The fee
We are pleased to announce that the annual retention fee for 2020 will remain at £111.
We aim to deliver our statutory duties without placing undue financial pressure on the profession and wherever possible use our reserves to respond to unexpected demands in order to avoid frequent fluctuations to the fee. The level of the fee is set by our Board who make every effort to balance the impact on the profession with our requirement to deliver our statutory responsibilities.
Why we have it
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. This is on cost recovery basis only, and on a ‘user pays’ basis so that only those that use these services are charged for them. Money raised from misuse of title and architect disciplinary fines are paid to the HM Treasury, not to us.
How it will be used
The fee enables us to protect the public and help maintain standards, and therefore trust, in the profession by:
- Maintaining the Architects Register
- Setting the UK standards required to enter the Register
- Ensuring only appropriate applicants from overseas join the Register
- Setting and enforcing a Code for architects
- Taking action against those who call themselves an architect illegally
More specifically, it funds activities like our upcoming preliminary work exploring the question of what makes a competent architect in preparation for a routes to registration review. It will also enable us to engage with you and other stakeholders to gain insights that inform future strategy as well as expand out proactive action to protect the title.
