Improve the proposal, together.

This code is adopted by the board of directors under section 87 of the Professional Code, after communication of the draft to members under section 95.3, and submitted for approval by the Office under section 95.2.

This Code determines the duties and obligations of every member of the Order toward the public, clients and the profession, regardless of the member’s mode of practice, employment status or the organization within which the member practises.

A member’s duties and obligations are neither modified nor diminished because the member practises within an enterprise, public body, municipality, fire safety service, partnership or any other organization.

A member takes reasonable measures to ensure that persons under the member’s supervision or directly collaborating with the member in professional practice comply with the professional obligations applicable to them.

A member must not counsel, encourage or cause a person to perform an act contrary to the law, the Professional Code, the regulations of the Order or applicable professional obligations.

A member practises with integrity, objectivity, independence, competence, prudence and diligence. The member gives primary consideration to protection of the public.

A member refuses to perform an illegal or misleading act or an act contrary to protection of the public. A member must not participate in a scheme intended to circumvent a legally applicable requirement or to create an appearance of compliance where compliance does not exist.

A member takes into account the foreseeable consequences of the member’s acts and omissions on fire safety and the protection of persons.

A member refrains from practising or performing a professional act where the member’s condition, the circumstances in which the member is acting or the means available are likely to compromise the quality of services or protection of the public.

Before accepting or carrying out a mandate, a member considers the limits of the member’s knowledge, experience, abilities, legal authorization and available means.

Where a mandate or part of it exceeds the member’s competence or legal authorization, the member must, according to the circumstances:

1° refuse the mandate or the part concerned;

2° limit its scope;

3° obtain the necessary assistance or information;

4° recommend the involvement of a person having the required knowledge, competence or legal authorization.

A member keeps knowledge and competence current in relation to the activities performed, including applicable legal requirements, codes, technical standards, inspection and testing methods, technologies and relevant professional practices.

Before expressing a professional conclusion, a member seeks to obtain the information and perform the verifications reasonably necessary having regard to the scope of the mandate.

A member distinguishes observed facts, information received from third parties, assumptions and professional judgment. The member does not present as certain a conclusion for which the available information is insufficient.

A member performs only activities that the member is legally authorized to perform. The member respects the fields of practice, reserved activities and competencies of other professions and trades and, where necessary, collaborates with a legally authorized person.

A member ensures that the scope of the professional mandate is sufficiently defined. Where relevant, the member specifies the limits of the intervention, the elements to be verified, the main assumptions and the elements expressly excluded from the mandate.

A member does not multiply professional acts without sufficient justification and does not turn a periodic inspection or testing mandate into a general audit of design, construction or installation compliance unless the mandate or a legally applicable requirement so requires.

A member’s reports, opinions and other professional documents are clear, factual, understandable and sufficiently complete in light of the mandate.

Where applicable, the member clearly distinguishes a non-compliance, an apparent anomaly, a recommendation, an assumption and a professional opinion.

A member signs, authenticates, approves or files a professional document only if the member prepared it or reviewed or supervised it to an extent sufficient to assume personal responsibility for it.

A member does not sign a convenience report or any document that is false, misleading, materially incomplete or likely to mislead. A member must not falsify a record, report, registry entry, attestation, test result, signature or any other document related to professional practice.

A member who identifies a material error or omission in a professional document or conclusion for which the member is responsible promptly takes reasonable measures to correct it and, where protection of the public so requires, to inform the persons concerned and make any correction or notice required in the registry or to the competent authority.

A member establishes with the client a relationship based on trust, respect, transparency and a reasonable understanding of the mandate.

Before or during performance of the mandate, as relevant, a member informs the client of the nature and scope of the services, their significant limitations, known constraints, principal foreseeable risks or consequences and any situation likely to influence the member’s professional judgment.

A member demonstrates reasonable availability and diligence. The member reports on the status of the mandate when reasonably requested by the client and informs the client of events likely to materially change its scope, cost or schedule.

A member recognizes the client’s right to consult another member, a member of another professional order or any other legally authorized person. The member must not, without valid reason, obstruct a second opinion, a repeat verification or the transfer of a mandate.

Except for just and reasonable cause, a member does not cease acting for a client before completion of a mandate. When ceasing to act, the member gives reasonable notice and takes the measures necessary to avoid, as far as possible, prejudice to the client or a risk to protection of the public.

