The Government is consulting on parts of the Architects Act relating to the monitoring of competency, & international recognition agreements.
The Government proposals regarding the monitoring of competency of Architects are significant & there is a concern that this may have a detrimental impact upon the profession. Therefore for all those interested in the quality of the built environment please take the time to read and respond to the Gov.uk consultation (links below)
If additional regular competency testing is to be introduced for ARB (Architects Registration Board) registered Architects, unless protection of function is also introduced along side this, the measures may be counterproductive and actually achieve the opposite of that which is indented. This is because any new regular competency testing will only serve to add another layer of administration & cost for registered Architects, and this may result in many deciding not to register as an Architect (or to de-register) & simply decide to offer 'architectural' or 'building consultancy' services instead, thereby side stepping the higher level of competency requirements.
The consultation is pretty short & narrow in scope. The deadline is 21st January 2021.
Survey / Response Link:
Link to Consultation: