1. Preamble

Indian Register of Shipping (IRS), a Ship Classification Society, lives on its reputation. Acceptance of its technical  work can only be maintained by continuously proving integrity and competence.

The decisive bodies by which demand for the work and therefore for the existence of IRS is ultimately governed are National Administrations and Underwriters.

IRS, with its classification  work, covers fields  which are it’s for historic reasons, some of which would, however, be  otherwise within the responsibility of the National Administrations. Classification is part of the required care for the overall safety of ships for which the National Administrations have traditionally accepted responsibility and Recognized Classification Societies’ basic requirements for structural strength and mechanical and electrical systems have thus been made mandatory.

A good part of  IRS’ sources of work is delegated statutory duties. The scope and extent of such delegations depend on how the National Administrations judge the abilities, competence and the professional ethics of IRS.

The relation to Underwriters can only work by virtue of the fact that they continue to have a need for the services rendered by IRS. If, in their view, the statements of IRS become insufficient or unreliable, underwriters may use their own sources.

IRS also provides certification services in various management systems and technical services to various engineering industries which are reputed and valued in the respective fields.

Anything that is detrimental to IRS’ reputation for integrity, reliability, safety and competence, is therefore avoided.

The observance of the Code of Ethics is an essential measure for safeguarding the reputation of IRS.

All employees of IRS realize that, when speaking for or acting on behalf of the Society, their actions are taken as indicative of the Society.

2. General

2.1 Credibility

IRS  and  its employees shall refrain from any improper or questionable methods including the use of false, incorrect, incomplete or tendentious information in soliciting work and shall decline to pay or to accept commissions for securing such work. They shall not use unethical means to obtain advancement in the field  of services provided or to injure others in the community.

2.2 Confidentiality of  Information

IRS  and its employees shall consider all submitted information  and survey reports to be  proprietary and the contents or  copies shall not be  made available to another party, except as  defined in the Quality Management  System  Documentation, required by applicable legislation court order, legal proceedings, adhering to flag state requests or by Owners’ authorization.

IRS and its employees  shall carry out their work without in any way harming the intellectual property rights of shipyards, equipment suppliers, ship owners and any other agency/organisation  they may have occasion to deal with in the  course  of their work including patents,  licenses, know-how, or any other kind of knowledge whose use is  legally protected  at  national  or  international level. Under no circumstances shall IRS and its employees pass on or divulge commercially relevant data obtained in the course of their work of inspecting, checking, and monitoring ships under construction or repair.

2.3 Issuing Documents without Appropriate Action

No employee shall issue, stamp or endorse certificates/documents without performance of the required /appropriate actions.

3. Conduct

3.1 General

3.1.1 No employee shall act in a manner that compromises safety of life and property or damage to environment  or which leads  to the lowering of technical standards.

3.1.2 No employee shall have any business or other interest or any personal /family links with the client which may affect strict impartiality in the performance of his / her work.

3.1.3  No employee shall act in a manner which leads to the lowering of  the reputation of IRS or which is detrimental to the image of IRS.

3.2 Marketing

3.2.1 IRS  shall market its technical and related activities in a manner considered necessary to achieve its  objectives. However, marketing methods shall not  be pursued in a manner which involves deliberate misrepresentation in order to obtain business to the detriment of other Classification Societies.

3.2.2 IRS  shall not knowingly pass on to another party any information which is client confidential so as to place IRS in a position of advantage.

3.2.3 IRS shall not knowingly undermine the reputation of another Classification Society by spreading false, incorrect or biased information.

3.2.4 IRS  may decide to apply and  publicize any change to its rules that  goes beyond the standards  or  procedures  established  within IACS (of  which IRS  is a part). However, when notifying  the industry of these changes, IRS  shall do  so in a manner that is  supportive of the image and aims of IACS and suitably acknowledges IACS initiatives, if any, in the field addressed.

3.2.5  In an effort to obtain the classification of a ship changing flag, IRS shall not misrepresent the degree of present recognition by the new National Administration.

3.3 Dual Classification

IRS shall not  intentionally ignore existing dual  classification  arrangements with another Society, i.e. perform surveys as if the ship was single class only, without notifying the other Society at all.

IRS shall not prevent the other Society from participating directly in a survey on a vessel which enjoys dual classification, should that Society wish to do so.