A member takes reasonable care of property, documents, keys, access codes, data and other items entrusted to the member in connection with a mandate and uses them only for authorized purposes.

Where a member sets or claims fees, they must be fair, reasonable and proportionate to the services provided. On request, the member provides the explanations necessary to understand the invoice.

Where the client changes the scope, objectives or terms of performance of the mandate, the member may agree with the client on a fair and reasonable adjustment of the member’s fees, in accordance with section 19 (CODE OF ETHICS OF FIRE SAFETY PRACTITIONERS).

A member does not claim fees for services not rendered, falsely described or made unnecessary by the member’s own fault. A member may not charge a client for time spent responding to a request from the syndic or a person acting in an oversight function of the Order concerning the member.

A member does not agree to remuneration the amount or exigibility of which depends on a classification as a non-compliance under documented action or a non-compliance requiring action of a non-compliance, maintenance of a particular status, its entry in the registry or a decision of a competent authority.

A member refrains from performing or recommending unnecessary or disproportionate professional acts for the purpose of increasing the member’s remuneration or that of a related person.

A member preserves professional judgment from commercial, contractual, hierarchical, organizational, political or personal pressure. Instructions from a client, employer or superior cannot require the member to sign, authenticate or endorse a professional conclusion with which the member disagrees.

A member avoids placing himself or herself in a real, apparent or potential conflict of interest. The member takes reasonable measures to identify situations likely to compromise independence or public confidence in professional judgment.

A conflict of interest exists in particular where there is a risk that a member’s professional duties toward the public or a client may be compromised by the member’s personal or pecuniary interests or by the interests of another client, an employer, a supplier, a related enterprise or a third party.

As soon as a member identifies a real or apparent conflict of interest, the member informs the persons concerned and implements the necessary safeguards. If the conflict cannot be managed in a manner compatible with professional independence and protection of the public, the member refuses or terminates the mandate or withdraws from the part concerned.

Where warranted by the circumstances, a member records in the file the nature of the identified conflict of interest, the safeguards applied and the information disclosed to the client.

A member may not act for persons with opposing interests in the same matter where doing so compromises or is reasonably likely to compromise independence, confidentiality or the quality of professional services.

Except for remuneration to which the member is entitled, customary thanks and gifts of modest value, a member refrains from soliciting, accepting, offering or paying any benefit, rebate or commission likely to influence professional judgment or reasonably appear to influence it.

A member does not modify, delay, withdraw or soften a professional conclusion to satisfy an interest unrelated to protection of the public or to preserve a commercial relationship.

A member must not use the power to classify, maintain or change the status of a non-compliance under documented action or requiring action as commercial leverage or for the purpose of obtaining an additional mandate, increasing remuneration or providing a pecuniary advantage to the member, the member’s employer or a third party.

In particular, a member must not make classification as a non-compliance under documented action, maintenance of that classification or reclassification from a non-compliance requiring action to a non-compliance under documented action conditional on corrective work being awarded to the member, the member’s employer or a related person. A client’s refusal to award that work, negotiation of a price or selection of another provider must not influence professional judgment.

A member must not present a non-compliance as a non-compliance under documented action or a non-compliance requiring action where it does not meet the applicable serious-risk threshold, nor exaggerate urgency or unduly shorten a deadline in order to generate work that protection of the public does not require with that degree of urgency.

The fact that a member, the member’s employer or a related enterprise also offers installation, maintenance, repair or corrective services does not, by itself, make professional practice incompatible.

The member must nevertheless maintain a real separation between professional judgment and the commercial interest relating to corrective work, disclose any relevant interest and respect the client’s freedom to choose the person who will perform the work.

No profession, trade, industry, business, office or duty is declared incompatible with the practice of the profession solely by reason of its nature.

A member must not commit or attempt to commit any act involving collusion, corruption, malfeasance, breach of trust or influence peddling.

A member must not counsel, encourage, facilitate or assist a person in committing an act referred to in section 37 (CODE OF ETHICS OF FIRE SAFETY PRACTITIONERS) or conspire to commit such an act.

A member must not make a false document, knowingly enter false information in a record, report, attestation or registry, unlawfully delete or alter professional information, or use another person’s signature or professional identity.

A member must not use registry access, information obtained in professional practice, a professional identifier or a power connected with a function for purposes unrelated to those for which the access, information, identifier or power was entrusted.

A member must not knowingly make a false or misleading statement to the Order, the syndic, the professional inspection committee, a competent authority or another person performing an oversight or investigative function in relation to a professional act.

