18. The holder of a certificate must act with honesty and loyalty in the interest of the client and avoid placing himself or herself in a position where personal interest is in conflict with that of the client.
Without restricting the generality of the first paragraph, the holder of a certificate is in conflict of interest when the interests concerned are such as might lead the holder to favour certain of them over those of the client or the holder’s judgment or loyalty toward the latter may be affected.
As soon as the holder ascertains that he or she is in a situation of apparent conflict of interest, the holder must notify the client in writing and ask the client if the client allows the holder to act or continue to act. The holder may not carry out an inspection without that written disclosure and without the client’s written consent.
282-2024O.C. 282-2024, s. 18.