Education vs Efficency

[guymayor]

https://www.asca-consultants.org/about/Standards_of_Professional_Practice.pdf

1.4 Independence.!Members!shall!strive!to!perform!Arboricultural!Consulting!services! with!actual!and!apparent!independence!and!shall!avoid!actual!and!apparent!conflicts! of!interest!unless!disclosed!to!and!waived!by!clients.

A. Actual'Independence.!Members!shall!remain!free!of!any!actual!influences!on! their!ability!to!be!objective!when!reaching!conclusions,!rendering!opinions!and! providing!recommendations.

B. Independence'in'Appearance.!Members!shall!be!mindful!of!apparent!or! potential!influences!on!their!objectivity!and!shall!exercise!careful!professional! judgment!in!determining!whether!to!disclose!such!influences!and!affirm!their! objectivity!or!to!decline!an!assignment.

1.5 Integrity.!Members!shall!strive!to!provide!Arboricultural!Consulting!services!with! integrity,!that!is,!with!fairness!and!honesty.
1.6 Objectivity.!Members!shall!strive!to!provide!Arboricultural!Consulting!services!with! objectivity,!that!is,!without!bias!or!prejudice!and!based!upon!facts!and!reasonably! informed!assumptions.!

 

[DSMc]

... I'm probably splitting hairs but I don't think it is ethical to call yourself a consultant then perform the work...

Maybe so, but we call ourselves a tree service and do both consults and estimates and have never had our ethics questioned. Communication is the key.

When a customer calls looking purely for information they are informed of our consulting fees and what they will get for them. If at the end of the consult specific work parameters have been established, we will, often at the custumers request, submit a bid on the work. The bid is in no way binding and is clearly a different component from the consult.

 

[treehumper]

Ehh, I'm not buying it TH. I'm probably splitting hairs but I don't think it is ethical to call yourself a consultant then perform the work.

Tree assessment sits better with me, property audit, inventory, I don't know.

You can if you don't consult then slide into the work. If you bid it separately and encourage the client to get other quotes. Like I said it is about be ethical.

 

[Tree_Frog]

I think you can do both. Ethics play a big role as well as a Conflict of Interest. If it doesn't feel right you will know and refer it to another.