Professional Code of Conduct

Effective Date: January 14, 2026

Archade is the professional network for the built world. The standards here are explicitly higher than on general social media.

We are building a registry of record, not just a content feed. This Code of Conduct governs your behavior across the entire platform, designed to protect the integrity of the industry, your professional reputation, and the quality of the network.

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1. Scope & Applicability

This Code applies to all users, organizations, and entities on Archade. It covers all forms of interaction, including but not limited to:

• Public Content: Profiles, Project Pages, Posts, Comments, and Reviews.
• Private Communications: Direct Messages (DMs), Job Applications, and Offer Letters.
• Entity Management: Firm administration, roster management, and credit verification.
• Off-Platform Behavior: Conduct that occurs outside Archade but significantly impacts the safety or integrity of our community (e.g., coordinated harassment campaigns).

Discretion Clause: Archade Trust & Safety retains exclusive and final discretion to determine whether a violation has occurred. We enforce these rules based on context, intent, severity, and pattern of behavior. We reserve the right to take action on conduct that, while not explicitly listed below, undermines the professional integrity of the network.

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2. Professional Integrity & Licensure

2.1 Licensure Misrepresentation

Architecture, Engineering, and Construction are regulated professions.

• Protected Titles: You strictky may not use protected titles (e.g., "Architect," "Professional Engineer," "Structural Engineer") in your headline or bio unless you hold valid, active licensure in your stated jurisdiction.
• Fraud: Falsely claiming licensure is a violation of this Code and potentially a legal offense. We cooperate with regulatory boards (e.g., NCARB, ARB, state boards) investigating licensure fraud.
• Student/Associate Status: If you are unlicensed, you must use accurate descriptors (e.g., "Designer," "Architectural Associate," "Student").

2.2 Role Inflation & Resume Fraud

• Accuracy: You must accurately represent your specific role on projects.
  • Permitted: "Project Architect," "Junior Designer," "BIM Coordinator."
  • Prohibited: Claiming "Lead Designer" on a project where you were an intern.
• Firm Affiliation: Do not imply current employment at a firm where you no longer work (use "Former" or date ranges).

2.3 Honest Attribution

• Credit: Always credit collaborators, firms, and visualization artists.
• Watermarks: Do not crop title blocks, remove watermarks, or obscure copyright notices from drawings or renderings you did not solely author.
• AI Disclosure: If a project image is AI-generated, it must be labeled as such.

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3. Anti-Competitive Behavior

Archede promotes fair competition. We strictly prohibit the use of the platform for anti-competitive or predatory business practices.

3.1 Coordinated Attacks

• Review Bombing: Coordinating negative ratings, comments, or reports against a rival firm or professional.
• Smear Campaigns: Spreading false rumors about a competitor's financial stability or project history.

3.2 Price Fixing & Collusion

• Prohibited: Explicit coordination with competitors to fix prices, fees, or wages (e.g., "Let's all agree not to take work below $X").
• Permitted: General discussion of market conditions, salary transparency, and publicly available fee benchmarks.

3.3 Poaching Spam

• Prohibited: Mass-messaging employees of a competitor with generic, automated, or copy-pasted recruitment spam.
• Permitted: Targeted, personalized professional outreach to specific individuals regarding relevant opportunities.

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4. Respect, Civility & Harassment

4.1 Harassment & Bullying

Zero tolerance for harassment.

• Critique vs. Attack: Professional critique of a building or design is encouraged. Personal attacks on the architect, their character, or their identity are prohibited.
• Persistence: Continuing to message someone after they have asked you to stop is harassment.

4.2 Hate Speech

We do not tolerate speech that attacks, threatens, or insults groups based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or national origin.

4.3 Doxxing & Privacy

• Private Info: Do not publish private contact information (phone numbers, home addresses) of others.
• Sensitive Docs: Do not post non-public construction documents (e.g., floor plans of private residences, security schematics) without explicit consent from the owner/client.

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5. Spam, Solicitation & Commercial Use

5.1 Solicitation Rules

• No Solicitation Spam: Do not use Direct Messages or Comments to sell products, courses, or services unsolicited.
• Job Spam: Recruiters must not blast irrelevant job openings to users who have not indicated openness to work.

5.2 Platform Manipulation

• Feed Integrity: Do not repost the same content repeatedly to "game" the algorithm.
• Engagement Pods: Do not participate in organized rings to artificially inflate likes or comments.

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6. Enforcement & Appeals

Violations are adjudicated by Trust & Safety under the Reporting Policy.

6.1 Enforcement Matrix

We apply a progressive discipline model, but reserve the right to escalate immediately for severe violations.

6.2 Appeals

• See Reporting Policy for the appeals process.
• Appeals must include new, verifiable evidence.
• Decisions made after appeal are final.

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Owner: Community + Legal + Trust & Safety