Architects Registration Board

Last updated

Architects Registration Board logo Architects Registration Board logo.svg
Architects Registration Board logo

The Architects Registration Board (ARB) is the statutory body for the registration of architects in the United Kingdom. It operates under the Architects Act 1997 as amended, a consolidating Act. It began under the Architects (Registration) Act 1931 (21 & 22 Geo. 5. c. 33) which gave it the name the Architects' Registration Council of the United Kingdom (ARCUK). It prescribes architectural qualifications, maintains the Register of Architects, issues a code of professional conduct and competence and imposes sanctions if a finding of unacceptable professional conduct or serious professional incompetence is made against an architect. Its main source of income is fees payable under Part II of the Act by persons on their becoming registered or for their retention on the Register. The board is required to pay into the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom any sum paid under a penalty order which its Professional Conduct Committee has made under Part III of the Act (in conduct cases). Fines imposed by a magistrates' court (or similar in Scotland or Northern Ireland) under Part IV of the Act (in misuse of title cases) are not payable to the board.

Contents

From January 2019 all board members (five architects and six non-architects) are appointed by the Privy Council.

Registration

A registrar, who may be an employee of the board or its contractor, is appointed for the purpose of admitting persons to the register or placing them on the list of visiting EU architects and, in some instances, causing matters concerning conduct and competence to be investigated.

Prescribing qualifications

As the UK "competent authority" for the purpose of Article 46 of the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive (2005/36/EC), the ARB has published its procedures for the prescription of qualifications for persons applying for registration under section 4 of the Architects Act 1997. [1]

In 2022, the ARB proposed radical changes to how architects were trained including scrapping the existing Parts 1 to 3 and switching to a more flexible, ‘outcomes-based’ system. The ARB said its changes "will open up the profession to a wider pool of talent, offering those who might have previously been excluded a new range of routes to qualification and professional practice". [2]

"Discipline" in the Architects Act 1997 (as amended)

The primary meaning of "discipline" traditionally refers to education, with the meaning of a branch of knowledge (as: "in what discipline is his doctorate?"; "teachers should be well trained in their subject"; "anthropology is the study of ...). [3]

In the Architects Act 1997 (as amended) education is referred to in Part II which is headed "Registration etc.", not in Part III which is headed "Discipline". References in Part II are:

"educational establishments" in section 4A(2)(c)(i);
"education and training " in section 6(2A);
"educational bodies" in section 6(3)(b);
"architectural education" in section 6A.
"The Education Fund" is mentioned in SCHEDULE 2 (Section 27, Transitional Provisions).

In Part III of the Architects Act 1997 "Discipline" is being used in one of the secondary meanings, such as:

punish to gain control or enforce obedience: "The teacher disciplined the pupils rather frequently";
the act of punishing: "The offenders deserved the harsh discipline they received" [3]

Professional Conduct Committee of the ARB

The legislation requires there to be a Professional Conduct Committee of the Board (whose remuneration or expenses are decided and paid by the Board as the corporate body). The function of this Committee is to hear and determine allegations against registered persons which have been formally reported or referred to it in accordance with the Architects Act 1997 (as amended) and the Rules which the Board is authorised to make.

The Act states explicitly that failure to comply with the provisions of the code of professional conduct issued by the Board shall not be taken of itself to constitute unacceptable professional conduct. The Act also provides for the publication of a statement exonerating an architect against whom an allegation of unacceptable professional conduct or serious professional incompetence has not been sustained. [4]

Judicial precedent

On an appeal to the Divisional Court in 1957 concerning a pure breach of the Code of Professional Conduct under the legislation then in force (the architect was practising an estate agent's business as well as his own), when the registration body was constituted under the name the Architects' Registration Council of the United Kingdom, Mr Justice Devlin ruled: "It is not of itself disgraceful to disagree with a majority view and to act accordingly. It is only if a man has bound himself in honour to accept that view and to act according to the code that a deliberate breach of the code for his own profit can be called disgraceful". In the course of giving judgment in this appeal Lord Chief Justice Goddard had mentioned a letter which had been sent in 1937 by "the president of the council" [sic] to the Institute of Chartered Surveyors recognising the fact that there was nothing in a Bill, which the council was then promoting (and which subsequently became the Architects Registration Act, 1938), to interfere with the activities of registered architects. [5]

