Code of Conduct

Members deal honestly with clients, colleagues, suppliers and the association.

• 1.1Do not make a claim about your work, your firm or a product that you know to be untrue or cannot support.
• 1.2Do not offer or accept a bribe, kickback or inducement to award or obtain work.
• 1.3Honour the commitments you make in writing, and tell the client promptly when something you promised cannot be delivered.
• 1.4Do not use a client's money for anything other than the purpose it was given for.

Members take on work they are actually equipped to do, and bring in qualified people for the rest.

• 2.1Accept only work you have the skill, capacity and time to carry out properly.
• 2.2Do not undertake structural, electrical, plumbing, fire-safety or other specialist work that requires a qualified engineer or licensed contractor. Engage one and say so.
• 2.3Keep your knowledge of materials, methods, costs and regulations current.
• 2.4Where a project needs a registered architect under the Architects Act, 1972, say so rather than working around it.

How you describe your qualifications, your experience and your IIDA membership must be accurate.

• 3.1State your qualifications and years of experience accurately, and do not imply a degree, licence or registration you do not hold.
• 3.2Describe IIDA membership as what it is — a voluntary professional membership. Never as government approval, certification, accreditation or a licence to practise.
• 3.3Use the IIDA name, logo and membership badge only while your membership is current, without alteration, and only to show that you are a member.
• 3.4Do not present another designer's project as your own. Where work was collaborative, name the collaborators and describe your actual role.
• 3.5Do not present visualisations or renders as photographs of completed work.

The client should know, in writing and before they commit, what they are getting, what it costs and where your money comes from.

• 4.1Agree scope, deliverables, timeline, fees and payment stages in writing before work starts.
• 4.2Disclose in writing any commission, discount, rebate or other benefit you receive from a supplier, contractor or brand on the client's project, before the client commits to that supplier.
• 4.3Declare any personal or financial interest that could affect your advice.
• 4.4Give the client a clear account of costs, and raise variations for approval before incurring them — not afterwards.
• 4.5Hand over the drawings, warranties and documents the client has paid for at the end of the engagement.

A design that is beautiful and unsafe is a failed design. Members work within the law that applies to the site.

• 5.1Comply with the National Building Code, local building bye-laws, fire-safety requirements and any approvals the property requires.
• 5.2Do not design, specify or supervise alterations to structural elements without a qualified structural engineer's sign-off.
• 5.3Do not proceed with work you know to be unauthorised or in breach of a sanctioned plan, and tell the client in writing when you are asked to.
• 5.4Take reasonable care for the safety of everyone working on or occupying the site, including labour engaged through contractors.

Members are trusted with the inside of people's homes, businesses and finances.

• 6.1Keep confidential anything you learn about a client's home, business, finances or family in the course of the work.
• 6.2Obtain the client's consent before photographing a completed project or publishing it, including on social media.
• 6.3Do not publish an identifiable client's name, address or images without permission.
• 6.4Handle personal data you collect in line with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

Members compete on the quality of their work, not by damaging other practices.

• 7.1Do not copy another designer's drawings, concepts or published work and present them as original.
• 7.2Do not approach a client to displace another designer who is currently engaged on that project.
• 7.3Do not make false or malicious statements about another designer's competence, character or work.
• 7.4Credit the people whose work you show, including photographers, collaborators, contractors and craftspeople.
• 7.5Do not make a complaint to IIDA in bad faith, or use the association's process to damage a competitor.

The way a practice treats the people inside it is part of the standard, not separate from it.

• 8.1Do not harass, bully or discriminate against anyone on any ground, including sex, caste, religion, disability or region.
• 8.2Comply with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, including constituting an Internal Committee where the law requires it.
• 8.3Pay the interns, juniors and freelancers you engage what you agreed, when you agreed.
• 8.4Give credit to the people in your studio who did the work.

Membership is a two-way commitment. These are the obligations members owe IIDA itself.

• 9.1Give accurate information in your membership application and keep your contact and directory details current.
• 9.2Respond within a reasonable time when the association puts a concern to you, and do not obstruct a review.
• 9.3Do not hold yourself out as an office-bearer, examiner, assessor or representative of IIDA unless you are one.
• 9.4Stop using the IIDA name and badge immediately if your membership ends for any reason.