The retention fee funds the delivery of our statutory functions. At September’s Board meeting, the Board decided the retention fee for 2019 should be increased from £107 to £111. This is the first fee increase since 2015.

The fee is set by our Board who take into consideration our statutory responsibilities, 3 Year Strategic Plan and Business Plan as well as ARB’s other financial commitments when making their decision. The level of the fee is considered very carefully and every effort is made to balance the impact on the profession and our requirement to deliver our statutory responsibilities under the Architects Act.

There are a number of exceptional capacity demands ahead for ARB, including the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, exploration of Mutual Recognition Agreements, responding to the Hackitt Review and system changes following ongoing and planned reviews of policies and procedures. However, in deciding the fee for 2019 the Board chose not to factor speculative costs in but to review budgetary impact as it develops.

The fee is our main source of income for funding our regulatory activities. We are able to charge for a small number of other activities, including the Prescribed Examination and applications to join and re-join the Register, which we currently do on a ‘users pay’/cost recovery basis only. Money raised from misuse of title and architect disciplinary fines are paid to the HM Treasury, not ARB. In the area of title regulation we can only attempt to recover legal costs, a small fraction of the total expenditure of action, which is not always possible to recover from the defendant.

The retention fee has been increased for 2019 as a result of two factors. A portion is to cover part of the costs of developing our work regulating the use of the title and raising awareness of the Register. We know this is an area of work important to the profession. Despite our caseload increasing by 20% in the last five years misuse of title remains an area of concern. This funding will enable us to grow our capacity to develop our relationships with partners and increase proactive action in this area.

Another portion covers the additional funds required in 2018 for unanticipated work demands including responding to Hackitt Review recommendations, planning and preparation for our exit from the EU and high level explorations of Mutual Recognition Agreements. It will ensure we have sufficient funds to operate and provide financial security as we respond to work demands.

Paying the fee to remain on the Register enables you to call yourself an architect and use your regulated status as a market edge over your unregistered and unregulated competitors. As well as maintaining the Register, an important part of our work is to set and maintain standards, and therefore trust, in the profession. This is achieved through our work prescribing UK qualifications as well as issuing and enforcing the Architects Code.

We also work to raise the profile of the Register to give clients and potential clients a valuable safeguard when looking for a genuine professional to help them with their building project. Downloading the ARB logo to highlight your registered status and Register entry is a great way to build on this work. Knowing there is an independent regulator gives consumers confidence, even if they never need us, and could make the difference between securing a contract and a lost business opportunity.

At the end of October you will receive a hard copy statutory payment notice from us, which we are required to send to all architects at their registered address. If you have already paid your fee by the date this notice goes out it will show a balance due of £0.00 which means you have nothing further to pay. We will also send reminder emails and text messages to those of you who have provided email addresses and mobile telephone numbers.

It is important that we hold up to date details for you so please inform us immediately if your name, address, contact details or account details have changed. You can update your details quickly and easily yourself through the Registrant Services website. Alternatively, you can contact us and let us know what details you’d like to change.

For more information about the retention fee, view our dedicated FAQs here.