Architects Registration in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, the Architects Act 1997

Architects Act 1997

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...

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

From 1932 there has been a statutory Register of Architects under legislation of the United Kingdom Parliament originally enacted in 1931.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...

to be maintained. The Architects Registration Board

Architects Registration Board

The Architects Registration Board 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 Act, 1931 which gave it the name the Architects' Registration Council of the...

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

Architects (Registration) Acts, 1931 to 1938

The Architects Acts, 1931 to 1938 is the statutory citation for three Acts of the United Kingdom Parliament, namely:* The Architects Act, 1931;* The Architects Act, 1934; and...

. It applies to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Section 2 of the Act prescribes that the Board shall appoint and regulate the functions ascribed to the Registrar. The Act refers to the Registrar by the masculine pronoun

Pronoun

In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...

in the singular, but by the usual rules of statutory interpretation

Statutory interpretation

Statutory interpretation is the process by which courts interpret and apply legislation. Some amount of interpretation is always necessary when a case involves a statute. Sometimes the words of a statute have a plain and straightforward meaning. But in many cases, there is some ambiguity or...

, this is not limited to an individual male person.

An amendment

Architects Act 1997 : amendment of June 2008 under the European Communities Act 1972

The Architects Act 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...

under the European Communities Act 1972

European Communities Act 1972

European Communities Act 1972 can refer to:*European Communities Act 1972 * European Communities Act 1972...

came into force on 20 June 2008.

The recurring controversy about whether statutory protection of title serves useful purposes has been intensified by the legislative impact of the EU Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices

Directive 2005/29/EC The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive

Directive 2005/29/EC, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, is a major reform of the law concerning unfair business practices in the European Union. Like any European Union Directive, it needs national rules to incorporate it in each national legal system , although even without that it may...

implemented in May 2008 by two Statutory Instrument

Statutory Instrument

A Statutory Instrument is the principal form in which delegated or secondary legislation is made in Great Britain.Statutory Instruments are governed by the Statutory Instruments Act 1946. They replaced Statutory Rules and Orders, made under the Rules Publication Act 1893, in 1948.Most delegated...

s under the European Communities Act 1972, namely No 1276 (Trade Descriptions

Trade Descriptions Act 1968

The Trade Descriptions 1968 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which prevents manufacturers, retailers or service industry providers from misleading consumers as to what they are spending their money on....

) and No 1277 (Consumer Protection

Consumer protection

Consumer protection laws designed to ensure fair trade competition and the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace. The laws are designed to prevent businesses that engage in fraud or specified unfair practices from gaining an advantage over competitors and may provide additional...

).

For the purposes of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006, "regulatory function" is defined in subsection 32(2).

Use of the title "architect"

Under subsection 20(1) of the Architects Act 1997

Architects Act 1997

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...

, a person in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

may only practise or carry on business under any name, style or title containing the word "architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

" if registered. There is no restriction on its use in any other circumstance. The words in the current Act follow those of the 1938 Architects Registration Act under which it was decided that the use of the suffix "FRIBA" in business notepaper constituted an infringement.

By subsection 20(3) corporate bodies, firms or partnerships can carry on business under a name, style or title containing the word "architect" provided that (in broad terms) the architectural business is run by a registered person. However the statutory registration Board may (by rules made under subsection 20(4) – see General Rules, Rule 25) effectively limit the application of subsection 20(3) to those corporate bodies firms or partnerships who have supplied information necessary for determining whether the architectural business is run by a registered person.

The rule-making power under subsection 20(4) appears to be limited to prescribing particular information to be provided to the Board viz. "such information necessary for statutory registration determining whether [subsection 20(3)] applies". The subsection makes no provision for levying any fee.

