Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 30 - Professions and Occupations › Part 201 - Mississippi State Board of Architecture › Chapter 4 - Professional Code of Conduct › Rule 30-201-4.2 - Conflict of Interest

Current through June 25, 2024
4.2.1 An architect
				shall not accept compensation for architectural services from more than one
				party on a project unless the circumstances are fully disclosed to and agreed
				to by all interested parties, with such disclosure and agreement to be in
				writing.
Commentary - This rule recognizes that in some
				  circumstances an architect may receive compensation from more than one party
				  involved in a project but that such bifurcated loyalty is unacceptable unless
				  all parties have understood and accepted it.
4.2.2 An architect shall not knowingly
				solicit or enter into a contract for professional services for any work which
				another architect or another registered design professional has been
				exclusively contracted to perform and with which work the other professional is
				no longer to provide any professional services, without first having been
				advised in writing by the architect's prospective client that the contract with
				the other professional has been terminated.
4.2.3 If an architect has any business
				association or a direct or indirect financial interest which is substantial
				enough to influence the architect's judgment in connection with the architect's
				performance of professional services, the architect shall fully disclose in
				writing to the architect's client or employer the nature of the business
				association or financial interest, and if the client or employer objects to
				such association or financial interest, the architect will either terminate
				such association or interest or offer to give up the commission or employment.
Commentary - Like Rule 4.2.1, this rule is directed
				  at conflicts of interests. It requires disclosure by the architect of any
				  interest which would affect the architect's
				  performance.
4.2.4
				An architect shall not solicit or accept compensation from contractors, or
				material or equipment suppliers in return for specifying or endorsing their
				companies or products.
Commentary - This rule appears in most of the
				  existing state standards. It is absolute and does not provide for waiver by
				  agreement. It assures an architect is not influenced to use companies or
				  products which are not in the best interest of the
				  client.
4.2.5 When
				acting as the interpreter of building contract documents and/or the judge of
				contract performance, an architect shall render decisions impartially, favoring
				neither party to the contract.
Commentary - This rule applies only when the
				  architect is acting as the interpreter of building contract documents and the
				  judge of contract performance. The rule recognizes that this is not an
				  inevitable role and there may be circumstances (for example, where the
				  architect has an interest in the owning entity) in which the architect may
				  appropriately decline to act in those two roles. In general, however, the rule
				  governs the customary construction industry relationship where the architect,
				  though paid by the owner and owing the owner loyalty, is nonetheless required,
				  in fulfilling the architect's role in the typical construction industry
				  documents, to act with impartiality.
Miss. Code Ann. §
										73-1-29(1)