survey: summary

ACSAC REGIONAL SURVEY: EMERGING THEMES FOR DISCUSSION

  1. Harmonisation of regulatory framework:
    • Member countries have differing levels of regulatory protection, varying from no governing legislation (Guyana) to legislation providing serious penalties, such as prison terms, for breaches (Antigua & Barbuda)
    • Regulatory protection covers different aspects of practice; some jurisdictions protect the function and others protect the name.
    • The legislative process is at different stages of development; the TTIA’s Registration Act dates back to 1992 and the legislative provisions are in the promulgation stage in St. Lucia.
  2. Globalisation & Regionalism:
    • Local architects are often excluded from high-value jobs (usually lender agency-funded national development or infrastructural projects)
    • Local practices may be perceived as having insufficient capacity
    • Local professional involvement may be inhibited by complex and/or inappropriate procurement methods on part of lenders
    • CSME may provide an opportunity for a broader platform for regional cooperation in rising to the challenge of global competition.
  3. The Architect’s Professional Standing
    • The architect’s traditional role as the leader of projects is being challenged
    • This may be in part due to the emergence or strengthening of related professions: Engineers & Quantity Surveyors.
    • This is also due to the increasingly popular trend of using Project Managers (often Engineers) to manage works on site.
    • This suggests the necessity of new ways of working and the need for institutional strengthening of professional bodies.
  4. Perceptions of the Profession & its Members:
    • There is a disparity to how we as architects perceive ourselves and how we understand other perceive us.
    • We describe our value as follows:
      • We provide the total range of services, securing safer structures, better space utilisation, greater aesthetic sensitivity, building regulatory compliance, design for usage, and environmental soundness.
      • We are, therefore, more economical.
      • We provide greater quality assurance – the architect is bound by professional liability.
      • We appreciate “nuances of detail – how components come together”.
      • We respond to the “psychology of the user” – “the building and site have greater harmony”.
      • Our work is imbedded in the prevailing culture – it is appropriate for the context.
      • In short, “buildings built by architects are usually better” – they tend to command higher economic value over time.
    • By contrast, we think that others see us as follows:
      • Non-value added
      • “Dreamers”; banks prefer the quantity surveyor
      • Not financially astute
      • Elitist
      • Serving only the wealthy; they are “exclusive”
      • Expensive
      • Erroneously; there is a true lack of understanding of what we do:
        • There is a lack of appreciation of the differences between an architect and a draughtsman
        • There is a lack of knowledge of what architects do
  5. Views on Continuing Professional Development (CPD):
    • Consensus is emerging that CPD should be mandatory & fee-based.
    • Institutes see it as a means of generating increased member enthusiasm/participation and revenues.
    • Content areas of interest include:
    • Procurement methods, including those of major lender/donor agencies
    • Forms of contract (particularly FIDIC contracts)
    • Business economics
    • Economics of design
    • Building technology, including new products and materials
    • Client relationship management
    • IT – CAD
    • IT within user environments (LAN, WAN etc.)
    • Health, safety & environment – requirements and best practice.
    • Regional taxation regimes (practice issues)
  6. Views on the Role of ACSAC:
    • Clearing house for regional issues
    • Ideal body for responding to the development of the CSME
    • Mechanism for developing common standards & codes; analysing comparative practices and agreeing on the single best approach
    • Delivering CPD
    • Knowledge-sharing
    • Cost-effective means for accessing professional indemnity insurance
    • Lobbying across governments; creation of a critical mass for effective professional representation

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