The main issues that must be covered by professional codes are now fairly easy to identify. These must obviously include to who/whom and to what the professional owes responsibility, how members should behave and the consequences of breaking the code.

The code will probably need to recognize that members will join the particular profession in different roles. For example, if we take the case of the construction industry, members may be seen as employees, as employers and as designers with little or no part in the actual construction of the project, or as constructors with little or no part in the design. Each of these roles can have different duties and responsibilities.

The code should also ideally give guidance to those members who find themselves working in situations where they are subject to more than one allegiance say an engineer working in the capacity of a company owner or manager.

Without attempting to put these issues into any order of importance it can be seen that the code will specifically need to address:

1. Responsibility to the profession.

2. Responsibility to oneself.

3. Responsibility to the employer, with the member acting as an employee.

4. Responsibility to the client.

5. Responsibility to the other individual members of the group or profession.

6. Responsibility to the community.

7. Responsibility to the environment.

8. Responsibility to other groups or professions.

9. In addition, the code will have to address issues concerning responsibilities of confidentiality and probably cover whistleblowing.

10. Finally the code will...