Professional guidelines

Professional guidelines are rules that focus on one profession or industry. They are based on actions agreed by key organisations, such as a professional body or a trade association, and are usually published as a code of practice or code of conduct. They set out the standards that members of that profession are expected to meet when they do their job, for example how to treat clients, keep records, handle complaints or give every customer equal access to a service.

Not the same as law

Professional guidelines are not enforceable by law unless a licence to practise is involved. If someone needs a licence to do the job, breaking the guidelines can lead to that licence being revoked. This stops the person working in the profession until the licence is restored.

For example, a trade association for heating engineers publishes guidelines on how members should record the safety checks they carry out when servicing a boiler. A member who signs off the work without doing the checks could have their registration withdrawn, which stops them servicing gas appliances until it is restored.

Reputation

For an organisation, not following professional guidelines risks its reputation. Clients and other businesses expect professionals to keep to the agreed standards. If a company is seen to ignore them, customers may take their business elsewhere, contracts may be lost and good staff may leave. Where no licence is involved there is no fine or prosecution under the guidelines themselves: the damage is to trust. A company that ignores guidelines on equal access, for instance, can lose customers who feel shut out, even though it has broken no law.