited by some clients in casting the net too
wide when seeking tenders.
Ethics of architects Until recently anyone in Ireland could call themselves
an ‘architect’. The title
‘architect’ is now protected after a long campaign, the final push coming after
a TV documentary concerning a fake architect exploiting customers. While the ‘function’ has yet to be
protected the ‘title’ protection is a good first step.
Architects are independent of Contractors and operate
under a professional Code of Conduct which outlines duties to the public,
clients and the profession.
Ethics of contractors A number of issues arise with building
contractors. One is tax compliance and Anthony explained that tax inspectors have started inspecting
plant hire firms to build true profiles of contractors’ output compared to
declared accounts. Another issue
is sub-contractor payments. He
said ethical relationships must pass down the line as payment delays can prove
dangerous to sub-contractors. He cited the collapse in Ireland of a major main
contractor which affected over 1,000 sub-contracting firms. The final example was customer care
which the industry isn’t always renowned for. Anthony said clients know when they are being “looked
after”… but it is a two-way street requiring fair behaviour from all parties.
Ethics of clients Anthony discussed
a number of ethical issues relating to clients of architects, the first being
tax compliance and “cash” deals which he described as not only being ‘illegal
and immoral’ but also ‘foolish as they remove legal protection in an attempt to
save 13.5% value added tax’. Another issue is ensuring that projects are
adequately funded, both for construction and for professional services. This, sadly, is often not the case. He also said a clarification of roles
was required, especially when a first-time, non-expert client was engaging an
architect. It can happen that the
client has unrealistic expectations of the architect’s duties, especially in
the case where the building contractor fails to perform. Anthony said that
ultimately a degree of trust was required between both parties, as he had
already stated, the ultimate end product can be ‘invisible’ until the project
is complete.
Anthony then proceeded to describe a range of new
pressures which had arisen over the
last thirty years ranging from the proliferation of new materials, technologies
and regulations in buildings, the speed of procurement, a stripping back from
full service levels and below cost tendering. Whilst these issues affect professional architects around
the world, he said a number of issues are particular to Ireland, some as a
result of the construction industry now accounting for only 8% of the overall
economy, a recent fall from around 25%. More difficult economic times have resulted in a high
proportion of work, notably residential and small commercial projects, being
directly procured with contractors without professional advice from architects,
engineers or surveyors.
The final issue Anthony discussed was the question of
how professional architects view themselves – do they see themselves as stewards
or owners? He suggested that, if the answer was as stewards, they were
accountable to someone else, but if as owners then they do not see themselves
as accountable. Employees of large
firms like IBM or GM, BBC or NBC are like stewards and have their ethical
behaviour guided and regulated by the ethics of their companies. Small business owners are without this
constraint. However, even without accountability fear of loss of reputation can
be a compelling influence.
Anthony concluded with a photo of the Empire State
Building in New York which he cited as an example of what ethical co-operation
could achieve, even in difficult circumstances such as the prevailing
depression in 1930. He included a copy of a note typed at the time whereby the
project was described as having been completed in 21 months from inception of
design to completion. Co-operation indeed, the very essence of business being
conducted with integrity!
