Registration And Practice Committee

Arch. Mbabazi Verna Mwinganisa Busharizi

Chairperson

Arch. Kutosi Ivan Martin

Member

Arch. Bazira Gloria

Member

Arch. Muahirwe Edgar

Member

Members of the Registration & Practice (R/P) Committee

 Mandate of the Registration & Practice (R/P) Committee

The Registration and Practice Committee has oversight responsibilities for all registrants and practitioners. The Committee is reports to the Board with the following duties and responsibilities:

a)      Considering and deciding on applications for registration in accordance with the Act, regulation, by- laws and resolutions.

b)      Supervising the registrar to ensure the accuracy of the Register of architects.

c)       Consider and dispose of appeals concerning registration of applicants or potential registrants.

d)      Propose regulations/by-laws to the Board for the better implementation of the provisions of the Act with regard to registration and practice.

e)      Setting standards for conduct and ethics,

f)        Setting standards of professional proficiency, and continuing professional development (CPD);

 Report on Activities of the Registration and Practice Committee 2019

 Newly Registered Architects 2019

In 2019, the Board approved and the Registrar entered the following into the Register of Architects with the respective registration numbers;

The Board congratulates all the newly registered architects.

Practicing Architects 2018 vs 2019

 Registered Architects are required to subscribe for practice every year and the statistics of those who subscribed are listed as follows;

The Board, through requests from the respective members, has endeavoured to engage with the regulators of Kenya and Rwanda to ensure that Ugandans get registered in their jurisdictions in accordance with the Mutual Recognition Agreement and EAC requirements. Constant communication is maintained with the Registrar BORAQ Kenya, and of Rwanda Institute of Architects (RIA) to get Ugandan issues responded to promptly. A regulator’s meeting was held in Dar es salaam Tanzania in July 2017, the Board chairperson was present at the annual East Africa of institute of Architects Council Meeting and AGM to promote more vibrant cross border registrations, but additionally to improve the reporting of complaints from members who cross borders to practice, or complaints from the regulatory bodies about flouting of the local laws.

 Engagements With Local Authorities

In fulfilment of the Board’s mandate to regulate and maintain the standard of architecture in the country, the committee prepared and implemented a schedule of visits to various local authorities. The Committee visited nine Councils which include; KCCA, Kira, Wakiso, Nansana, Entebbe, Makindye-Ssabagaabo, Njeru, Jinja and Mukono.

The purpose of these visits was to fight the vice of those holding out as architects (‘stampers’), to create awareness by the public about the presence of the board, through their own local authorities, to sensitise the authorities themselves on the roles of the board, the relevance of the use of a registered Architect in the development and construction of buildings, and legal procedures for notification of submitted return forms. These visits are one way to nurture working relationships with the local authorities across the country.

 As a result of the committee’s engagements with local authorities, the Board, in November 2017 hosted a successful one day CPD for the fraternity event titled Regulatory Compliance For Development of the Built Environment.

 The Board has also participated vibrantly with the Uganda Society of Architects in CPD events for the fraternity, by providing the regulatory perspective on the issues, specifically to do with review of the PPDA Act and implementation of the Building Control Act.

 Compliance Issues

In order to assess and promote maintenance of practice standards, the Technical Inspector on a regular basis has visited construction sites to ensure that Architects are complying with the obligations to their clients and with the law. The inspector has faced some severe challenges while in the field, the most severe one being resistance from construction managers in granting access the sites, or detention of the inspector by the site managers. While the responsible architects were contacted to enable access the sites, some did assist and others did not respond.

 The Board encourages members to always intervene whenever the  Technical Inspector seeks for assistance, especially in cases where access to a site has been denied.

Practice notes

The Board has developed Practice Notes to guide the members in practice. These notes arise from time to time out of resolutions of the Board regarding practice issues. These notes can be found on the ARB website in the Downloads section.

Going Forward

The Practice Committee should continue opening up engagements with local authorities. This year, one architect was formally adopted to sit on the Physical Planning Committee of Kira. Other authorities with architects already are KCCA, Jinja, Njeru only and this endeavour should be improved going forward.