I have been involved with a professional negligence matter recently which involved an architect who was not a qualified architect, but purported to be one.

The matter is relatively straightforward, the word  “architect” is a protected term of reference under Section 20 of the Architects Act 1997. This means that only ‘architects’ are only legally allowed to call themselves ‘architects’ if they are adequately qualified and have been admitted onto the architects register administered Architects Registration Board (“ARB”).

The ARB is an independent regulator of architects and any person on the ARB is bound by the ‘Architects Code: Standards of Conduct and Practice’. This sets out the minimum standards of service an architect must provide. The Royal Institute of British Architects (“RIBA”) is a professional body, which an architect does not need to be a member of in order to call themselves an architect.   

Prior to appointing an architect, it would be prudent to check if the architect is listed on the ARB which would also highlight if there are any disciplinary actions against them, which could avoid a dispute later on down the road.

You can visit the ARB’s register to check if your architect is qualified at http://architects-register.org.uk/.

To answer the question in this article, an architect is not an architect unless they are registered with the ARB .

It is worth stating that if a party holds themselves out to be a qualified architect, then they will be judged by the standard of a qualified architect in professional negligence proceedings.