Up to the 1990s

Opinions had been divided for well over a century about the merits of statutory registration of architects in the United Kingdom. The result was that Parliament, as the legislator and guided by the government of the day, has had to maintain a state of benevolent neutrality among the holders of these contending views, consistent with more general public policies for business competition, employment, professional education and so on. In relation to statutory protection of title, three aspects of the field in which architects practise invite examination. In summary:

The design quality of the built environment: this is essentially a cultural concern which was and remains one of the principal reasons for the formation and continuance of the Royal Institute of British Architects as a chartered body. It has connotations not only for the United Kingdom but world wide. It is beyond the ambit of statutory protection of title.

The technical sufficiency of buildings: the public interest is secured in the United Kingdom under Building Regulations and other enactments. This too is beyond the statutory protection of the title "architect".

The business of architectural practice: contracts of engagement for professional services are always between a business entity (whether individual, firm, partnership, or company) and the client, and are governed by the general law, including consumer protection legislation where applicable. Protection of the title ‘architect’ for business entities is of no practical relevance for securing the performance of architectural services.

In the light of experience since the inception of the Register under the 1931 Act, and more particularly under the Architects Registration Board’s regime from 1997, the recurring question has been whether protection of title serves useful purposes in respect of the three aspects mentioned above. The question of obsolescence has been further intensified by the EU Unfair Commercial Practices Directive

Directive 2005/29/EC The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive

, effective from 2007.

Statutory registration had its origin within the architectural profession in the latter part of the nineteenth century. It was then (as now) a matter of controversy. However, by 1905 the RIBA

Riba

Riba means one of the senses of "usury" . Riba is forbidden in Islamic economic jurisprudence fiqh and considered as a major sin...

had established a policy to secure satisfactory training of architects by statutory means.

The basis of the policy (on registration) had always been that the profession was governed by voluntary associations of practising architects and that the profession would retain control of registration. This was reflected in the composition of the registration body (the Architects' Registration Council of the United Kingdom

Architects' Registration Council of the United Kingdom

Under an Act passed by the UK Parliament in 1931, there was established an Architects' Registration Council of the United Kingdom , 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...

- ARCUK) established by the 1931 Act. Shortly after, in the book published on occasion of the Institute's centenary celebration in 1934 , in the concluding paragraphs of the chapter on statutory registration., Harry Barnes FRIBA., Chairman of the Registration Committee, wrote -

" ... I do not conceive the purpose of the Registration Act to be that of protecting the Architectural profession. The interests of the Profession are of course legitimate but are best served by the Architectural Associations in which some 80 per cent of those practising architecture are to be found.

"The object of the Registration Act is to ensure to the public that the architects they employ possess capacity and character.

"Under the purview of the Board of Architectural Education
Board of Architectural Education
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 Act, 1931....

no one will enjoy the title of 'Registered Architect' without giving evidence of his capacity, and under that of the Discipline Committee no one will retain the title whose character has been weighed in the balance and found wanting.

"The Architects' Registration Council of the United Kingdom
Architects' Registration Council of the United Kingdom
Under an Act passed by the UK Parliament in 1931, there was established an Architects' Registration Council of the United Kingdom , 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...

can never, therefore, on this view be a rival of any Architectural Association and least of all of the Royal Institute of British Architects
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...

.

"The Architects' Registration Council stands at the gateway of the realm of Architectural practice, but within that realm the affairs of the Architect are best administered by those voluntary Associations to which he has allied himself and over the actions of which he has complete control."

After more than half a century times have changed and a regime of quite another kind has been installed under the 1997 Act.

From the 1990s

By the 1990s it was almost universally accepted that the time had come to bring the statutory Architects' Registration Council as it then was to an end. Opinion within the profession was divided among those who held that statutory registration should be discontinued altogether and those who held that the registration body should be reconstituted.

