The fifth ethical principle of the construction industry focuses on avoiding corruption. The construction industry is particularly challenging in terms of corruption when dealing with large financial interests, tenders, community planning, political decision-making and public procurement. The risk of corruption can lurk in everyday situations, such as an invitation from a supplier to a ladle match or sponsoring a customer's daughter's floorball team.
In practice, corruption means pursuing a private interest or favoring another by abusing power and breaking the rules, i.e. for example by trying to get or offer a personal benefit through a job role.
The consequences of being distracted can be very serious. Getting lost on the wrong side of the law can, for example, lead to the exclusion of a company from public procurement. Even at the moment, there are a few legal processes going on in which representatives of the construction industry are on the dock.
The companies' own Code of Conduct principles and the Ministry of Finance's instructions on hospitality, benefits and gifts, as well as instructions on trips paid for by parties outside the agency, have clearly improved the practices and operating methods of the organizations over the years. Compliance with these is also encouraged in the Construction Industry's own ethical guidelines.
Do not engage in corruption
Giving and accepting bribes is prohibited. Do not offer or accept gifts, trips or other benefits that cannot be considered reasonable and part of customary hospitality or that could lead to a conflict of interest. In the relationship with the authorities, special care must be taken and the instructions of the Ministry of Finance on hospitality, benefits and gifts taken into account, for example, and instructions on trips paid for by parties outside the agency.
Operating methods in Finland are healthier than elsewhere and they have become even cleaner in recent decades. What was once "the way of the country" is no longer acceptable.
According to Transparency International's corruption index 2017, Finland is the third least corrupt country in the world. However, a good ranking does not necessarily mean that there is no corruption in Finland at all.
Finland's problem has been considered to be crony networks, corruption related to political structures and various illegal bribery of persons in positions of responsibility. The risk of corruption often also occurs in connection with public procurement.
The change in operating methods can also be seen in the results of the 2018 member survey on ethical guidelines conducted by Rakennusteollisuus RT. 37 percent of the respondents to the survey said that they had never come across a situation in projects where a representative of the client organization expects or demands personal benefits, such as trips, accommodation or self-serving sponsorship. 42 percent thought the situation described above was rare, and 15 percent thought it happened occasionally. Only 1,8 percent of the respondents said that they come across this type of corruption often, but not in every project.
It is, if it seems so
In the open feedback of the survey, there were a few mentions of how customers, developer consultants or property managers wish for example annual trips, generous accommodation, sports sponsorship or even clear bribes. Many also talked about hidden corruption, i.e. how in public, non-competition procurements, for example, a golf friend's company is favored or "companies of the same religion" favor each other.
According to the open answers, "lunch services for civil servants do not play a very significant role these days". According to the respondent of the survey, strict adherence to the rules can also lead to a "completely unnatural mild phenomenon, when offering coffee during the morning meeting can be interpreted as influence".
Some organizations have ended up with zero tolerance for gifts, for example, in order to avoid difficulties in interpretation. Common sense goes a long way, however, as long as you remember that the essential thing is not only how things are, but how they look. If an action "is apt" to influence a person in a decision-making position, for example by putting him in a debt of gratitude, it can be condemned in the name of the law.
See also
- Bonavan's Katariina Haigh: Open your eyes to risks and look through someone else's eyes if necessary
- Other parts of the Ethical Principles in Practice writing series
More information
- Merja Vuoripuro, Construction Industry RT ry
tel. 040 587 2642, merja.vuoripuro@rakennusteollisuus.fi - Sari Puurtinen, Juuriharja Consulting Group Oy
tel. 040 676 3772, sari.puurtinen@juuriharja.fi
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