Construction Industry Council - Annual Report 2024

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY COUNCIL 36 CORPORATE GOVERNANCE REPORT Mechanism of Complaints Handling To maintain public accountability, the CIC has established various communication channels with internal and external stakeholders and always welcomes their feedback. Substantive complaints showing dissatisfaction against the CIC or our staff members will be timely handled and thoroughly investigated in accordance with the established Complaint Handling Policy and Procedures. Any non– compliance and inefficiency found in the provision of services will be followed up by the relevant management on service enhancement measures and further reported to the Audit Committee. Ethical Culture A high level of integrity is essential to the organisation’s continued success and long-term advancement. The CIC is strongly committed to upholding the principles of fairness, honesty, integrity and impartiality in conducting its business and discharging its functions. Code of Conduct for Members Sections 6 and 7 under Schedule 3 and Section 8 under Schedule 4 of the CICO lay down the provisions on disclosure of interests of members and keeping of a relevant register. CIC’s Code of Conduct for Members (the Code) sets out the standards of conduct and behaviour, while the Policy on Disclosure of Interests of Members (the Policy) spells out the declaration and handling of conflicts of interests for observance by Members. To uphold public trust and protect public interests, upon acceptance of appointment, Members of Council/ Boards/Committees are required to accept and abide by the Code and the Policy, and declare any conflicts of interests in compliance with the stipulated requirements. Newly appointed Council Members are given briefings and a bilingual Information Booklet for Council Members to familiarise them with the CIC’s corporate governance structure and the work of the CIC. External Assurance Providers External auditors and regulators outside of the CIC provide additional assurance to the CIC’s stakeholders. For instance, the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications provides quality assurance to the Qualification Framework recognised programmes of the Hong Kong Institute of Construction. In addition, senior management meets regularly with the ICAC Corruption Prevention Department to uphold the leading practices and measures in corruption prevention, especially on the new business or operations of the CIC. Internal Audit The Internal Audit functions, as specified in the “Internal Audit Charter” of the Internal Audit Operation Manual, include: • developing a flexible annual audit plan using risk-based methodology covering reviews of key controls, including financial, operational and compliance controls and risk management functions. The main focus is on accountability, compliance and efficiency; • implementing the annual audit plan as approved by the Audit Committee, including special tasks or projects requested by the management and the Audit Committee and performing compliance reviews with the laid down policies, procedures and requirements; • discussing with the management and the Audit Committee the adequacy of the CIC’s internal controls in the areas of corporate governance, information systems and security, and related significant findings and recommendations, together with the management’s responses to resolve the issues or improve the processes; • ensuring the endorsed recommendations from the audit report are completed by the management in a timely manner; and • reporting to the Audit Committee and/or the senior management directly for any major issues encountered in relation to the internal audits.