A member preserves the secrecy of all confidential information that becomes known to the member in professional practice.

To preserve professional secrecy, a member takes reasonable protective measures with respect to records, communications, digital tools and information systems. The member also takes reasonable measures to ensure that persons under the member’s supervision or collaborating with the member preserve that secrecy.

A member avoids indiscreet conversations concerning a client or mandate and does not, without justification, disclose that a person has retained the member’s services.

Where an employer or firm keeps the records, the member takes reasonable measures to ensure that access, transfers and storage are protected under the regulation on professional records, without requiring a redundant personal copy.

A member does not use confidential information to the prejudice of a client or to obtain, directly or indirectly, an advantage for the member or another person.

Where communication is authorized, the member limits the information communicated to what is necessary for the permitted purpose.

A member may be released from professional secrecy only with the client’s authorization or where the law expressly orders or authorizes disclosure.

Pursuant to the third paragraph of section 60.4 of the Professional Code, a member may communicate information protected by professional secrecy in order to protect an identifiable person or group of persons where the member has reasonable grounds to believe that a serious risk of death or serious bodily injury threatens the person or group and the nature of the threat creates a sense of urgency.

The member then communicates the information only to the person or persons exposed to the risk, their representative or persons who can come to their aid, and only to the extent necessary for the purpose of the communication.

A member communicating information under section 46 (CODE OF ETHICS OF FIRE SAFETY PRACTITIONERS) uses, having regard to the circumstances, a method that preserves the confidentiality of the communication as much as possible and acts without delay where urgency requires it.

As soon as possible, the member records in the file the date and time of the communication, the identity of the persons to whom the information was communicated, the nature of the information communicated, the relevant circumstances and the reasons supporting the decision.

A member using a technological service, including an automated system or artificial intelligence tool, remains responsible for taking reasonable measures to protect professional secrecy, restrict access to information and verify that use of the service is compatible with professional obligations.

Where a member practises within a body subject to special statutory rules governing access, correction, retention or release of records, the member complies with those rules and facilitates their application. The following sections apply subject to those special rules.

Physical custody by an eligible employer or firm does not extinguish the member’s accountability or the client’s access and correction rights; the member takes measures within their powers to facilitate the lawful exercise of those rights.

A member responds diligently and not later than 30 days after receiving any request from a client to examine documents concerning the client in a record established in the client’s respect or to obtain a copy, in accordance with section 60.5 of the Professional Code.

Where an employer or firm is custodian of a record, the member facilitates the response and communications required by law in cooperation with the custodian, subject to any applicable special legislation.

A member who prepared or approved a document filed in the registry and who may lawfully supply a copy also responds diligently, and within the period set out in the first paragraph, to a legitimate request from the owner or authorized representative. A member who accepts a limited mandate to provide a copy is subject to the same requirement. Delivery may not be made conditional on a new inspection, preparation of a new report, or disclosure of information the requester is not entitled to receive.

Access to the record is free of charge. A member may, however, charge reasonable fees not exceeding the cost of reproducing, transcribing or transmitting documents. Before incurring those costs, the member informs the client of the approximate amount payable.

Where the law authorizes refusal of access to information, the member informs the client in writing of the refusal and the reasons for it and records those reasons in the file.

A member responds diligently and not later than 30 days after receiving a request made in accordance with section 60.6 of the Professional Code to:

1° correct information that is inaccurate, incomplete or ambiguous with regard to the purposes for which it is collected;

2° delete information that is outdated or not justified by the purpose of the record;

3° place in the record written comments made by the client.

Where a correction concerns a document already filed in the central registry, the member also follows the registry’s versioning and correction procedure; the professional record preserves the relevant history of changes.

Where a member grants a request for correction or deletion, the member provides the client, free of charge, with a copy of the document or part of the document showing the correction or, as the case may be, an attestation of deletion.

Where required by law or reasonably necessary to prevent inaccurate information from continuing to be used, the member takes permitted measures to bring the correction to the attention of persons to whom the information was communicated.

Where a member refuses a request for correction or deletion, the member informs the client in writing of the refusal and the reasons for it. In all cases, the member allows the client to have written comments placed in the record, subject to the law.

At the client’s request or at the end of the mandate, a member diligently returns originals belonging to or entrusted by the client and provides reports, attestations, results and other documents to which the client is entitled and that are necessary for reasonable continuity of the file.

