This article is the third in a series designed to explain the iCIRT assessment process and illuminate 'What Good Looks Like' for businesses aspiring to achieve a strong rating. An iCIRT rating is the result of an objective and independent assessment across six critical pillars: Character, Capability, Conduct, Capacity, Capital, and Counterparties.

Here we focus on the 'Conduct' pillar of the iCIRT assessment.

iCIRT rated Reform Projects achieved a strong ‘Conduct’ assessment score, reflecting their proven ability to maintain a culture of transparency and continuous improvement.

Defining 'Conduct': Does the business behaviour align with its procedures?

When iCIRT assesses a company's 'Conduct', it focuses on the business's professional conduct and trustworthy behaviours. This differs from the 'Capability' pillar of the assessment, which examines whether the business has the processes and procedures in place to deliver reliable assets.

'Conduct' looks at the company's culture and behaviours around their processes and practices. The assessment seeks to understand whether a business is transparent, embraces lessons to improve, and maintains high standards.

Key aspects under scrutiny include:

Transparency and openness:

iCIRT looks for businesses that fully participate in the assessment, provide all requested disclosures, and are transparent about past issues and lessons learned. A strong iCIRT rated business doesn't deny or dismiss past incidents but instead demonstrates how they were embraced as learning opportunities.

Adapt and improve:

This is how a business monitors its performance and adapts to continuously improve. iCIRT assesses how a company handles issues that arise across a range of areas including design, construction, project management, risk, quality management, payments, safety, and environmental management. The focus is on how issues are escalated, evaluated, and addressed with a clear process for implementing and communicating changes to safeguard against future incidents.

iCIRT rated Noble Home Builders achieved a strong ‘Conduct’ assessment score, reflecting their proven ability to maintain a culture of transparency and continuous improvement.

Professional behaviour:

iCIRT scrutinises how a business acts, not just what its policies say. For example, In the case of defects, a business with strong conduct will have a clear process for evaluating, prioritising, and remediating them in a reasonable timeframe. As a second example, if there's an outstanding tax debt, a strong iCIRT rated business will have a documented payment plan with the ATO and the supporting evidence to show they can honour it. 

Regulatory compliance:

The assessment doesn't just check for a company's compliance, but rather whether a company is proactive in keeping abreast of new market, industry, and regulatory developments. It also assesses how a business communicates and implements changes to remain compliant. For example, iCIRT looks for evidence of how key staff are trained on new requirements and how those learnings are communicated across the business.

Ethical practices:

The assessment examines whether a business honours its commitments. For example, if a business has agreed to a defect remediation plan or an ATO repayment plan and fails to honour it, this would be a significant red flag. Similarly, failing to comply with regulatory orders or being involved in illegal phoenix activities would impair a company's ability to obtain a rating. The assessment is not designed to penalise companies for past mistakes but rather to determine if they're committed to making things right.

iCIRT rated Deicorp Property Group achieved a strong ‘Conduct’ assessment score, reflecting their proven ability to maintain a culture of transparency and continuous improvement.

How to strengthen your 'Conduct' profile for an iCIRT rating

Businesses seeking a strong score in the 'Conduct' iCIRT assessment can take proactive steps. Here’s “What Good Looks Like”:

Be transparent and collaborative

An open and transparent approach is crucial. Businesses should be prepared to disclose past incidents and provide detailed information on how they engaged with stakeholders, diagnosed root causes, and implemented changes. This also includes providing consent for background checks, including criminal history checks for key persons and principles. 

⭐The existence of past issues won't necessarily harm your rating. The assessment focuses on how you embraced these issues to improve practices. An unwilling or dismissive approach, however, will be detrimental to a strong rating.

Demonstrate an ability to adapt and improve

Businesses should provide comprehensive evidence of how they learn from past issues, while also showing the controls and processes they have in place to support trustworthy practices. This includes showcasing inspection test plans (ITPs), incident registers, defect registers (pre and post-occupancy), and training records. Importantly, a business should be prepared to demonstrate how these records have led to tangible changes in processes, controls, and training to support trustworthy outcomes and to prevent from the recurrence of past issues.

iCIRT rated The Village Building Co achieved a strong ‘Conduct’ assessment score, reflecting their proven ability to maintain a culture of transparency and continuous improvement.

Provide relevant and appropriate referees

Having a diverse list of relevant business referees who can affirm the company's conduct supports a stronger rating outcome. The assessment team contacts these referees to ask a wide array of questions to gain a comprehensive understanding of what it’s like to work with the business. 

⭐Businesses with strong iCIRT ratings may not have flawless histories, but are able to demonstrate a willingness to learn from past experiences and a clear commitment to ongoing maturity.

By focusing on these elements of 'Conduct', businesses can improve their iCIRT rating prospects and build trust with stakeholders by demonstrating their proven ability to act with integrity and professionalism.

Stay tuned for our next article in this series, where we will delve into the 'Capacity' pillar of the iCIRT assessment.

Useful resources:

Understand how we assess ‘Capability’
Understand how we assess ‘Character’


Get iCIRT Rated to establish trustworthiness as your competitive advantage.