Building On Integrity: How RICS Standards Are Shaping a More Professional Philippines Construction Industry

Reflections from Hearn & Hearn Consulting on four decades of combined professional practice, ethical leadership, and the value of the RICS in an evolving market.

The Philippine construction industry is at a pivotal moment. With recent reports of corruption in government infrastructure projects and numerous contractual claims between project stakeholders, the market has never had a greater need for professionals who operate to clearly defined international standards. In this environment, the role of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the professionals who carry the FRICS and MRICS designations play an important role.

Hearn & Hearn Consulting, one of the Philippines' most established independent construction consultancy firms, has built its reputation on the principles of integrity, accountability, and competence. The firm has long championed RICS standards as the foundation for credible, client-centred practice. For Alan Hearn FRICS and Michael Hearn MRICS, professional standards are not a compliance exercise they are the core of how the firm thinks, advises, and delivers.

The recognition of both leaders at the RICS Southeast Asia Awards 2025; Alan with the Lifetime Achievement Award and Michael as Highly Commended Construction Professional of the Year offers a timely moment to reflect on what those standards mean in practice, and why they matter for the future of the Philippine construction industry.

The RICS Framework: A fit for the Philippine Market

For many professionals in markets where chartered surveying is less commonly used, the term “Chartered Surveyor” can sound like a distant credential with limited local relevance. The reality is quite different. The RICS framework built around core competencies in cost management, contract administration, risk assessment, and project advisory maps directly onto the most pressing challenges facing construction clients in the Philippines today.

Whether a client is procuring a large-scale infrastructure package, managing a mixed-use development, or navigating a complex claim, the discipline and structure that a RICS professional brings to that engagement directly supports better outcomes: tighter cost control, transparent reporting, defensible professional advice, and a more equitable client-contractor relationship.

The RICS Code of Ethics further reinforces this by establishing clear expectations around honesty, competence, independence, and service to the public interest. These are not abstract principles. In the day-to-day realities of construction consultancy where professionals are regularly called upon to make judgements that affect significant sums of money, programme commitments, and contractual rights ethical conduct is the line between advice that serves the client and advice that serves no one well.

“RICS is the gold standard for surveying professionals. It has a rigorous entry process and requires its members to maintain their professional competence through continuing professional development (CPD). This helps ensure that RICS and its members

remain at the forefront of professional expertise.”

-Alan Hearn FRICS, Managing Director, Hearn & Hearn Consulting

A Lifetime of Professional Service: The RICS Southeast Asia Awards 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award

The RICS Southeast Asia Awards are among the most respected professional recognitions in the region. The Lifetime Achievement Award, in particular, is not conferred lightly. It acknowledges not only technical excellence, but a sustained and meaningful contribution to the profession, to clients, and to the broader industry over an extended career.

For Alan Hearn FRICS, the award represents decades of professional practice across some of the most challenging and complex construction environments in the region. His work has spanned sectors including commercial, infrastructure, residential, and institutional development, and his expertise in cost management, contract advisory, and dispute resolution has made him one of the most widely respected Chartered Surveyors practising in the Philippines.

Beyond his own project work, Alan’s contribution to the profession has included mentoring emerging professionals, representing RICS values in a market that has not always prioritised them, and consistently demonstrating that independent, standards-driven advice creates better outcomes for all parties’ clients, contractors, and the broader industry alike.

“I was honoured to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025, recognising my commitment to RICS and wider professionalism. For me, it reflects the importance of building a career grounded in professional standards, ethical practice, and continued service to the profession.”

-Alan Hearn FRICS, Managing Director, Hearn & Hearn Consulting

Continuing a RICS legacy: Michael Hearn MRICS

The recognition of Michael Hearn MRICS as the Highly Commended Construction Professional of the Year at the RICS Southeast Asia Awards 2025 speaks to a different but equally important dimension of professional excellence: the commitment to applying RICS values at every stage of a career, and the courage to lead by example in a market where professional standards can sometimes be under-appreciated.

As Executive Director of Hearn & Hearn Consulting, Michael brings RICS competencies across the firm’s full service offering from early-stage cost planning and procurement strategy through to commercial management, contract administration, and client advisory during construction. His approach is shaped by the understanding that being MRICS is not simply a credential on a business card; it is a professional obligation that informs every piece of advice given, every report produced, and every client relationship managed.

For Michael, the intersection of technical rigour and ethical judgement is what truly differentiates professional practice from generalist consulting. In a market where clients are often dealing with unfamiliar procurement methods, complex contracts, and limited access to genuinely independent advice, that distinction matters enormously.

Ethics at the heart of Construction Consultancy

The RICS Rules of Conduct place a clear and non-negotiable obligation on RICS professionals: to act with integrity, to be competent, to treat others with respect, and to take responsibility for their professional actions.

It means giving clients the advice they need to hear, not simply the advice they want to hear. It means being transparent about risks, limitations, and areas of uncertainty. It means recognising when a professional conflict of interest exists and addressing it proactively. It means maintaining the independence of professional judgement even when commercial pressures might point in a different direction.

At Hearn & Hearn Consulting, this ethical culture is embedded in the way the firm operates from the structure of its client engagements to the way it approaches dispute situations and contract negotiations. It is a culture that has been built deliberately.

The Next Generation of Chartered Surveyors

One of the most significant contributions a RICS professional can make to the industry is not their own project work, but the professionals they develop along the way. The path to becoming a Chartered Surveyor whether through the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) route or other RICS pathways is demanding. It requires a combination of technical knowledge, applied experience, reflective practice, and professional judgement that can only be developed through structured mentoring and genuine workplace exposure.

Hearn & Hearn Consulting is committed to supporting professionals working toward MRICS. This commitment takes a number of forms: pairing aspiring Chartered Surveyors with experienced RICS-qualified mentors; ensuring that team members are exposed to the full range of project lifecycle activities rather than siloed into narrow technical functions; creating a culture where professional development is taken seriously and supported with time, resources, and honest feedback.

The firm believes that coaching toward MRICS is not simply about helping individuals pass an assessment. It is about forming professionals who understand why the standards exist, who have the ethical foundation to apply them under pressure, and who will, in turn, mentor the next generation.

The Role of RICS Standards in Better Project and Client Outcomes

Ultimately, the case for RICS standards in the Philippine construction industry is not about professional credentials. It is about outcomes. Clients who engage RICS professionals’ benefit from a level of technical rigour, ethical accountability, and discipline.

In cost management, this means budgets that are defensible, transparent, and benchmarked against credible market data. In contract administration, it means procedures that are fair, consistent, and aligned with the obligations of the contract. In client advisory work, it means independence the confidence that the professional’s advice reflects the client’s best interest, not a commercial agenda.

As the Philippine construction market continues to grow and mature, the demand for this kind of professional service will only increase. The clients who understand what a RICS qualification means and who insist on it from their consultants will consistently achieve better outcomes. The professionals who commit to earning and maintaining RICS membership will be better equipped to serve those clients.

Hearn & Hearn Consulting remains committed to demonstrating what that standard looks like in practice, every day, on every project.