ARE Guidelines - Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, and Model Rules of Conduct

The ARE Reference Matrix in the June 2022 ARE Guidelines has a nice color chart showing which reference material goes with which exam.  In the June 2022 chart starting on page 110 and going to page 113, the code of ethics and the rules of conduct are squarely in the Practice Management exam category.

Fast forward to the October 2026 ARE Guidelines and those reference documents are listed on p.115 under the heading: Building Codes and Professional Standards.  It goes on to say that these documents are primarily relevent to the Programming & Analysis, Project, Planning & Design, and Project Development & Documentation divisions of the exam.  What?  'Primarily'.  Is this a guessing game?  The two Professional Standards documents are absolutely relevent to the Practice Management exam.  Why not say so?

It makes sense that they are in the Practice Management exam, since there are topics listed in the division overview of the exam content that reference these two documents.  Those would be, Section 1: Business Operations 1.3 Apply ethical standards to comply with accepted principles within a given situation, and 1.4 Apply appropriate Standard of Care within a given situation. No other exam has anything similar.  So why have the new ARE Guidelines been organized in such a way as to suggest that these documents could be tested in other divisions.  Why would Building Codes and Professional Standards be lumped together on one list when the exams are clearly not organized this way.

Now I am confused.  Can someone at NCARB clarify whether or not the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, and Model Rules of Conduct pertain only to the Practice Management exam, or will questions about these documents continue to pop up on the PA, PPD & PDD exams?