The Building Safety Act 2022 gives ARB the power to monitor the training and development architects carry out throughout their careers. ARB will do this by implementing a new and mandatory CPD scheme. The scheme will be underpinned by guidance to help architects understand what will be required of them to meet the terms of the scheme to maintain their registration.
From September 2022 to January 2023, views were invited to be given on a draft of the guidance. Over 1,300 architects and other professionals gave feedback and shared their views and opinions on key parts of the guidance, including the activity-based nature of the scheme, suggestions on mandatory topics, views on the reflective statement, as well as the inclusivity of the scheme and further recommendations. ARB have now published analysis of the consultation and you can download this here, or view an online summary here.
Key Results:
- A majority (58%) of respondents agreed that recording activities is a good way of measuring CPD that has been undertaken.
- Views on ARB’s proposal to recommend a minimum number of eight activities were split, with slightly more respondents agreeing than disagreeing. ARB proposed recommending that architects carry out a minimum of eight CPD activities over the year. Twelve percent of respondents strongly agreed and 33% agreed that it would be helpful.
- Fifty-five percent of respondents made recommendations for mandatory topics, with the most popular recommended being regulatory changes (24%), sustainability (22%) and safety (21%). It will therefore be an initial requirement that architects undertake CPD on sustainability and safety. We’ll also remind them of their ongoing responsibility to stay up to date on regulations that are relevant to their area of work.
- Respondents did not support the proposal for a reflective statement (68%), where an architect would need to discuss how their chosen activities have supported their practice and informed their future development. The most common concerns around the requirement of reflective practice were that it was too bureaucratic (32%) and took time away from fee-earning work (18%). The Board considers the reflective statement an essential component of any outcomes-based scheme, and will therefore introduce it, but use a pilot exercise to ensure it is simple to complete.
