Ethical Challenges in the Nepalese Construction Industry: An Analysis Based on the Nepal Engineering Council (NEC) Code of Ethics

Abstract

Background: The construction industry is a fundamental pillar of Nepal’s socio-economic development, yet it remains highly susceptible to ethical misconduct. This study investigates ethical challenges in the Nepalese construction industry by assessing awareness and understanding of the Nepal Engineering Council (NEC) Code of Ethics and by identifying and ranking prevalent unethical practices.

Methods: A quantitative survey was administered to 77 NEC-registered engineers using purposive and snowball sampling. Awareness and knowledge were measured with Likert-scale items and an eight-item objective quiz. Frequency and severity of eleven unethical practices were analysed using descriptive statistics, the Relative Importance Index (RII), and a composite Risk Score (Frequency × Severity).

Results: Overall awareness of the NEC Code was moderate-to high (mean = 3.79/5). Significant knowledge gaps were identified regarding the scope of competence principle (57.1% correct) and publicity rules (55.8% correct). Political interference ranked as the most critical ethical issue (Risk Score = 11.00), followed by lack of proper supervision (9.76) and use of substandard materials (9.59).

Conclusion: The study provides empirical evidence of ethical challenges in Nepal’s construction sector and highlights the gap between surface-level awareness of the NEC Code and detailed knowledge of its core provisions. Targeted education on competence boundaries and stronger governance safeguards against political interference is recommended.

Novelty: This is the first known study to jointly assess NEC Code awareness and objective knowledge among registered Nepalese engineers while ranking unethical practices with a composite Risk Score that integrates both frequency and severity. It thereby supplies code-specific, risk-ranked evidence that previous descriptive or single-dimension studies of Nepalese construction ethics have not provided.