ARBV Update

Edition 7, December 2021

Maintaining up-to-date employment, address and Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) information

It is important to keep your personal and professional information updated. The new ARBV Portal has allowed for increased functionality, enabling registrants to update their personal information and insurance information themselves.

The portal has the capability to connect employees to their employer, including where the employer is an approved company or partnership. This allows for ease when the company is paying annual fees for their employees and keeping a record of those employees covered under their PII. Individual architects who are sole traders are able to upload their own PII.

The portal also allows for registrants to submit applications to change their class of registration, as well as revoke a suspension. These are important capabilities as the Architects Regulations 2015 require registrants to provide details of any changes to their registration to the ARBV within 14 days.

For more information on accessing the portal, see Manage Your Registration.

We have moved!

While ARBV staff have been working exclusively remotely in 2021, this is set to change in 2022 when we move into our new office located in the CBD.

Our new office location is:

Level 10, 533 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne.

Our new office offers a more practical layout for carrying out the ARBV’s operations, ensuring appropriate facilities for staff and those attending examination interviews, hearings, and other business. We will let you know when the new office is physically open to the public. Please be aware that coronavirus COVID-19 safety measures will be in place upon reopening.

ARBV will be closed for the holiday period from 29 to 31 December, reopening remotely Tuesday, 4 January 2022.

Expressions of interest for examiners to the APE examiner panel

We are looking for examiners to join the ARBV examiner panel. Multiple roles are available, and the successful examiners will join a panel of examiners used for the APE Part 3 interviews.

This is an excellent opportunity to play an important role in assessing APE candidates applying to be registered as architects to ensure they demonstrate an adequate knowledge and understanding of the practice of architecture and a capacity to exercise professional skill.

Applicants for the role of ARBV Examiner will be assessed based on selection criteria, followed by an interview conducted by a panel.

The selection criteria are:

Current registration as a practising architect
Minimum 5 years post-registration experience
An understanding of the Architects Registration Board of Victoria
Knowledge of the National Standard of Competency for Architects (NSCA)
An understanding of the contemporary architectural practice environment
Experience in the supervision and mentoring of graduates of architecture and early-career architects
Experience in a range of project types, e.g., complex projects, residential etc.

If you are interested in this role, please send an email to registrar@arbv.vic.gov.au and we will provide you with further details.

AACA launches the 2021 NSCA Explanatory Notes

The 2021 NSCA Explanatory Notes provides a comprehensive practical guide about how to meet the competencies set out in National Standard of Competency for Architects (NSCA).

This new resource follows the release in July 2021 of the new NSCA, which places a greater focus on more meaningful engagement with First Nations Peoples and sustainable practice. The new and updated competencies result from extensive consultation.

The Explanatory Notes provide an unprecedented level of practical support in meeting these competencies. This is the first time the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia (AACA) has produced a resource of this nature that delivers such a value add to the profession. It will make a substantial difference to the comprehension and understanding for graduates, academics, registrants and practicing architects of these core components of the 2021 NSCA.

A copy of the 2021 NSCA Explanatory Notes is available via the AACA website.

Automatic Mutual Recognition (AMR) update

The Automatic Mutual Recognition (AMR) scheme allows individuals to use their home state occupational registration to work in participating Australian states and territories, without applying for registration or paying fees in the host state.

AMR for architects is coming into effect in Victoria from 1 January 2022. Interstate architects who wish to practise in Victoria under AMR must be eligible to use AMR and must complete a Notice of Intention to Practise and satisfy public protection requirements before they commence practising. Information about AMR and FAQs are available on our website.

Registrants seeking to use AMR in other Australian jurisdictions will need to confirm with the relevant jurisdiction if AMR is available to them.

Case study: Resolution of disputes

The ARBV receives complaints from the general public in order to “regulate the professional conduct of architects”. Its complaints procedure establishes a disciplinary process that may involve written advice being given to an architect or impose a determination on the architect, but it does not arbitrate in disputes between clients and architects. If disputes concerning restitution or the remedy of defects arise, they cannot be resolved by the ARBV.

While the ARBV does not provide a dispute resolution process, issues in dispute referred to in complaints received by the ARBV are sometimes resolved by the parties themselves during the complaints process. At times, the initiation of a complaint with the ARBV refocuses the parties’ perceptions of events. Some complainants and architects re-think the outcomes they desire. In a small number of matters, for example where parties have differing understanding of the scope of the brief or there are minor issues about payments, some parties are able to resolve their disputes. If issues in dispute are resolved between the parties and the complaint does not raise any public interest or professional conduct issues, the complaint against the architect may be able to be finalised by the ARBV.

Not all matters, however, are suitable for finalisation without regulatory intervention. In some cases, the ARBV may continue to investigate a matter and provide written advice to the architect or refer the matter to the Architects Tribunal for disciplinary proceedings. Even if a complainant has withdrawn a complaint, that complainant may still be required to provide evidence in an Architects Tribunal inquiry e.g., the Architects Tribunal may require the complainant to give evidence about allegations relating to incompetence, breaches of professional standards, fraud and other grounds set out in section 32 of the Architects Act 1991. The Architects Tribunal determinations aim to protect the public and general consumer interests.