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Last edited 14 Jan 2026

Architect

1 Introduction
2 Regulation of architects
3 Training
4 Statutory responsibilities
5 Practice
6 Continuing professional development
- 6.1 ARB CPD
- 6.2 RIBA CPD
7 Professional Indemnity Insurance
8 Appointing an architect
9 Role of an architect
10 Additional services
11 Related articles on Designing Buildings

[edit] Introduction

The term 'architect' has been used for many centuries, but the architect as a recognised profession is a relatively modern concept dating back to the mid 16th century, from the French architecte and Italian architetto (originating from the Greek arkhitekton, where arkhi means 'chief' and tekton 'builder'). The term and what it represents has evolved through history to its current form in which architects are seen as highly-qualified and educated professionals.

See The History of the architect as a profession for more information.

[edit] Regulation of architects

Although buildings in the UK are commonly designed by people who are not architects, the term ‘architect’ itself is protected by the Architects Act 1997 which established the Architects Registration Board (ARB). Only qualified individuals that are registered with the ARB can offer their services as architects. Section 20 of the Architects Act states that 'A person shall not practise or carry on business under any name style or title containing the word “architect” unless he is a person registered under this Act'.

The ARB has responsibility for:

Recognising qualifications.
Maintaining a list of registered architects and ensuring that people not on the list do not offer their services as an architect.
Monitoring standards and investigating complaints.

ARB issues a code of conduct for architects and can take action against those falling short of the code’s standards.

Architects can also become chartered members of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), but this is voluntary and is not necessary to practice as an architect.

See The History of the architect as a profession for more information.

On 11 December 2025 it was announced that the RIBA President will not renew ARB registration, the newly elected RIBA President Chris Williamson wrote to ARB to this effect, meaning that from 2026, he would not be included on the UK’s register of architects. This move aimed to draw attention to the ineffectiveness of the current regulatory system for UK architects, which only protects the legally restricted title ‘architect’ and provides no oversight of the competence of those who undertake architectural services or activities. It therefore allows anybody to carry out the work of an architect, as long as they don’t call themselves one.

This manoeuvre thus paved the way for the RIBA Campaign for a competence-led approach to architects' regulations to establish a new regulatory model for UK architects based on reserved activities, which focusses on three key steps:

Repealing the Architects Act
Introducing new legislation defining reserved activities, which we define as submitting full planning applications, building control applications, and final compliance certificates, and who can carry them out
Establishing a Built Environment Council to oversee the competence requirements of construction industry professional bodies who would assess the competence of individuals, who would then be included as chartered members, with the ability to undertake the reserved functions named above.

For more information visit Campaign for a competence-led approach to architects' regulations

In November 2020, the government announced a consultation on changes to the Architects Act to make competence assessment compulsory. For more information see: ‎Architects' building safety competence consultation.

[edit] Training

The most common route into the profession is through university study, broken down into 3 parts:

Part 1 – Honours degree in architecture, followed by 1 year out in practice under the guidance of an architect and monitored and recorded in line with RIBA requirements.
Part 2 - Masters, Diploma or BArch (depending on the individual school) taught in university for 2 to 3 years, followed by a further monitored and recorded year in practice.
Part 3 - the RIBA final exam.

The RIBA Examination in Architecture for Office-based Candidates is an alternative route to qualification for Part 1 and Part 2 for people working full-time under the supervision of an architect. Applicants must have a minimum of three years’ experience in architectural practice to join the examination at Part 1; or 3 years post-Part 1 experience to join the Part 2 stage (as well as holding Part 1).

Recently, there is concern that architectural training has become unbearably expensive as universities can charge fees of up to £10,000 a year for English students and up to £40,000 for international students for undergraduate level. At post graduate level this can be between £10-20,000 for English students and £30,000 or more for International students. Along with the final part 3 level this means fees alone can be anywhere between £50-80,000 for English students and significantly more for International students, to achieve the seven years to become an architect. With 5 of these years spent at a university in full time education the addition of accommodation and living expenses on top of the university fees, the total costs of training to become an architect can now soar to well over £100,000 and likely double that.