The decisive issues concerning the legislation for the Register of Architects

Records held by the British Architectural Library [6] [7] [8] show that from the 1890s the motivations for promoting and opposing a registration act had been mixed. But the content of the originating act of 1931 as amended by the act of 1938 shows that the decisive issue at that time was the importance attached to giving to architects the responsibility of superintending or supervising the building works of local authorities (for housing and other projects), rather than to persons professionally qualified only as municipal or other engineers. A significant indicator for this inference is in section 1 (1) of the 1938 act. [9]

By the 1970s that issue had had its day, to be replaced by another which has resulted in the current legislation: the Architects Act 1997 as amended. [10] The issue which emerged in the 1970s developed into the obligation imposed on the United Kingdom and other European governments to comply with European Union Directives concerning the designation of "competent authorities" in connection with the mutual recognition of professional qualifications in favour of equal standards across borders, in furtherance of the single market policy. [11]

Inspection of the register

In connection with the protection of title and the enforcement provisions, the originating and later legislation imposed on the registration body (now the ARB) a requirement to provide copies of the Register annually. Formerly, hard bound copies of all volumes in the annual series, from volume 1 for 1933, were available for inspection by members of the public at the British Architectural Library of the Royal Institute of British Architects, London. Latterly, some hiatus on the part of the Board in producing printed copies of the Register in accordance with the legislation and the Board's previous practice has impeded the continuation of the series for retention (on the part of the British Architectural Library or others) as annual volumes for reference. The current website offers only a downloadable pdf format. [12]

For other more limited purposes and for commercial and similar purposes names of persons currently registered can be searched online at a website maintained by the registration body. The information held on this version of the Register could help members of the public, who wish to find an architect to meet their needs, to locate a practitioner who has registered status and is conveniently situated. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage life, public welfare, safety, well-being, then environment and other interests of the general public and to define the licensure process through which an engineer becomes licensed to practice engineering and to provide professional services and products to the public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Institute of British Architects</span> UK-based professional body for architects

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supplemental charters and a new charter granted in 1971.

Building design, also called architectural design, refers to the broadly based architectural, engineering and technical applications to the design of buildings. All building projects require the services of a building designer, typically a licensed architect. Smaller, less complicated projects often do not require a licensed professional, and the design of such projects is often undertaken by building designers, draftspersons, interior designers, or contractors. Larger, more complex building projects require the services of many professionals trained in specialist disciplines, usually coordinated by an architect.

The architectural technologist, also known as a building technologist, provides technical building design services and is trained in architectural technology, building technical design and construction.

Building officials of developed countries are generally the jurisdictional administrator of building and construction codes, engineering calculation supervision, permits, facilities management, and accepted construction procedures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William H. White (architect)</span>

William Henry White was a British architect, as well as 18 years secretary of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architects (Registration) Acts 1931 to 1938</span> Statutory citation for three Acts of the United Kingdom Parliament

The Architects (Registration) Acts, 1931 to 1938 is the statutory citation for three Acts of the United Kingdom Parliament, namely:

The Board of Architectural Education is no longer appointed. It had been a statutory body in the United Kingdom constituted under section 5 of the Architects (Registration) Act, 1931.

For the purposes of the statutory Board of Architectural Education, the Schools of Architecture were those listed in the second schedule to the Architects (Registration) Act 1931. The 1931 act had required the Board of Architectural Education to be appointed annually by the Architects' Registration Council of the United Kingdom (ARCUK). The board was to be constituted in accordance with the Second Schedule to the Act. This included a list of twenty Schools, from the Liverpool School of Architecture to the School of Architecture of the Architectural Association London.

Under an Act passed by the UK Parliament in 1931, there was established an Architects' Registration Council of the United Kingdom (ARCUK), referred to in the Act as "the Council". The constitution of the Council was prescribed by the First Schedule to the Act. The Act made the Council a body corporate by the name Architects' Registration Council of the United Kingdom. It was habitually referred to colloquially by the acronym ARCUK.

