Worcester Magistrates find firm guilty of title abuse

Worcester Magistrates find firm guilty of title abuse (24/05/2006)

On 10 May 2006 at Worcester Magistrates Court, Rubicon Design Ltmited was found guilty of breaching Section 20 of the Architects Act. The firm pleaded guilty to the offence, and were fined £1,500. The Magistrates further ordered Rubicon to pay costs of £1,000.

A spokesperson for ARB commented that:

“This was a blatant misuse of title by Rubicon. They wrongly advertised themselves as architects, using the RIBA logo on their signage. This was a serious breach of the Architects Act, and misled consumers into believing they were dealing with properly trained and fully qualified registered architects. ARB regards this behaviour as wholly unacceptable, and will continue to come down hard on firms or individuals who abuse the public trust in this way.”

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Notes for Editors

ARB is the statutory body established by Parliament under the Architects Act 1997 to regulate the UK architects’ profession in the public interest. The Act requires ARB (inter alia) to:

• Maintain the Register of Architects (Section 3)

• Prescribe qualifications for entry to the Register of Architects (Section 4)

• Deal with competence to practise (Section 9)

• Issue a Code which lays down standards of professional conduct and practice (Section 13)

• Regulate use of the title “architect” and prosecute those who use it fraudulently (Section 20)

ARB has a Board of 15 members, seven of whom are architects elected by the profession. The remaining eight are members of the public appointed by the Privy Council to represent the interests of consumers and users of architectural services.