In the event the body was reconstituted as the Architects Registration Board (1996/1997 Acts). But it was only after the event that many in the profession came to appreciate the effect of the new requirement that the majority of the Board should be non-architects and appointed by the government, as the following quotation shows:

"Crucially, professional control of the Register was taken away by the government's decision which was realised in the 1996/97 Act. This had not been generally expected by those of the membership who before then had been in favour of continuing protection of the title 'architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

'. The significance and effect of the change is now becoming more widely understood." (Report of the Royal Institute of British Architects

Royal Institute of British Architects

The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...

Council's Task Group on the Architects Registration Board

Architects Registration Board

, September 2004.)

Statutory Registration – chronology of key events

1834 - Royal Institute of British Architects

Royal Institute of British Architects

The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...

granted its Royal Charter

Royal Charter

A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...

.

1884 - Society of Architects formed, after a campaign by a group of ARIBA to be allowed to vote on RIBA affairs had been resisted by FRIBA.

1887 - Architects and Engineers Registration Act Committee formed as an independent committee to promote a bill for registration of architects, engineers and surveyors. The bill was withdrawn after chief bodies representing engineers petitioned against it.

1889 & 1891 - Architects Registration Bill Committee put forward bills for registration of architects, which were strongly supported by the Society of Architects but opposed by an independent group of prominent architects and artists.

1892 - Papers published, defining the profession of architecture:

Norman Shaw and T G Jackson (eds.) "Architecture, A Profession or an Art".

William H White "The Architect and his artists, an essay to assist the public in considering the question is architecture a profession or an art".

1902 - Architects Registration Bill Committee amalgamated with the Society of Architects as a joint Registration Committee.

1905 - RIBA Education Policy was adopted for statutory powers to secure satisfactory training for architects by way of registration of title, by and through the RIBA.

1908 - RIBA Licentiate Class formed, for architects who could show evidence of competence, without exams. On closure in 1913, over 2000 had been accepted.

1924-1959 - RIBA Standing Registration Committee.

1925 - Amalgamation of RIBA

Riba

Riba means one of the senses of "usury" . Riba is forbidden in Islamic economic jurisprudence fiqh and considered as a major sin...

and Society of Architects: most of the Society of Architects members transferred to Licentiate class, which was reopened.

1927 - RIBA Registration Committee has draft bill introduced in Parliament, but opposed by the Incorporated Association of Architects and Surveyors

Incorporated Association of Architects and Surveyors

The Association of Building Engineers was founded as the Incorporated Association of Architects and Surveyors in 1925...

and the Faculty of Architects and Surveyors.

1931 - Bill recast and enacted as the Architects (Registration) Act 1931, enabling the Register of Architects

to be established under a statutory body called the Architects' Registration Council of the United Kingdom

Architects' Registration Council of the United Kingdom

(ARCUK). The Council was to be made up of representatives of all architectural bodies in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

in proportion to the numbers of their memberships on the Register, and representatives from government departments and related professional bodies. Under ARCUK, the RIBA system of exams etc. was accepted for registration. (The provisions of the Act constituting the Board of Architectural Education

Board of Architectural Education

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 Act, 1931....

were repealed when ARCUK was reconstituted as ARB in 1996/7.)

1938 - The Architects Registration Act, 1938 changed the protected title from "Registered Architect" to "Architect".

1992 - Government, in response to a request from ARCUK, commissioned review of the Architects Registration Acts by an independent assessor (John Warne).

1993 - Warne Report

Warne Report

The Warne Report was published by the United Kingdom Government in 1993. It was referred to in a government consultation paper on Reform of Architects Registration dated 19 July 1994...

published - principal recommendation: abolition of protection of title "architect" and disbanding of ARCUK. RIBA Council initially supported this recommendation, but this was resisted by the RIBA membership. As a result RIBA campaigned for the retention of protection of title with a "stream-lined" registration board.

1996 - Part III of Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996

Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996

The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom. Its long title shows that it is a piece of omnibus legislation:...

, among other things, reconstituted the registration body as the Architects Registration Board (ARB).