This may result in architecture becoming the preserve of students whose parents are able to support them through their training. Whilst the number of applications for places at schools of architecture remains high, increasingly this is from students outside the EU, with applications from UK and EU students decreasing.

In September 2024, the government announced plans to reform apprenticeships in England. A new Growth and Skills Levy will replace the current Apprenticeship Levy, and businesses will be asked to fund Level 7 apprenticeships outside of the levy. Level 7 apprenticeships, equivalent to a Masters degree, are a key point of architectural education. The ARB made significant changes to the regulation of architectural education, resulting in only the recognition of masters-level and professional qualifications. This makes the Level 7 architecture apprenticeship more important than before.

In May 2025, the Department for Education announced that funding for Level 7 apprenticeships would cease from January 2026 for all but those aged 16 to 21, or whose who are already undertaking an apprenticeship. The RIBA has since led a campaign calling on the Government to raise the age of eligibility for Level 7 apprenticeship funding to 25 years old for built environment professionals with a letter to the Department for Work and Pensions. Signed by 70 organisations, businesses and academic institutions across the sector, the letter highlights the cross sector support to securing funding for Level 7 apprenticeships in the built environment. Read comments from sector leaders and Members of Parliament detailing why they support the campaign.

NB On 27 June 2018, the Institute for Apprenticeships approved standards and end point assessment documents for an architectural assistant apprenticeship, which encompasses a Part 1 qualification, and an architect apprenticeship, which encompasses a Part 2 qualification and a Part 3 qualification. Ref http://ebulletin.arb.org.uk/july2018/degree-apprenticeships/

See architectural training for more information.

For the types of modules that students study as part of architecture degree courses, see Architecture course essentials.

[edit] Statutory responsibilities

According to the ARB's Architect's code: Standards of Conduct and Practice, an architect is expected to:

Be honest and act with integrity.
Be competent.
Promote their services honestly and responsibly.
Manage their business competently.
Consider the wider impact of their work.
Carry out their work faithfully and conscientiously.
Be trustworthy and look after their clients’ money properly.
Have appropriate insurance arrangements.
Maintain the reputation of architects.
Deal with disputes or complaints appropriately.
Co-operate with regulatory requirements and investigations.
Have respect for others.

[edit] Practice

The roles within working practice have become fairly standardised. Positions in a typical UK practice include:

Architectural Assistants – These are generally training architects before part 3 completion. They are often broken down into Part 1 assistants and Part 2 assistants.
Architectural technicians specialising in the application of technology in architecture. Architectural technicians can become professionally qualified Architectural Technicians, (TCIAT) accredited by the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists and Technicians (CIAT).
Architectural technologists, leading the technological design of buildings. Architectural technologist can study to degree level and become chartered architectural technologists, (MCIAT) accredited by the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists and Technicians (CIAT).
A newly qualified Part 3 architect – often working under the guidance of a project architect.
Project architect – Given most of the responsibilities involved with running a job with occasional guidance from a director.
Associate Directors – Often viewed as junior directors with responsibility for overseeing several project architects.
Directors and Senior Directors – Oversee associate directors and may not be particularly involved in any single project. Their time may be spent with new clients or overseeing the management of the practice.
Principal – Head of the office.
Partner – An owner of the practice. Often in smaller companies the directors or principal make up the Partners.

For more information, see Practice management.

[edit] Continuing professional development

The ARB code states that architects ‘are expected to keep (their) knowledge and skills relevant to (their) professional work up to date and be aware of the content of guidelines issued by the Board (ARB)...’ The RIBA has developed a curriculum for continuing professional development (CPD), and it is considered that anyone satisfying the RIBA’s requirements is likely to satisfy the ARB that they have maintained their competence.