Non-payment of fees does not entitle a member to withhold a document where withholding is likely to compromise a person’s safety, the exercise of a right or continuity of a professional service.

Where a record is kept by an employer or firm, the member facilitates delivery of documents to the extent of their powers and access rights, in cooperation with the custodian and under applicable law.

Where a mandate is transferred to another professional or legally authorized person, a member cooperates, in accordance with the client’s instructions and confidentiality rules, in transferring the information and documents required.

The member may retain copies and working documents that the member is authorized or required to retain, subject to the client’s access rights and the rules governing record keeping.

Transfer of custody of records does not, by itself, entail acceptance of a mandate or approval of earlier reports. Under applicable law, the client retains the choice of a new professional.

Where called upon to collaborate with another professional in a joint mandate or interdependent mandates, the member must act with diligence, good faith, courtesy and respect, and foster effective coordination of interventions while respecting each person’s professional independence and obligations.

A member informs the syndic where the member has reason to believe that a situation likely to affect the competence or integrity of another member of the Order has arisen.

This obligation does not require the member to conduct a disciplinary investigation. The member communicates in good faith the relevant facts and information known to the member, in compliance with professional secrecy and other applicable rules of law.

A member cooperates with the syndic, the professional inspection committee and every person acting in the exercise of a function conferred by the Professional Code or the regulations of the Order. The member responds diligently, completely and truthfully to requests within their functions and provides documents the member is legally required to provide.

A member who does not physically hold a record cooperates, within their rights and applicable law, with the eligible custodian to enable lawful access to documents needed for an investigation or inspection, including after employment ends.

A member must not intimidate, threaten, harass or retaliate against a person because the person has transmitted or intends to transmit information to the syndic or the Order, requested an inquiry, made a complaint or cooperated in an inspection or inquiry.

A member does not attempt to unduly influence a person to withdraw, change or refrain from transmitting such information.

A member who has serious reasons to believe that a person is unlawfully using a reserved title or professional identifiers or illegally performing a reserved activity informs the Order where protection of the public so warrants.

Every practising member holds the membership card or professional identification method provided or recognized by the Order and presents it when reasonably requested by a person concerned by the member’s intervention or by a competent authority.

A member does not allow anyone to use the member’s membership card, membership number, title, initials, signature, seal, digital identifiers or professional access credentials.

A member supervising a candidate, trainee, employee or other person remains responsible for every professional act the member signs, authenticates, approves or files.

The member assigns to a supervised person only tasks compatible with that person’s training, experience, status and level of competence and provides supervision appropriate to the risk of the activity.

Supervision within an enterprise, firm or multidisciplinary organization does not transfer personal accountability for acts approved by the member or require a member to endorse another person’s professional judgment.

In any advertising concerning professional services, a member states the member’s name and professional title in a manner that does not create confusion as to the member’s status or that of other persons with whom the member practises.

A member does not make or allow to be made any advertisement or public representation that is false, misleading, incomplete or reasonably likely to mislead.

In particular, a member refrains from making a false representation concerning:

1° competence;

2° experience;

3° training;

4° qualifications or legal authorizations;

5° status on the roll or limitations imposed on the member;

6° the scope, value or effects of a report, attestation or other professional act.

A member does not imply that the member can guarantee approval by a competent authority, ensure the absence of non-compliance, prevent a legally required registry entry, make a “under documented action” or status “non-compliance requiring action” disappear otherwise than through the mechanisms provided by law, or obtain an outcome that depends on an independent decision by a third party.

A member does not solicit a person in an insidious, pressing or repeated manner. A member does not exploit vulnerability created by a fire, evacuation, serious non-compliance, intervention by an authority or another urgent situation to obtain a mandate that is not reasonably necessary or to impose undue commercial conditions.

A member retains for at least 3 years a complete copy, in its original form, of every advertisement made or caused to be made concerning the member’s professional services, together with information establishing the date and method of dissemination.

Professional services provided by the member must conform to the statements and undertakings made in the member’s advertising, subject to clearly stated limitations.

No additional provision of an Act of Québec or an Act of Canada is identified by this Code for the purposes of subparagraphs 5 and 6 of the first paragraph of section 45 or the first paragraph of section 55.1 of the Professional Code.

This section does not limit the application of the other provisions of the Professional Code respecting judicial or disciplinary decisions. Any future designation of specific penal offences must be made by regulation after consideration of its necessity and proportionality in relation to protection of the public.