Proposed rules to establish an Appeals Committee

Closed 9 Dec 2022

Opened 27 Oct 2022

Contact

020 7580 5861

communications@arb.org.uk

Feedback updated 1 Mar 2023

We asked

  • Changes to the law through the Building Safety Act 2022 require ARB to establish a new Appeals Committee.
  • The scope of decisions that the Committee can consider is set in legislation but ARB is able to set rules on the Committee's composition and functioning. 
  • In October 2022, ARB invited views on proposed rules to establish the Committee. These covered how an individual can appeal to the Committee and the procedure for how it should function.
  • The survey comprised of four questions.
  • Two questions featured ‘closed’ multiple-choice elements, with the remaining two using solely an ‘open’ free-text element where respondents could give more insight into their views. The questions are reproduced in order below:

Question 13: Status of the Appellant while the appeal is being considered

The proposed rules would mean that:

  • For appeals against an initial decision involving an application for registration, the Appellant will remain unregistered pending the outcome of the appeal.
  • For appeals against an initial decision to remove someone from the Register under the new competence (CPD) scheme, the Appellant will remain on the Register pending the outcome of the appeal.

Do you agree with this approach?

Respondents were invited to select one of the following options: Strongly agree, Agree, Neither agree nor disagree, Disagree, Strongly disagree.

Respondents also had the opportunity to explain the rationale for their response in an open text box. 

Question 14: Appeal Fee

The proposed rules include that ARB will set a fee that must be paid by an individual before their appeal can be considered. This would be set annually by the Board, on a purely cost recovery basis, and stated on ARB’s website.

Do you agree with this approach?

Respondents were invited to select one of the following options: Strongly agree, Agree, Neither agree nor disagree, Disagree, Strongly disagree.

Respondents also had the opportunity to explain the rationale for their response in an open text box. 

Question 15: Is there anything within the proposed rules that could have an impact on ARB’s commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion, or have a positive or negative impact on anyone with particular protected characteristics?

Question 16: Do you have any other comments about the proposed rules?

You said

  • We received 48 unique responses to the consultation.
  • 96% of respondents to the survey were registered architects.
  • The majority of respondents supported our proposed rules.
  • There were no significant recurring themes raised that would impact the inclusivity our proposed rules.

We did

We produced an analysis report that summarised responses to the survey. This was discussed at ARB’s Board meeting on 15 February 2023 and approved for publication. This report is available here.

Alongside the consultation, we identified technical changes that would help to clarify the status of Committee members by reflecting developments to the status of ARB’s workers. These changes will also mean a more efficient and transparent approach to membership of ARB’s Professional Conduct Committee and Appeals Committee. These two committees cover separate areas of decision-making.

In line with requirements of the Architects Act 1997, ARB has also consulted the Secretary of State on the Rules regarding the Committee’s composition.

At its meeting on 15 February, ARB’s Board approved the updated Rules for the Committee and its functioning. We will now implement the Rules to establish the Committee and, when the Committee is established, we will begin to inform individuals as part of any decisions we make that are eligible for appeal.

Published responses

View submitted responses where consent has been given to publish the response.

Overview

The Architects Registration Board (ARB) is an independent professional regulator, established by Parliament as a statutory body, through the Architects Act 1997. We are accountable to government. 

The law gives us a number of core functions: 

  • To ensure only those who are suitably competent are allowed to practise as architects. We do this by approving the qualifications required to join the UK Register of Architects.
     
  • We maintain a publicly available Register of Architects so anyone using the services of an architect can be confident that they are suitably qualified and are fit to practise.
     
  • We set the standards of conduct and practice the profession must meet and take action when any architect falls below the required standards of conduct or competence.
     
  • We protect the legally restricted title ‘architect’.

This consultation

Changes to the law through the Building Safety Act 2022 require ARB to establish a new Appeals Committee.

The scope of decisions that the Committee can consider is set in legislation but ARB is able to set rules on the Committee's composition and functioning. 

We are now consulting on these proposed rules before they come into force. The proposed rules are set out in our document here, along with accompanying changes to ARB’s General Rules. They cover:

  • The composition of the Appeals Committee
  • Making an appeal
     
  • Screening of the appeal
  • Proceedings of the Appeals Committee
  • The status of the Appellant while the appeal is being considered
  • Decisions and service of decision notices
  • Withdrawal of appeals
  • The fee payable as part of an appeal
     
  • Adjustments
     
  • Changes to ARB's General Rules

Background

The new committee is intended to provide a non-judicial route of appeal to aggrieved persons within its scope.

This aims to make the appeals process more accessible than the previous route, which was to the Board directly and then to the High Court.

It also aims to ensure that architects removed from the Register under our incoming competence (CPD) scheme will have recourse to challenge that decision. 

The updated Architects Act 1997 means the Committee can consider appeals against: 

  • a decision to refuse an individual's application for registration;

or

  • if a Registered Person wishes to be retained or re-entered onto the Register annually, a decision to remove or not re-enter them because the Board is not satisfied that they have gained sufficient recent practical experience or undertaken sufficient recent training. 

The Committee may make any decision that could have been made by the person who made the decision appealed against. These initial decisions will normally be made by the Registrar, with the exception of a situation where it would be inappropriate for them to make the decision (e.g a close connection with the individual in question). 

The below flowchart provides an indicative outline of a typical appeal process to help illustrate how the Committee would function (but does not replace anything in the proposed rules).

Why your views matter

These rules will affect how the new Committee functions and may be of particular interest to potential applicants or architects who will be required to participate in our new CPD scheme.

The consultation will close on Friday 9 December 2022.

The consultation will comply with ARB's Code of Practice for consultations. We have decided to issue this consultation for a period of six weeks because of the narrow nature of the topic and our desire to avoid unecessary delays in establishing the Committee.

Alongside this, ARB will consult the Secretary of State on the Committee’s composition, in line with requirements in the updated Architects Act.

Audiences

  • Anyone from any background

Interests

  • Continuing Professional Development
  • Competence
  • International
  • Professional Standards