Decision of the Disciplinary Panel
Date of Decision: 04 August 2021
Case of: Jack Cook
RICS Membership Number: 6525751
Location: Cambridge, UK
The formal charges against Jack Cook are:
1. On or about 7th February 2019 Jack Cook acted dishonestly by signing the declaration on his submission to become an Associate member of RICS confirming that it was written by him in his own words, when he had plagiarised parts of an RICS submission completed by IV.
Contrary to Rule 3 of the Rules of Conduct for Members 2007
2. On or about 7th February 2019 Jack Cook acted dishonestly by submitting an RICS Associate Submission Document that contained examples of Technical Competencies which did not, and which he knew did not, accurately represent his own work but were modified examples of Technical Competencies demonstrated by IV in an earlier RICS submission. The false examples were included in the “Measurement and inspection of land and property” section of his submission, namely:
a) “I measured a large field on behalf of an existing client. I used Promap to measure the site areas requested; the full field area, the top woodland and the middle paddocks in order to satisfy my client’s requirements. I measured stable units within the area on a gross internal area basis and listed these separately on the marketing particulars for clarity.” And/or,
b) “For a Market Appraisal instruction, I inspected a commercial office unit in Bartlow occupied by a grain trading business. I used my company’s pro-forma to provide relevant detail. I noted that there were stud walls in place to create a ‘service counter’ as well as a purpose-built bank vault with alarm access codes on each internal door.” And/or,
c) “During our graduate training, we were tasked with inspecting a rural farmhouse near Bath and presenting our considerations to our peers. I observed the age, condition and construction of the property, and was able to correctly identify that the building was listed due to its location and period features.”
Contrary to Rule 3 of the Rules of Conduct for Members 2007
3. Jack Cook failed to act with integrity by plagiarising parts of IV’s RICS submission in his submission to become an Associate member of RICS on or about 7th February 2019.
Contrary to Rule 3 of the Rules of Conduct for Members 2007
Jack Cook is therefore liable to disciplinary action under RICS Bye-Law 5.2.2 (a) and/or (c)
Finding: Proved
Sanction: Expelled
The Single Member of the Disciplinary Panel also made an order to costs.