Architects Registration Board

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 which gave it the name the Architects' Registration Council of the United Kingdom (ARCUK). It prescribes architectural qualifications, maintains the Register of Architects and for registered persons has certain responsibilities for standards of professional conduct and competence.

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.

"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 ...).

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 in order 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"

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. In practice the allegations are usually presented to the Committee by a solicitor appointed and paid by the Board; and the Committee usually has a legally qualified chairman chosen from those who (male or female) are required by the legislation to have been appointed to membership of the Committee on the nomination of the President of the Law Society. Under the rule of law it is normal in the UK to appoint a legally qualified chairman, with appropriate experience, who can be held to have a professional and judicial responsibility for protecting the right to a fair and unprejudiced hearing and trial, which is a basic entitlement of any accused person whose reputation and livelihood could be at stake. The importance of this is reflected in the statutory provisions for constituting the Board's Professional Conduct Committee which are in Part II of Schedule 1 of the Act (as amended). As at March 2010 these provisions are reproduced at the RIBA's website as follows:

13. The Professional Conduct Committee shall consist of –

(a) four elected members of the Board;

(b) three appointed members of the Board;

(c) three persons nominated by the President of the Law Society; and

(d) six persons appointed by the Board, including three registered persons, of whom the address of at least one in the Register is in Scotland.

14 (1) The members of the Professional Conduct Committee shall elect a chairman from among themselves.

(2) The chairman—

(a) may resign by notice in writing addressed to the Registrar; and

(b) may be removed by a majority vote of the other members of the Professional Conduct Committee.

(3) Rules made by the Board may make provision for the appointment of a person to act as chairman in the event of a vacancy in the office of chairman or in such other circumstances as may be prescribed.

15 (1) Subject to sub-paragraphs (1A) and (2), the quorum of the Professional Conduct Committee shall be one person nominated by the President of the Law Society; and any two persons from one or more of the following categories –

(a) the elected members of the Board;

(b) the appointed members of the Board;

(c) the persons appointed by the Board.

(1A) The Committee shall not, however, be quorate unless there are present –

(a) a member of the Committee who is a registered person; and

(b) a member of the Committee who is neither a registered person nor a person nominated by the President of the Law Society.

(2) In addition, where the Committee is considering the case of a person whose address in the Register is in Scotland, the Committee is not quorate unless there is present a member of the Committee who is a registered person and whose address in the Register is in Scotland.

16 In the event of a tie in any vote of the Professional Conduct Committee the chairman shall have an additional casting vote; and in any proceedings relating to a registered person the additional vote shall be cast in favour of that person.
17 The Board may make rules governing the selection and term of office of members of the Professional Conduct Committee (including casual vacancies).

Judicial precedent

On an appeal to the Divisional Court under the legislation in force in 1957 concerning a pure breach of the Code of Professional Conduct (the architect was practising an estate agent's business as well as his own) 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"

The decisive issues concerning the legislation for the Register of Architects

Records held by the British Architectural Library 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.

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. 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.

External links

• Register of Architects
• ARB web site
• Royal Institute of British Architects
• Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland

See also

• Architects Registration in the United Kingdom
• The Architects (Registration) Acts, 1931 to 1938
• Reform of Architects Registration.