The Society's governing documents — the Constitution, professional standards, and member policies binding on BPS members.
The British Polygraph Society publishes the following documents, which together form the Society's governance framework and the contractual basis of membership. They are binding on BPS members; they do not bind persons who are not members of the Society.
The Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice are aligned with the American Polygraph Association's published documents (Code of Ethics effective 4 September 2021; Standards of Practice amended 23 August 2024), adapted to the law of England and Wales.
The British Polygraph Society was constituted by its members in 2017. These twelve governing documents were adopted in written form in January 2020 and remain in force at Version 1.0. Review cycles run annually or triennially as stated on each document.
The constituting document of the Society: objects, powers, membership classes, the Management Committee, general meetings, finance, alteration, dissolution, and governing law.
The remit of the Management Committee, the roles of the Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer, meeting procedure, sub-committees, and reserved member decisions.
Admission criteria for each of the seven membership classes, application process, subscriptions, directory listing, termination, and re-admission.
Published guidance on each grade: Intern, Member, Senior, Honorary, Affiliate, Research, and Student — with voting rights, directory placement, and post-nominals.
The minimum standards of professional conduct required of every BPS member: restrictions on examinations, fees, reporting, advertising, confidentiality, and dual relationships.
Technical standards for examinations: instrumentation, test conditions, pretest practices, validated techniques, record retention, data analysis, and quality control.
Minimum 30 hours of continuing professional development every two years, categories of eligible CPD, record-keeping, audit, and accreditation of training providers.
How members and officers identify, disclose, and manage actual, potential, and perceived conflicts of interest — in examination work and in Society roles.
Who may complain, how complaints are investigated and determined, the sanctions available to the Society, and the route of appeal.
The Society's processing of personal data under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, data subject rights, retention, disclosure, and security.
Terms and safeguards for commercial organisations that support the Society. Not a membership class. Supporters have no influence on the Standards of Practice and are excluded from technical and disciplinary committees.
The Society's glossary of defined terms, cross-referenced from all other governing documents. Establishes the formal meaning of terms used across the Constitution, Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice, and policies.
