The sixth ethical guideline of the construction industry commits to complying with common principles. In the project business of the construction industry, they have an even greater importance than usual. Actors and partners change often and can be very diverse. Common principles create the basis for seamless cooperation.
Operating as a member company of RT requires the company to commit to the union's rules and common principles, whether they concern ethical guidelines, the fight against the gray economy or even occupational safety. Belonging to an industry association is also an indication that the company does not go where the fence is lowest, but strives for responsible operations and constructive cooperation.
The industry's ethical principles and the organizations' own codes of conduct awaken both the recognition of situations in which we act in accordance with common principles and ethical guidelines, and situations in which there is still room for refinement. Regular evaluation of one's own work and the organization's operations and courageous intervention to correct the shortcomings is the starting point for continuous development.
Follow common principles
Follow Rakennusteollisuus RT ry's rules and guidelines that promote ethics, which include, among other things, ethical guidelines for construction sites and production facilities and guidelines for compliance with competition legislation (as well as internal principles of contracting and material suppliers).
In the construction industry RT's member survey, more than 90 percent of the respondents either completely disagreed or disagreed with the statement that they had noticed in their own organizations that they occasionally moved along the lines of ethical and unethical activities.
Similar comments can also be found in the open-ended responses to the survey: "Everyone in our organization agrees that we act in accordance with the existing guidelines."
Sometimes, however, it can be easier to see the rich in someone else's eye than the speck in your own eye. In the open answers, it was hoped, among other things, that the main contractors would more closely comply with their responsibilities and obligations regarding the entire project implementation chain.
"Main contractors delegate their tasks to subcontractors. They are fined, for example, for cleaning, and the fines go to the main contractor's margins. Receipts are late, invoices are late, even though the previous work has not been done," states one of the respondents.
Deviations from the general contract terms, i.e. YSE, for example in relation to contractual fines, payment terms and collateral, aroused emotions. Correspondingly, the main contractors also receive feedback that the subcontractors do not always think of the best for the project, but only their own.
It would be important to have even more discussions between the different parties, so that the understanding of the expectations and needs of others would increase as well. For example, some main contractors have a practice of holding separate contractor meetings at the beginning of the project, where the content and principles of cooperation are discussed in more depth.
Competition legislation must be respected in everything
With regard to competition legislation, RT has prepared a separate guide, which will also be updated after the holidays. Its purpose is to ensure that the key requirements of competition legislation are known and complied with in all activities of RT and its member associations.
The task of the industry organization is to generally promote the creation and existence of fair competition conditions in the market. Therefore, it must also be ensured that it does not operate in a way that violates national or EU competition regulations.
See also
- LVI-Aitan Ville Hälinen: Common principles are derived by acting as an example
- 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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