RIBA President, Chris Williamson, outlines his thinking behind a competence-led approach to regulation 

My recent decision not to renew my ARB registration was not an easy one to make, but I think  it has been an opportunity to provide a moment of clarity in a confused and confusing regulatory environment. 

For too long, our regulatory framework has been obsessed with protecting a title rather than ensuring the quality of the work performed. In a post-Grenfell world, that is not good enough.  

RIBA’s core proposition is simple - the future of the built environment lies in a competence-based approach to regulation. We need to move beyond administrative box-ticking and toward a system that ensures professional capability that can be readily understood by architects, other professionals, clients and the public.   

This is also an opportune time to look holistically about the role of the architect, particularly looking forward to an AI dominated world. For too long, we have concentrated on design, which – whilst important – represents a fraction of our work. We need to nurture and promote all our specialisms and allow all our members to curate their own careers. Our education system has, for too long, concentrated on producing good general practitioners rather than encouraging wonderful specialisms.

RIBA is championing a fundamental shift on professional regulation through  our ‘Repeal, reserve, regulate’ campaign. 

First, we need to repeal the Architects Act 1997. This legislation is a relic from a bygone era. It protects the title ”architect” but does nothing to stop an unqualified individual from designing a building of any type.  

We need to replace the legislative framework with one that identifies ”reserved activities” - critical tasks that directly impact life safety, building quality and sustainability - which can only be signed off by proven, competent professionals. This is how things are done in many other parts of the world, and there is existing precedent in the UK in the form of the Legal Services Act. 

Then, we need to regulate through a Built Environment Council. We believe that the professional charter bodies are the right organisations to regulate those with responsibility for reserved activities. However, there needs to be proper independent scrutiny of the standards set by the charter bodies and the systems for assessing competence. This would be the role of the Built Environment Council and again, we have an existing example in the form of the Engineering Council. 

A  competence-based model delivers two things the current system lacks: public protection - so ensuring that those responsible for the critical design decisions in our buildings have the specific, tested skills and competences required for the task, and clarity and accountability - with reserved activities, there will be no ambiguity about who is responsible for what.  

RIBA is already leading by example. RIBA Chartered Members must now pass our health and life safety mandatory competence test if they act as designers under CDM and/or Building Regulations on projects in England.  

I am against any form of protectionism.  I think clients have the right to commission designs from anyone they believe will fulfil their aspirations, but there are important issues of safety, ethics and compliance which we need to ensure are addressed.  This isn’t about creating a closed shop; it’s an invitation for a much-needed industry conversation, and there are some hard questions still to be answered. For example, what defines a ‘competent individual’?  Who else joins us? How should ’reserved activities’ be defined in detail and who should hold the right to perform them? 

The biggest professional shake-up in decades is already underway, but its success depends on collaboration. As I said, this isn’t just about architects. Planners, engineers and surveyors may also wish to undertake this work – but whoever does so must be competent and able to prove it. We will work with government, Parliament, and built environment professionals to ensure that the new regime drives competence and reflects the changing needs of a 21st century profession.

Read more about our call for a competence-led approach to architects’ regulation.