Towards restoring trust in architecture

What are the qualifications of an architect? Article 1 of the Architects and Building Engineers Act states, "The purpose of this Act is to determine the qualifications of engineers who design buildings and Construction Supervision, to ensure the appropriateness of their work, and to contribute to the improvement of the quality of buildings." Article 2-2 states, "Architects must always maintain their dignity, be familiar with the laws and regulations related to their work, and perform their work fairly and honestly so as to contribute to the improvement of the quality of buildings." In order to restore trust in architecture, the Building Standards Act and the Architects and Building Engineers Act have been amended and reviewed, and various efforts have been made, such as thorough regular training for architects working in architectural firms and the creation of a system for explaining important matters. This has taken a huge amount of time and energy.

This case is not a matter of legal punishment because the perpetrator is not an architect. The Architects Act allows architects to have a "monopoly" over comprehensive Architectural Design and Construction Supervision, and this was an abuse of this right. This is a major blow to the credibility and trust in "architectural qualifications." In order to dispel this distrust, we who are involved in architecture are called upon to make greater efforts than ever before.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism issued a "Technical Advice on preventing impersonation of architects by using forged copies of licenses and ensuring that affiliated architects attend regular training", requesting all architectural firms to take strict measures such as checking the original licenses of their affiliated architects, encouraging them to attend regular training, and filing charges when unregistered firms are discovered.

Currently, there are approximately one million architects in Japan, of which approximately 300,000 are first-class architects. Of these, it is said that only about 20% are actually "exclusively involved in design and Construction Supervision."

In this situation, the Japan Federation of Architects and Building Engineers (JFBA) launched the "Specialist Architect System" and the Japan Institute of Architects (JIA) launched the "Registered Architect System." After a trial period, the systems were opened up and are still in use today. Both "architectural qualification systems" are aimed at certifying the knowledge, ability, and ethics of individuals as professionals and disclosing information related to competency assurance from the perspective of protecting the public interest, including consumer protection, so that people can trust their work to design professionals. The certification of both qualifications is reviewed and registered by the Examination Council based on years of work experience, practical achievements in a supervisory role in design and Construction Supervision, and continuing education (CPD) achievements. Although the registration validity period differs between 3 and 5 years, continuing education (CPD unit completion certification) is mandatory for renewal, and registration cannot be renewed unless the person passes the renewal examination. In addition, information on registered individuals is made public by each organization. In this way, Architectural Design professionals who are registered under this qualification system are proving that they have devoted themselves to daily study and possess knowledge, ability, and ethics. However, unfortunately, this qualification system has not yet been established or recognized in society.

Last fall (2011), the UIA (International Union of Architects) Congress was held in Tokyo. Many architects, architectural engineers, and students from overseas participated, but participation from the general public was lackluster. It was a great opportunity to let people know about architects and architectural professionals, but it also reminded us that their existence and roles are still not well known or understood.

It goes without saying that we, as people involved in Architectural Design, must make efforts to steadily promote and establish these qualification systems as mechanisms that allow people to easily verify that they are trustworthy Architectural Design professionals in various settings, such as urban development and Architectural Design design.