Architects Act 1997 - Statutory Purpose

Statutory Purpose

The Act embodied previous legislation consequent upon EU directives concerning the mutual recognition of professional qualifications in the member states of the European Union and other EEA States, and certain changes which had been made to the previous legislation after the publication of the Warne Report in 1993.

For the purpose of ascertaining the duties and functions which the Architects Registration Board is required to execute and perform under the Architects Act 1997, the constraints on the Board include the requirements judicially applicable in the name of administrative law.

In May 2006 ministerial responsibility for the ARB was transferred from the ODPM to the DCLG (Department for Communities and Local Government). The DCLG website shows that of "four categories" of "non-departmental public bodies" (NDPBs) the ARB was being classified (at the end of May 2007) as one of two "public corporations", the other one being the Audit Commission, a body of entirely different political and legislative origin, function and capacities, so that the two have practically nothing in common. The website there briefly described the ARB as:

The independent statutory regulator of all UK registered architects which has a dual mandate to protect the consumer and to safeguard the reputation of architects.

That appears to have been more a politically advised than a factual statement, in that it lacks congruity with an ordinary or accurate reading of the legislation enacted by Parliament (see further information below "Accuracy of Government Information").