Upholding Integrity of Construction Industry– from Ethical Management to Integrity Charter

The construction industry is one of the important industries underpinning the growth of Hong Kong over the past few decades. As of Q2 2021, there are over 300,000 employees in the sector, accounting for about 9% of the total workforce in Hong Kong.

Due to the large number of employees, its subcontracting system and the many work procedures involved, construction industry is by nature prone to corruption. According to ICAC statistics, construction industry has remained one of the top three subsectors attracting the highest number of corruption complaints in the private sector.

Over the past years, the ICAC’s Corruption Prevention Department (CPD) has strived to offer graft prevention advice to the Government and major public bodies to put in place safeguards in the delivery of mega infrastructure and other public works projects.

The CPD is glad to notice that the private sector is attaching great importance to corporate governance and control in recent years. Seizing the opportunity, the department has introduced the Integrity Management System (IMS) for construction companies so as to further enhance the effectiveness and efficiency in corruption prevention in construction projects. The IMS consists of three components, namely 1) Integrity Policy, 2) Integrity Training and 3) Integrity Risk Management (IRM). It aims to help construction companies adopt a systematic approach to enhance their corruption prevention capabilities.

With the support from the Development Bureau (DEVB), the Integrity Policy and Integrity Training of the IMS have become the listing requirements for some 800 approved public works contractors, suppliers of materials and specialist contractors since March 2021. The CPD will work in conjunction with the bureau to promote the IRM which is a relatively new concept for practitioners. Piloting its use in selected government contracts will be arranged where suitable.

Seeing the merits of IMS and with the common goal of enhancing the integrity management capabilities of the whole industry to cover private construction projects as well, the CPD, the DEVB and the Construction Industry Council (CIC) jointly kicked off the industry-wide “Integrity Charter” campaign to further promote IMS to all construction companies. The Charter was officially launched on September 24 this year at a ceremony officiated by the ICAC Commissioner, the then Permanent Secretary for Development (Works), the CIC Chairman and CIC Executive Director. The event was also attended by representatives from various government works departments, public bodies, construction industry-related trade associations and major contractors.

The Charter is positioned as a self-regulated platform. A participating company is required to implement an Integrity Policy and arrange at least one senior management staff member to attend Integrity Training annually. Meanwhile, IRM is an optional add-on feature of the Charter, which aims to facilitate construction companies to identify, evaluate, and manage the integrity risks in their business operation. The CPD, being the secretariat of the Charter, will provide free corruption prevention services (e.g. training, advice and resources) to participating companies. The number of participating companies has swiftly exceeded 100 within a month upon the launching of the Charter. The earnest participation demonstrates the commitment of the construction industry to integrity and professional ethics.

To sustain the momentum, the CPD will continue to adopt a double barrel approach by working closely with the Government and public bodies to ensure the integrity of public works, and offering tailored services to individual companies to help them build up their anti-corruption capabilities by adopting the IMS.

To find out more about the Integrity Charter, please contact the Integrity Charter Secretariat by email: integritycharter@cpd.icac.org.hk, or visit our website.