We recently blogged on the role of Principal Designer under the Building Safety Act (BSA) and the move towards more transparency and accountability in building work. The Principal Designer role is an important one, to ensure compliance with building regulations. A Principal Designer is now required to sign off the building regulations on completion of your project, and confirm that the design complies. A Principal Contractor is also required to confirm that the building has been built in accordance with these designs. Under the BSA the defined roles (of Principal Designer and Principal Contractor) must be undertaken by a competent person – with the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience, and if relevant, organisational capability, to undertake the work.
So what defines competency, and how is it regulated? This is currently in hot debate amongst building professionals.
Under the Architects Act 1997 the title Architect is legally protected – this means that only someone with the requisite qualifications can call themselves an architect. However, it does not protect the services they can provide. In practice, this means anybody can provide the services of an architect, as long as they don’t call themselves an architect. They could use the title Architectural Services for example.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is calling for an overhaul of the regulatory system to protect the services provided by an architect. They are calling for such services to be reserved activities which can only be provided by a competent professional. This would offer much greater protection to the public and bring the regulation for the built environment in line with the protection given to other professions such as the Legal Services Act. It would also align the UK building Industry with most other developed economies, who already have such legislation in place.
In practice by only allowing reserved activities in the building industry to be undertaken by certain qualified competent professionals, the public could expect higher levels of quality assurance, accountability and safety in the built environment.
To use the title Architect and to maintain RIBA registration we have to be suitably qualified, undertake required levels of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and uphold various professional standards. We are proud to achieve and maintain these standards, and our clients can be confident that the work we carry out reflects the high standards expected of us.
New regulation for the work we carry out, would improve standards across the industry and we would welcome such reform, which would guarantee levels of safety, standards, accountability whilst allowing for innovation and creativity.
If you would like to discuss the services we can provide or are planning a project, please get in touch for an initial discussion with one of our Architects.