1997 - Architects Act 1997, a consolidating act, brought together the provisions of Part III of the 1996 Act and previous registration legislation. The Architects Registration Board then established with a majority of appointed lay members and a minority of elected Architect members.

2008 - Amendments

Architects Act 1997 : amendment of June 2008 under the European Communities Act 1972

made in June 2008 by Statutory Instrument

Statutory Instrument

established rules for the recognition of professional qualifications enabling migrants from the European Economic Area

European Economic Area

The European Economic Area was established on 1 January 1994 following an agreement between the member states of the European Free Trade Association and the European Community, later the European Union . Specifically, it allows Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to participate in the EU's Internal...

or Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

to register as architects in the United Kingdom. It also set out provisions for facilitating temporary and occasional professional services cross-border.

Summary of legislative history

The following analysis of the operative and other parts of the Architects Act 1997 as it was before the amendment of June 2008

Architects Act 1997 : amendment of June 2008 under the European Communities Act 1972

pays attention to details which sometimes go unnoticed.

The Act is fairly short. That is partly due to its conciseness, but this quality makes it all the more necessary to remember that the Act must be read as a whole to ascertain the meaning and effect of its various parts. Care is needed not to read into it what is not there (whatever conventional wisdom may have supposed or desired), and not to fail to notice what actually is there. In particular, like many such Acts, it can be better understood by looking at its beginning (Arrangement of Sections and long title) and its end (derivations), as well as the operative part in between.

Its long title is "An Act to consolidate the enactments relating to architects". The Table of Derivations printed at the end lists the enactments which it consolidated; and Schedule 3 lists the originating and two amending Acts which it repealed, namely: the Architects (Registration) Act 1931, the Architects Registration Act 1938 and parts of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.

The unbroken continuity of these enactments is shown by paragraph 19(2)(a) of Schedule 2:

"the Council" means the Architects Registration Council of the United Kingdom established under the 1931 Act, which was renamed as the Board by section 118(1) of the 1996 Act.

The changes made by the 1996 Act to the originating Act as amended can be deduced from the Table of Derivations. This also shows that, for the purpose of the consolidation, certain definitions were inserted in the "Interpretation" section. These included one to make clear that where there is a reference to "unacceptable professional conduct", it has the same meaning as it has in section 14 (not vice versa). In subsection 14(1) the phrase is expanded as: "conduct which falls short of the standard required of a registered person".

The "burdens" and "choices"

The scheme of the consolidation Act of 1997 is identical with that of the originating Act of 1931, as amended. It is as follows:

It operates by imposing (under Part IV) one kind of burden, backed by threat of penal sanction, on persons carrying on business in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

generally, but at the same time giving to one particular group of persons a statutory right to choose instead to submit to another kind of burden, and to another group of persons the statutory right to choose to submit to a third kind of burden.

Here, the first is described as the "general burden"; the other two as the "voluntary burdens"; and the freedom to choose the "statutory choices".

The general burden is a prohibition imposed on all persons, firms, partnerships and bodies corporate carrying on business in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

, including architects and Chartered Architects

Chartered architect

A chartered architect in the United Kingdom is a corporate member of one or more of the following architects' professional bodies:*the Royal Institute of British Architects*the Royal Society of Ulster Architects...

. The prohibition is against practising or carrying on business under the title of "architect

Architect

", with two exceptions, viz.:

In the case of an individual, s/he has opted for one of the voluntary burdens and is registered or enrolled under the Act.

In the case of a business entity (body corporate, firm or partnership) it has opted for the other of the voluntary burdens, in that its business so far as it relates to architecture satisfies the statutory requirement to be under the control, management and supervision of a registered person.

Here, the first of these is described as a "practice volunteer", and the second as a "business volunteer".

The statutory choice is exercisable:

In the case of a practice volunteer, by applying for registration in the Register of Architects
Register of Architects
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...

and paying the annual retention fee (under sections 4 to 11), or by enrolling in the statutory list of visiting EEA architects (under section 12).

