Phase 5 · Build your portfolio
Ethics, conduct and the use of AI
The Code of Conduct running through every objective, and the Institution's position on AI tools during the interview.
Who this is for:Candidates at any stage ·Mentors ·Supporters
Ethics is not one of the ten objectives. It runs through all of them — and reviewers expect to see it in your forms, your portfolio, and how you answer.
Ethics in the Professional Review
Institution of Structural Engineers
- All members are expected to uphold ethical values, and you should demonstrate in your application that you are committed to working in an ethical and socially responsible manner, as set out in the Institution's Code of Conduct.
- The Institution's position is that ethics applies throughout all aspects of an engineer's working life and is therefore not represented by a single Core Objective — ethical issues influence several.
- Reviewers expect to see examples of how you have upheld ethical values relevant to your working practices, within your IPD final report forms and portfolio, and you may be asked to discuss this at interview.
- Members must disclose to the Institution if they have been convicted of a criminal offence.
From IPD Guidance — Chartered Member, Institution of Structural Engineers.
What the Code asks of members
The Code of Conduct requires members to act with integrity and fairness; to have regard to the public interest and to those affected by their work; to uphold the reputation of the profession; to maintain and broaden their competence and help others do so; to undertake only tasks for which they are competent; to exercise appropriate skill and judgement; not to injure another's reputation maliciously or recklessly; and to avoid conflicts of interest.
Read that list against the ten objectives and the overlap is obvious. Undertake only those tasks for which you are competent is the same instinct as recognising the limits of your technical competency. Have regard to the public interest is most of health, safety and risk. Maintain and broaden your competence is CPD.
Evidencing it without a section for it
Because there is no ethics objective, there is no ethics section in the portfolio. Ethics shows up where it actually occurred:
- The time you said a design was outside your competence and asked for it to be reviewed.
- The conflict of interest you declared.
- The error you found in your own work, and reported.
- The buildability or safety concern you raised when it was inconvenient.
- The point where you refused to sign something off.
These are strong evidence precisely because they are uncomfortable, and candidates leave them out because they read as failures. Reviewers read them as judgement.
AI tools
The Institution's position on the interview itself is unambiguous, and it is a rule rather than a matter of taste.
Beyond that specific rule, the honest position for a candidate is this: the Professional Review assesses your competence, and everything you submit is a declaration that the work is yours. A form written for you does not evidence your ability to communicate, and you will be questioned on the content of what you submit by two experienced engineers.
The rule, and what breaking it costs
Institution of Structural Engineers
- AI tools are not permitted for use during the interview in any capacity.
- If the reviewers suspect you are using AI tools or software to help answer their questions, your interview may be terminated, and you may be reported to the Applications and Professional Review Panel with a recommendation that your application be voided.
- AI during the interview
- Not permitted in any capacityIf reviewers suspect it, the interview may be terminated and your application may be recommended for voiding.
From IPD Guidance — Chartered Member, Institution of Structural Engineers.
Worth being ready for
Describe a time you worked at the limit of your competence. What did you do?
It tests the Code directly, and a candidate who has never encountered the limit has either not been stretched or is not noticing.
Have you ever had to raise a concern that was unwelcome?
Reviewers are looking for judgement under pressure, not for a record of never having been in that position.
How do you keep your competence current?
Maintaining and broadening competence is a Code obligation, and CPD is separately assessed at the interview.
Related pages and tools
- CPDWhat IStructE means by CPD, how it is assessed at the interview, and the mandatory reporting that follows election.
- ConfidentialityRedacting what an NDA covers while keeping the engineering that evidences the objective — and knowing when to leave a project out.
- Final report formsOne form per Core Objective, and the three words IStructE uses for how to write them: personal, positive, practical.
- Professional standardsThat you understand what it means to belong to a profession — the Code of Conduct, the limits of your own competence, the habit of keeping up to date, and some genuine involvement in the Institution beyond paying a subscription.