Ethics for Everyone

Regarding your story “Construction Contractors Follow Defense Peers in Ethics Push,” I applaud any initiative to discuss ethics in the construction industry. It is an important and timely issue and deserves serious discussion in our industry.

However, I am disappointed to read that the Construction Industry Ethics and Compliance initiative will be limited to general contractors. Unless the initiative includes representatives from a variety of construction industry stakeholders, I am doubtful any meaningful behavioral changes will occur.

How are subcontractors to appreciate general contractors’ concerns if they are not part of the dialogue? Similarly, can we expect the general contracting community to discuss the unethical business practices of bid shopping and inappropriate risk shifting without the perspective of the subcontractor?

Ethics begins with transparency. Without transparency, initiatives like this one look suspiciously like clubs.

Stephen Rohrbach,
President
F.A. Rohrbach Inc.
Allentown, Pa.
Immediate Past President
American Subcontractors
Association Inc.
Alexandria, Va.