In the case of a business volunteer, by complying with the control, management and supervision requirements (of subsection 20(3)).

The voluntary burdens which result from the exercise of the statutory choice are as follows:

In the case of a registered person, to submit to the regime imposed on registered persons under sections 4 to 11 of Part II (payment of fees and satisfying requirements about qualifications and competence) and Part III – Discipline.

In the case of a person enrolled in the list of visiting EEA architects, to submit to the regime of section 12 and of Part III – Discipline.

In the case of a business volunteer, to submit to the regime for control, management and supervision imposed by subsection 20(3) and be liable to supply the Board with information showing compliance.

In consequence:

any person or business entity is free to supply services of the same kind as a registered person, but may only use the title "architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

" in this connection subject to one of the voluntary burdens; and

a Chartered Architect
Chartered architect
A chartered architect in the United Kingdom is a corporate member of one or more of the following architects' professional bodies:*the Royal Institute of British Architects*the Royal Society of Ulster Architects...

may only use this title in the course of professional practice if s/he has opted to submit to one of the voluntary burdens, normally as a registered person.

Side effects

A side effect of the Act is the imposition of burdens on third parties under Part II, namely, Schools of Architecture

Schools of Architecture, 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 United Kingdom Architects Act, 1931. The 1931 Act had required the Board of Architectural Education to be appointed annually by the Architects'...

, but the effect of the changes made by the 1996 Act is that Schools of Architecture have disappeared from the legislation without trace. The result has been a certain amount of wrangling between the Schools, the ARB and the RIBA which is the principal professional body, whose concerns inevitably include architectural education.

Another side effect has been a claim by the ARB to be able to impose on registered persons certain requirements about Professional Indemnity Insurance.

The Board and its duties

The membership of the Board is the result of one of the changes made by the 1996 Act to the registration body's previous constitution when its name had been the Architects' Registration Council of the United Kingdom. The Act abolished the Board of Architectural Education

Board of Architectural Education

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 Act, 1931....

, renamed the Council as the Board, and made this Board consist predominantly of persons appointed by the Privy Council

Privy council

A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...

.

Subsection 3(4) states "The Board shall publish the current version of the Register annually...". Provisions of Part II of the Act prescribe how the Register shall be kept up to date, and who shall be entitled to be registered; other provisions of Parts II and III prescribe for the Board the circumstances, events or conditions when a person's name shall be removed from the Register; and other provisions prescribe for the Board certain ancillary, or derivative and secondary, duties in connection with the Board's primary responsibility for the maintenance and regular publication of the Register of Architects

.

Apart from officers, employees and agents of the Board, the Act creates no duties or obligations towards the Board which fall on any one else at all; and nothing in the Act itself creates any obligation which an architect owes to the Board.

Not delegated

Section 20 of the Architects Act 1997 mentions "architecture" (subsection (3)(b)) and the "services" of a person enrolled under the Act (subsection (5)). These are not defined by the Act, and it is quite obvious that Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

has not delegated to the Board the power to define them. In practice, as technology and the building process continue to evolve new specialisms, the concept of architecture can be seen as becoming ever more fluid, extensive and comprehensive, and at the same time becoming narrower while ever more ancillary specialities are identified.

The Board's Professional Conduct Committee

Sanctions are available to the Board under Part III of the Act against any person on the register who is found guilty under section 15 of unacceptable professional conduct or serious professional incompetence, or else has been convicted with a criminal offence which has relevance to fitness to practise.

Although a criminal conviction is an objective criterion, no statutory definition is given that defines the level of professional conduct or incompetence that will attract a sanction, judgment in the matter being given to the Board's Professional Conduct Committee, subject to commonsense, reason and judicial review.

The PCC is constituted under the Act, Schedule 1 Part II, as amended. The Committee includes members of the Board, both elected and appointed, as well as persons appointed by the Board and nominees of the President of the Law Society. A bare quorum of the Committee meets for a disciplinary hearing, comprising a nominee of the President of the Law Society (invariably a solicitor

Solicitor

Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...

