CODE OF ETHICS & PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT OF THE BERMUDA SOCIETY OF INTERIOR DESIGNERS
1.0 Preamble
1.1 Members of the Bermuda Society of Interior Designers are required to conduct their professional practice in a manner that will command the respect of: suppliers of goods and services to the profession, and fellow Professional Interior Designers, as well as the general public. It is the individual responsibility of every member of the Bermuda Society of Interior Designs to uphold this CODE and the By-Laws of the Association.
1.2 A professional Interior Designer is qualified by education, experience, and examination to enhance the function and quality of interior spaces; for the purposes of improving the qualify of life, increasing productivity, and protecting health, safety, welfare and aesthetic standards of the community.
2.0 Responsibility to the Public
2.1 Members shall comply with all existing laws, regulations and codes governing business procedures and the practice of Interior Design as established by the jurisdiction which they practice.
2.2 Members shall not engage in any seal or sign drawings, specifications or other interior design documents except where the member firm has prepared, supervised or professionally reviewed and approved such documents.
2.3 Members shall not engage in any form of false or misleading advertising or promotional activities and shall not imply through advertising or other means that the staff members or employees of their firm are qualified Interior Designers unless such be the fact.
2.4 Members shall not assist or abet improper or illegal conduct of any person for the purposes of any project.
2.5 Members shall not consciously assume or accept any positions in which their personal interests conflict with their professional duty.
2.6 Members shall not engage in any conduct involving fraud, deceit, misrepresentation or dishonesty in professional or business activity.
3.0 Responsibility of the Client
3.1 Before accepting an assignment, members shall define exactly and comprehensively to the client the scope and nature of the project involved, the Interior Design services to be performed and the method of remuneration for those services.
3.2 Members are specifically prohibited from requesting or accepting a fee, goods and/or services from a manufacturer, agent, contractor or any other person for the specifications and/or purchases of project related goods and services.
3.3 Members shall treat all knowledge of a client's intentions, production methods and/or business organization as confidential and shall not, at any time, divulge such information without the written consent of the client. It is the members' responsibility to ensure that all employees are similarly bound to confidentiality.
4.0 Responsibility to Other Interior Designers
4.1 Members shall not interfere with the performance of other Interior Designer's or Colleague's contractual or professional relationship with a client.
4.2 Members shall not initiate, or participate in, any discussion or activity which might result in an injury to another Interior Design's or Colleague's reputation or business relationship.
4.3 Members shall not knowingly accept any professional assignment upon which another Interior Designer has been acting without receiving a copy of the letter terminating the previous contract.
4.4 Members may, when requested and it does not present a conflict of interest, render a second opinion to a client, or serve as an expert witness in a judicial or arbitration proceeding.
4.5 Members, when asked to advise on the selection of Interior Designers and/or related design professionals, shall accept no payment in any form from their colleagues being considered and/or recommended.
4.6 Members shall not endorse the application for membership in a professional organization and/or certification, registration, or licensing of an individual known to be unqualified with the respect to education, training, experience or character; nor shall members knowingly misrepresent the experience, professional expertise or moral character of that individual.
4.7 Members shall only take credit for work that has actually been created by that member of the Member's firm and under the member's direction.
5.0 Responsibility to the Profession
5.1 Members agree to maintain standards of professional and personal conduct that will reflect in a responsible manner on BSID and the profession.
5.2 Members shall seek to continually upgrade their professional Interior Design profession.
5.3 Members agree, whenever possible, to encourage and contribute to the sharing of knowledge and information between interior designers and other allied professional disciplines, industry and the public.
5.4 Members shall not permit any representative of their business organizations to present themselves to the general public as professional Interior Designers unless such representatives are qualified by education and/or experience.
5.5 Members shall not imply, through advertising or other means, that their staff or employees of their firms are Members of the Bermuda Society of Interior Designers, unless such be the fact, since the right to use the Society's appellation (BSID, or B.S.I.D., or Member BSID) is granted to the individual only.
5.6 Members shall consider it their professional responsibility to encourage students interested in the study of Interior Design and to offer assistance whenever possible to those who enter the profession.
5.7 Members shall assume the responsibility of participating in the affairs of the Association. Any deviation form the CODE or from subsequent revisions by the Council of the Society, or any detrimental action to the Society and the Profession as a whole shall be deemed unprofessional conduct, and shall be subject to discipline by the Society's Council.