It is widely accepted that any person offering a professional services must maintain the standards of that service through continuing professional development. Both the ARB codes and the RIBA Code of professional conduct requires this of registered members.

[edit] ARB CPD

The Architects' Registration Board requires that architects keep relevant knowledge and skills up-to-date, and are aware of the content of any guidelines issued by the board. The ARB advises that architects think laterally and encourages CPD to be undertaken in a number of ways:

Internal discussions and meetings.
Training another member of staff.
Supervising a student's professional practice experience.
In house training events.
Undertaking short courses.
Attending conferences, seminars and workshops to enhance a skill or knowledge.
Participating in competitions.
Keeping abreast of government policies and new technical reports.
Research for writing articles.
Open and distance learning.

[edit] RIBA CPD

The RIBA introduced mandatory CPD on the 1st of April 1999. Unlike the ARB, the RIBA approach requires chartered members to participate in a system that focuses on time, points and core curriculum.

To maintain competence requires:

35 hours of CPD; along with
100 points which you give to activities where you are using self-reflection
at least half of your CPD activity, where possible, structured
at least 20 hours of CPD on core curriculum topics (at least two hours on each topic each year)
a record of your CPD online using our CPD recording manager

[edit] Professional Indemnity Insurance

The ARB code required that architects maintain 'adequate and appropriate' professional indemnity insurance (PIII). The level of PII required will vary considerably depending on the role of the individual and the size and nature of the projects they undertake, however, ARB state that ‘in any event an architect is expected to hold a limit of indemnity of no less than £250,000’.

See Professional Indemnity Insurance for more information.

[edit] Appointing an architect

There are approximately 33,500 registered architects in the UK. 20% of architects in the UK are female.

There are a number of sources of information to help clients find an appropriate architect for their project:

A survey by the RIBA in 2014 (Ref RIBA Journal February 2014) revealed that the most common methods of appointing architects were:

Direct appointment	50%
Competitive fee bid or financial tender only	21%
Framework agreement with or without further competition for specific projects	10%
Invited competitive interview (no pre-qualification questionnaire PQQ)	4%
Expression of interest / PQQ only (no design work)	3%
Expression of interest / PQQ followed by competitive interview (no design work)	3%
Expression of interest / PQQ followed by design competition	2%
Invited design competition (no PQQ)	1%
Open design competition	1%
Other	4%

Smaller practices tended to be appointed mostly by direct appointment (61%), whereas this was less common for larger practices (25%).

It is important that an architect's appointment is set out in writing as soon as is practically possible, defining the scope of services that are likely to be required and the fee that will be charged for those services. If the architect is to perform lead designer or lead consultant roles, this must be clearly agreed.

A number of standard forms exist for the appointment of an architect:

RIBA Standard Agreement for the Appointment of an Architect.
ACA SFA 2012: ACA Standard Form of Agreement for the Appointment of an Architect.
The CIC Consultant's Contract.

For a description of how to select and appoint a consultant, such as an architect, see: Appointment.

[edit] Role of an architect

Detailed descriptions of the tasks performed by an architect for different procurement routes can be found in the free work plans available on the Designing Buildings Wiki home page, however, very broadly, the role performed by an architect might include:

Assisting the client to prepare a strategic brief.
Carrying out feasibility studies and options appraisals.
Advising on the need to appoint other professionals to the consultant team, independent client advisers, specialist designers and specialist contractors.
Advising on the procurement route.
Contributing to the preparation of a project brief.
Preparing the concept design.
Preparing the detailed design.
Preparing planning applications.
Preparing applications for statutory approvals.
Preparing production information.
Preparing tender documentation.
Contributing to the assessment of tenders.
Reviewing designs prepared by others.
Acting as contract administrator.
Inspecting the works.
Advising on the rectification of defects.

[edit] Additional services

It is important to note some services will only be undertaken by the architect if they are specifically identified in their appointment documents, and will not be included within the architect's fee on all projects. These are described as 'other services' on some forms of appointment. 'Other services' might include: