Paper 2 · Professional Practice, Ethics & Conduct · 11 min read
Professional Practice, Ethical Dilemmas & Conduct Towards Other Agents
Practise this section (175 questions) → · 3.2 Professional practice, ethics and conduct, in sets of about 30
Must-know for the exam
- Professional practice, ethics and conduct becomes Paper 2 unit 3.2 from 1 Jan 2027, at the apply level: professionalism, integrity, dilemmas, duty to clients, conduct towards agents.
- Code para 4(2)(e): no work on HDB flats unless you know HDB's rules; para 5(1): due diligence, despatch and care. These are the paragraphs CEA charges most.
- Para 14 is a duty to refer material issues beyond your expertise to solicitors, tax advisers, appraisers or valuers; para 7(3) requires opinions backed by verifiable facts.
- CEA's guidelines on conduct towards one another took effect 24 Mar 2023: no disparaging, discriminatory or defamatory remarks, no comment on rivals' fees, and no false complaints.
- Check for an existing exclusive before accepting an appointment; while it runs, offer your services only with that agent's consent, and warn of the 3-calendar-month commission tail.
- Co-broke with all agents and answer every request unless the client instructs otherwise in writing; confirm co-broke terms in writing before closing.
- A departing salesperson must not influence the agency's clients to cancel exclusive agreements, before or after the associate agreement ends.
- A referral fee needs the fact and the amount disclosed in advance in writing and the client's prior written consent (para 13(2)(e), 13(3)).
- Inducements in cash or kind and third-party cash-back schemes are banned (PSM 1.10; PC 04-18, 12 Jul 2018), but lowering your commission is allowed.
- Para 15 bars disclosing or using client information; under the PDPA, a buyer's NRIC goes to the seller's agent only with the buyer's consent.
On this page · 6 sections
From 1 Jan 2027 professional practice, ethics and conduct is a unit of its own in Paper 2 (unit 3.2), set at the highest cognitive level: you must apply the rules to a scenario, not recite them (CEA, RES Examination Syllabus 2027; CEA syllabus FAQ, 27 Aug 2025). The unit groups the rules under five headings: professionalism, integrity, ethical dilemmas, the general duty to clients and the public, and conduct towards other estate agents and salespersons. The last heading brings in a document many candidates have never read: CEA's Practice Guidelines on Conduct of Estate Agents and Real Estate Salespersons towards one another (the PGC), in force since 24 Mar 2023. This page maps each heading to its source and works through the dilemmas the exam builds from them.
Upcoming change · 1 Jan 2027
Unit 3.2 is examined from the first 2027 sitting. The rules themselves are already in force, so they also apply to anyone practising today.
The five headings and where each rule lives
| Syllabus heading | What it asks of you | Main source |
|---|---|---|
| Professionalism | Know and obey the law; work with due diligence and care; send the client to a solicitor, tax adviser, appraiser or valuer when the issue is beyond you | CEPCC paras 4, 5, 14 |
| Integrity | Honesty and fairness to everyone, not only the client; opinions backed by verifiable facts; every offer passed on; information given in a language the client understands | CEPCC paras 6, 7(3), 10, 11 |
| Ethical dilemmas | Where your income and the client's interest pull apart: inducements, referral fees, co-broke fees, buying the client's property | CEPCC para 13; PSM 1.3–1.10; Practice Circular 04-18 |
| Duty to clients and public | Disclose anything that could impair your independence; protect confidential and personal data; minimise conflicts | CEPCC paras 13 and 15; PDPA |
| Conduct towards other agents | Treat other estate agents and salespersons fairly; respect exclusive listings; co-broke in good faith | PGC paras 4–29; CEPCC para 6(3) |
Keep the offences separate from the Code. Dual representation (reg 5), referring a client to a moneylender (reg 6) and holding transaction money (reg 7) are crimes under the Estate Agents (Estate Agency Work) Regulations 2010, with fines up to $25,000 or $10,000. Client consent does not cure dual representation: reg 5(2) applies regardless of any party's consent. Everything else on this page is a disciplinary matter under the Code or a practice guideline, or a PDPA matter.
Professionalism and integrity: the paragraphs CEA charges
- Para 4(1): do estate agency work only with the relevant knowledge. Para 4(2)(e): no work on HDB flats unless you know and follow HDB's rules. Letting rooms in a flat whose owner no longer lives there breaches it.
- Para 5(1): conduct your work with due diligence, despatch and care. Ticking a checklist box for a check you never did breaches 5(1), whatever the outcome.
- Para 7(3): any opinion must be justifiable by reference to verifiable facts. Para 12(4)(c): claims of expertise, specialisation or success rates must be backed by verifiable facts and records.
- Para 14: advise the parties to see solicitors, tax advisers, appraisers and valuers where a material issue is beyond your knowledge. The breach is failing to refer, not the act of answering.
- Para 6(3): act ethically, honestly, fairly and reasonably towards all other persons, including the other side's salesperson.
| Case | What the salesperson did | Paragraphs | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| DC 2/2024 | Acted for tenants of rooms in an HDB flat owned by her son, without declaring the relationship; the owner was not living there | 4(2)(e), 13(1) with 13(2)(a), 6(3), 5(1) | $11,000 and 5 months' suspension |
| DC 1/2025 | Told owners the tenant offered $1,550 when he offered $2,000; had the tenant pay $350 a month to his wife's firm without declaring it | 4(2)(e), 7(1) with 7(2)(a), 13(1) with 13(2)(a) | $21,000 and 15 months' suspension |
| DC 3/2025 | Posed as a buyer to unrepresented sellers and kept the gap between the two prices as "commission"; gave no copies of signed documents | 7(1) with 7(2)(a), 8(4) | $10,000 and 7 months' suspension |
For a salesperson, a Disciplinary Committee may impose a financial penalty of up to $100,000 (an estate agent: $200,000), and suspend or revoke the registration; CEA itself may issue a letter of censure with a penalty of up to $5,000 (Estate Agents Act 2010 ss 49(6), 52(12)). The per-contravention basis introduced on 1 Jul 2025 applies only to anti-money-laundering breaches; an ordinary Code breach is still capped per case.
The trap
“Para 14 forbids a salesperson from giving any legal or tax answer” overstates it. Para 14 is a duty to refer when a material issue is beyond your expertise, and it lists appraisers as well as solicitors, tax advisers and valuers. Drafting a legal clause you do not understand is better charged under para 4(1) or 5(1).
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Quick self-check · 5 questions
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Say your answer out loud, then tap to check it.
Which CEA document sets the rules on how agents treat each other, and since when has it been in force?Show answer
The Practice Guidelines on Conduct of Estate Agents and Real Estate Salespersons towards one another (PGC), in force since 24 Mar 2023. It replaced the 2014 guidelines and is read with the Code: para 4(2)(a) requires you to comply with CEA's practice guidelines.
May a listing agent decline a co-broke request because the owner said by phone that she prefers unrepresented buyers?Show answer
No. The listing agent must co-operate and co-broke with all agents unless the client has instructed in writing not to (PGC paras 20–21). Co-broke terms must also be confirmed in writing before closing (paras 25–26).
A bank offers a salesperson a referral fee for each home-loan client. What must he do before accepting it?Show answer
Disclose both the fact and the amount in advance and in writing, and get the client's prior written consent (Code para 13(2)(e), 13(3)). Telling the client he works closely with the bank is not enough.
Is charging a lower commission to win a listing treated like offering a $500 voucher?Show answer
No. Offering any benefit in cash or kind to induce an appointment is banned (PSM 1.10.1), as are third-party cash-back schemes (PC 04-18). Charging a lower commission is allowed (PSM 1.10.2).
Does the Code para 15 duty of confidentiality end when the deal completes, and does it cover only disclosure?Show answer
No to both. Confidentiality outlasts the deal and covers use as well as disclosure. Using a former seller's floor price to pitch his neighbour breaches para 15 and the PDPA even if nothing is told to a third party.
Common questions
- What are CEA's guidelines on how property agents treat each other?
- The Practice Guidelines on Conduct of Estate Agents and Real Estate Salespersons towards one another, in force from 24 Mar 2023. They bar disparaging, discriminatory or defamatory remarks about other agents (including comments on their fees and reposts on social media), soliciting a client who is under another agency's exclusive agreement, influencing an agency's clients to cancel exclusive agreements when a salesperson leaves, and bypassing the listing agent. They require agents to co-broke with all other agents unless the client instructs otherwise in writing, and to confirm co-broke terms in writing before closing.
- Can a property agent accept a referral fee from a bank or contractor?
- Only with the client's express knowledge and prior written consent, and after disclosing in advance and in writing both the fact of the fee and its amount (Code of Ethics and Professional Client Care para 13(2)(e) and 13(3)). Separately, the agent may not refer a client to a moneylender at all, which is an offence under reg 6 of the Estate Agents (Estate Agency Work) Regulations 2010.
- Can a salesperson offer gifts or cash-back to win a listing?
- No. CEA's Professional Service Manual para 1.10.1 bars advertising or offering any benefit, in cash or kind, to induce a party to engage the salesperson, and Practice Circular 04-18 (12 Jul 2018) bars taking part in third-party cash-back schemes. Charging a lower commission is not treated as such a benefit (para 1.10.2).
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