The Monthly Scientific Journal of Bagh-e Nazar

Examining the Ethical Challenges Faced by Builders in Interaction with Key Organizations in the Construction Industry (Case Study: Non-Governmental Public and Private Sector Organizations)

https://doi.org/10.22034/bagh.2025.452325.5666
Volume 22, Issue 144
June 2025
Pages 19-32
The Monthly Scientific Journal of Bagh-e Nazar

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

Mohamad Farahmandazad 1
Mohamad Hoseein Sobhiyah 2
Hani Arbabi 3
Saeid Nazari Tavakkoli 4

1 Ph. D Candidate, Department of Project and Construction Management, Faculty of Architecture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Associate Professor, Department of Project and Construction Management, Faculty of Architecture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Project and Construction Management, Faculty of Architecture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

4 Professor, Department of Jurisprudence & the Essentials of the Islamic Law, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract
Problem statement: Interviews with stakeholders in the construction industry highlight the ethical challenges faced by actors in the industry. On the one hand, the non-governmental public sector, alongside the private sector, represents two major players in the country’s construction industry. Ethical challenges arise in a system composed of the private sector, municipalities, the Iranian Construction Engineering Organization, the National Land and Property Registration Organization, the Iranian National Tax Administration, and non-governmental public institutions, creating a three-player environment that influences the ethical decisions of actors. Previous research appears to have overlooked the actors’ understanding of ethics and the phenomenon of ethical challenges, treating them not as a focused phenomenon from the builders’ perspective, and failing to adequately address their causes, constituent elements, and consequences.
Research objective: This study focuses on describing the moral understanding of key construction industry actors and examining the ethical challenges builders face in interactions with key organizations involved in the construction industry.
Research method: Since exploring the ethical challenges faced by builders in the construction industry is a novel topic, and the characteristics of ethical issues depend on the context and actors involved, this study employs a qualitative research approach and uses grounded theory methodology.
Conclusion: Based on the analysis of the research findings, the understanding of ethics by the actors is quite general. The results indicate that the majority of actors in the construction industry adopt a result-oriented approach to ethics. Among the ethical challenges faced by builders, unconventional payments in municipalities and unconventional payments in the Iranian Construction Engineering Organization are identified as the most significant challenges. The key factors contributing to these ethical challenges include contradictory and interpretable laws, the lucrative nature of the construction business, inflation, inefficiency in the supervisory system, corruption within key organizations, and the lack of tracking for unconventional payments. The main barriers to unethical behavior include personal ethics, the effectiveness of supervisory institutions, and the strategies used by actors in unethical practices such as exploiting laws that lead to different outcomes and justifying actions with religious and ethical reasoning.

Keywords

Ethical Challenges
Commitment to Ethics
Qualitative Research
Construction Industry
Builder
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