Dear All,
I know a few of you are architects- many of you aren’t, but please bare with me while I talk at you about professional competence policing (I promise this is more interesting than I have made it sound and I have interspersed ridiculous memes for visual relief!). Part of the outcomes of Grenfell and the new Building Safety Bill are new requirements for regulating bodies in the construction professions to police competence in their members (in a nutshell here). This is probably one of those things people who employ architects thought happened already. Sorry, it doesn’t. You spend 7-10 years studying (depending on courses/ how quickly you can bear to sign up for the next stint of education); you pass said courses; you give the Architects Registration Board (ARB) scans of your degree certificates, and you’re an architect for life. As long as you remember to pay their c.£150 a year fee. All a bit bonkers really considering.
If you’re a competent professional who has read ARB’s professional standards you will be keeping up with legislation, changes to building regulations, new construction technologies, doing your CPD etc.… but judging from tales I have heard from those who employ or are employed by some architects this is not always the case. ARB will now be required to police competence. They have told us (vaguely) what they think this is here, but it doesn’t look like they will be policing in a specific or organised way- which is probably not what those of you who may want to hire architects want to hear.
And this rather brings me to the nub of the problem. ‘Architect’ is a legally protected title based on prescribed educational and professional criteria. The reason it is legally protected is to protect consumers. By hiring an architect you are hiring a professional with certain experience and qualifications. Anyone can practice as an architect as long as they don’t use the word ‘architect’ (look out for ‘architectural designer’, ‘interior architect’, ‘architectural consultant’, ‘architectural draughtsman’ etc.); but if you hire an architect there is a legal expectation of a certain standard professional competence.
I must admit if the standard isn’t really policed I rather wonder what the point is. Engineers don’t have a protected title, which is why the person who comes to plug your broadband in is called an engineer- but you’re probably not going to ask them to size the beams for your kitchen extension. I hasten to add that I am not the biggest fan of compulsory re-testing. I am also a member of the RIBA (which is voluntary) and they will be testing. Read my piece for Building Design here on that, in which I moan repeatedly about revision and multiple choice.
As an architect I may not want to be tested every few years on whether I am competent; but if I were someone hiring me I’d be in favour of this. As a client i’d like to think proving competence was more than just being an architect every day, and occasionally going to a seminar by a building products salesperson in which they murder building physics whilst trying to sell you their brick/ toilet cubicle/ light fitting. (If you are interested in a slightly less personal view I have written properly for Building Design on this here.) This is of course the bare minimum and most architects really care about their professional integrity and their clients… but the point is if you’re hiring an architect how would you know which is which? I have even worked with those on the outskirts of the architectural industry who have passed me pieces to review for publication by ‘experts in residential architecture’ which recommend illegal action, fully believing they are in the safe hands of an experienced professional. Maybe I should just ask ARB if i’ve got the wrong end of the stick; or if their plans are still in progress; or if I am right why they are being comparatively laissez faire. What do you think?
In less specific architect news do enjoy this lovely meditation on what a comfortable space sounds like and book your tickets for the newly re-opened Museum of the Home, profiled in dezeen here.
Until next time!
Eleanor