LABC strengthens code of conduct

At LABC's AGM on 6 December members agreed to strengthen its code of conduct to reflect the organisation's emphasis on competency and standards and public sector, not-for-profit ethos. LABC has made its code of conduct an integral part of its business practice by including it in its quality management systems and expanding its remit to technical and admin support staff.

It has included an updated section on ethics based on the work of Dr Angus Law of Edinburgh University which has also been adopted by the construction industry response group on competency.

Importantly, LABC has strengthened its approach around conflict of interest and reinforced its whistleblowing procedures. The new code explicitly demands any potential conflicts of interest must be handled pro-actively using the channels and actions in the LABC quality management system (including independent peer review) and reported to allow inspection in the audit. And to ensure national standards LABC's quality management system is ISO backed and independently audited.

In addition, LABC has introduced, for the first time, a confidential whistleblowing email address – whistleblowing@labc.co.uk. Commenting, LABC's Deputy Managing Director, Lorna Stimpson said,