ABSTRACT
Professional ethics are linked inextricably with the issues of fee competition discussed in Part Three. When compulsory fee competition was introduced in the UK for consulting engineers the Principal of an American firm wrote an article explaining his approach. He said that if appointed professionally to carry out a commission, it was his duty to use his professional skills solely in the interests of his client. When he was asked to bid competitively for an appointment he believed it was now a situation where he could use his professional skills in his own interest. He could look for weaknesses in the brief which could be exploited to his own benefit initially to win the job and subsequently to maximize his profits.