), a person from the Register and another not on the Register. PCC members are paid for their service.

Categorisation

The Architects Registration Board

Architects Registration Board

is admittedly not a professional body or society in the sense explained in Wikipedia article "British Professional Bodies". The question whether or not it is a "regulatory agency" was publicly considered in 2003. The June 2003 issue of the RIBA Journal included the following:

"The words 'regulator' and 'regulation' are not used in the Act and that status is not conferred upon the Board. It could be argued that the Board's assumption of this role is adverse to the public interest... A contrary proposition to the Board's claim is that an essential characteristic of a regulatory body in this context is to have jurisdiction or control over particular functions or activities in the supply of goods or services... whether or not the regulatory method is in conjunction with a system of certificating or licensing (such as applies to solicitors or places of entertainment)... The Board's claim to regulatory status appears to be the result of want of understanding how it can usefully go about fulfilling the services that have been assigned to it by statute for the public benefit..."

In November 2003 the Architects Registration Board

Architects Registration Board

published a summary of a barrister's opinion which included the following:

"The Board as 'Regulator'. It has been suggested that the Board is not a 'regulator' of the architects’ profession... The precise generic description that any individual chooses to give to the collection of statutory duties imposed upon, and the powers available to, the Board under the 1997 Act is in any event irrelevant for the purposes of the questions asked," [by the Board when obtaining this information for its own use] "for they largely involve issues of statutory interpretation which require the legislation to be construed and not given epithets."

Use of "Chartered Practice"

The Royal Institute of British Architects

Royal Institute of British Architects

The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...

, which is a professional body (see Wikipedia category list British Professional Bodies), operates a voluntary "Chartered Practice" scheme. The Institute's website explains that the scheme requires all architectural work to be under the supervision of a Chartered Architect

Chartered architect

, and that the Privy Council

Privy council

has approved amendments to the RIBA Charter and Byelaws which (from July 2007) entitles practices which qualify to use the title "Chartered Practice" (See the RIBA Charter, Article 4.7).

Qualification for registration

The standard of qualification is not equal for all persons applying to be included in the Register of Architects

.

The Registrar is bound, under section 4 of the Architects Act, to register any person who applies for registration if that person has "such qualifications and has gained such practical experience as may be prescribed".

An alternative route to registration is to satisfy the Board that an equivalent standard of competence has been achieved. A matrix can be applied as follows:

Qualifications	Practical experience	RIBA Part III
Obtained in UK	Obtained in UK	Required
Obtained in UK	Obtained in other EU	Not required
Obtained in other EU	Obtained in UK	Not required
Obtained in other EU	Obtained in other EU	Not required

The disparity arises from the European Directive on Mutual Recognition of Qualifications in Architecture 85/384/EC. (Go to Article 4 of the main text for the required duration of training. The original Directive has been updated.) It is clearly stated in that Directive that "the total length of education and training shall consist of a minimum of either four years of full-time studies at a university or comparable educational establishment or at least six years of study at a university or comparable educational establishment of which at least three must be full time".

As this is a minimum requirement there is nothing to stop a country applying higher standards to those obtaining qualifications and experience within its own jurisdiction. However it is widely held (and expressed in the report of Michael Highton to the RIBA Council) that any challenge to this disparity is likely to succeed on the grounds of irrationality. The report stated:

"In our view it is only a matter of time before a UK student, who has been denied registration on the grounds that he or she has not passed the Part 3 examination, yet who has been educated in the UK and achieved two years practical experience in the UK, successfully challenges such a decision on the basis that it is irrational to require a UK based student to possess a higher level of qualification and experience than is required of a non-UK based student or architect."

If the Architects Registration Board reduced the registration requirement to four years full-time study, there is no reason why the RIBA should lower its entry standard.

External links

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