"Reform of Architects Registration" was the title of a UK government consultation paper dated 19 July 1994 which was issued by the Department of the Environment. The introduction stated that in October 1993 the Government had announced that the profession and others would be consulted about measures which could be taken to simplify the then arrangements for the registration of architects under the Architects Registration Acts, and that broad agreement on what those measures would be had been reached with the Architects' Registration Council of the United Kingdom (ARCUK) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Eventually, Parliament made certain changes to the Architects Registration Acts which now have effect under the Architects Act 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architects Act 1997</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Architects Act 1997 is the consolidating Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the keeping and publishing of the statutory Register of Architects by the Architects Registration Board. It has the long title: An Act to consolidate the enactments relating to architects. It consolidated two Acts of the 1930s as later amended both by primary legislation and by Orders in Council implementing the EC directive on architects providing for the recognition of architects qualified in other EC states, and the changes which had been made by Part III of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.

From 1932 there has been a statutory Register of Architects under legislation of the United Kingdom Parliament originally enacted in 1931. The originating Act contained ancillary provisions for entering an architect’s name in the register and removing a name from it which later legislation has amended. The 1931 Act gave it the name “the Register of Registered Architects”, but by an Act of 1938 the name was changed to “the Register of Architects”.

After nearly a century of endeavour and negotiation which had been led by the Royal Institute of British Architects, a statutory Board of Architectural Education was formed under the Architects (Registration) Act 1931. For the purposes of constituting the Board of Architectural Education the Act included a list of Schools of Architecture in the United Kingdom. The statutory Board was abolished in the 1990s, and when the Architects Act 1997 repealed the 1931 Act the statutory list of Schools of Architecture went with it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Building engineer</span>

A building engineer is recognised as being expert in the use of technology for the design, construction, assessment and maintenance of the built environment. Commercial Building Engineers are concerned with the planning, design, construction, operation, renovation, and maintenance of buildings, as well as with their impacts on the surrounding environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architects (Recognition of European Qualifications etc and Saving and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2008</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Architects Act 1997 was amended in 2008 by a statutory instrument made by a minister of the United Kingdom government under the European Communities Act 1972. This was the Architects Regulations 2008, which came into force on 20 June 2008. An Explanatory Memorandum was issued with the Regulations and a fuller Explanatory Memorandum presented to Parliament.

In the United Kingdom, the Architects Act 1997 imposes restrictions on the use of the name, style or title "architect" in connection with a business or a professional practice, and for that purpose requires a statutory Register of Architects to be maintained. The Architects Registration Board constituted under the Act is responsible for Architects Registration in the United Kingdom and is required to publish the current version of the Register annually. Every person who is entitled to be registered under the Act has the right to be entered in the register. The act consolidated previous enactments originating with the Architects (Registration) Act 1931 as amended by the Architects Registration Act 1938. It applies to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Professional requirements for architects vary from place to place, but usually consist of three elements: a university degree or advanced education, a period of internship or training in an office, and examination for registration with a jurisdiction.

Engineering law is the study of how engineering ethics and legal frameworks are adopted to ensure public safety surrounding the practice of engineering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Council of Architecture</span>

The Council of Architecture is a statutory body constituted by the Government of India under the provisions of the Architects Act, 1972, enacted by the Parliament of India, which came into force on 1 September 1972.

References

  1. ↑ ARB website
  2. ↑ Waite, Richard (7 June 2022). "Ditching Parts 1, 2 and 3 has 'overwhelming support' says ARB". Architects' Journal. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  3. 1 2 Discipline : definition
  4. ↑ section 15 (5)
  5. ↑ Hughes v Architects' Registration Council [1957] 2 Q.B. 550, cited in Hudson's Building and Engineering Contracts, 11th ed., para 2.015, and 12th ed., para 2.007.
  6. ↑ "British Architectural Library". Archived from the original on 5 July 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  7. ↑ administrative archive of RIBA at V&A
  8. ↑ Angela Mace and Robert Thorne The Royal Institute of British Architects: a guide to its archive and history, Mansell Pub.,1986.
  9. ↑ See also the Simon Report, HMSO 1944, reprint 1952, and a ruling of the King's Bench Divisional Court, R. v. Architects' Registration Tribunal, ex p. Jagger, [1945] 2 All E.R. 151, both mentioned in "The law relating to the architect" by E. J. Rimmer, Stevens 1952.
  10. ↑ Architects Act 1997
  11. ↑ About Architects Registration in the United Kingdom
  12. ↑ "Publications List".
  13. ↑ The Register of Architects and as explained in ARB ebulletin of May 2012 .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.