Registration facts and figures
The Register 2012
(as at 31.12.12)
Architects
34,074 (33,456)
Male - 26,755 (79%) Female - 7,319 (21%)
Architects residing in the UK
30,419
Male - 23,815 (78%) Female - 6,604 (22%)
Location of architects
 |
 |
|
UK |
Overseas |
England |
Scotland |
Wales |
|
Overseas |
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
Northern Ireland
Male – 19,730 (78%)
Female – 5,566 (22%)Year | Deaths | Resignations | Removals for non payment | Reinstatements and readmissions | New admissions | Total as at 31.12.12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002 |
121 |
657 |
722 |
412 |
1,123 |
30,275 (+36) |
2003 |
98 |
610 |
585 |
289 |
1,128 |
30,399 (+124) |
2004 |
81 |
486 |
615 |
351 |
1,115 |
30,563 (+164) |
2005 |
100 |
472 |
638 |
425 |
1,146 |
30,924 (+361) |
2006 |
70 |
438 |
651 |
493 |
1,285 |
31,522 (+598) |
2007 |
74 |
429 |
680 |
502 |
1,391 |
32,221 (+699) |
2008 |
85 |
719 |
747 |
550 |
1,496 |
32,713 (+492) |
2009 |
65 |
768 |
819 |
509 |
1,377 |
32,939 (+226) |
2010 |
78 |
746 |
853 |
542 |
1,261 |
33,065 (+126) |
2011 |
49 |
594 |
792 |
582 |
1,244 |
33,456 (+391) |
2012 |
75 |
664 |
750 |
633 |
1,481 |
34,074 (+618) |
In additional to the above, five people were suspended from the Register for conduct issues, three people were removed and one was restored to the Register.
Amendments to the Register occur on a daily basis, and this table provides a snapshot of the profession as at 31 December 2012.
New admIssions to the Register 2012
(Last year’s figures in brackets)
|
 |
 |
UK applicants |
EU applicants |
Entry through prescribed route |
|
|
|
Rejoining the Register
 |
 |
|
Readmissions |
Reinstatements |
|
|
|
Prescribed examination
135
|
|
 |
Retention fee collection |
 |
Telephone Calls answered |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bank transfer |
2,483 |
18,048 | |||
Cash |
19 |
||||
Direct Debit |
13,539 |
Average waiting time for your call to be answered |
|||
Website |
11,799 |
3.24 seconds | |||
Credit card (by phone) |
1,173 |
||||
Cheques |
4,253 |
||||
Total number of fees collected - 33,266*
*Please note that this figure will differ from the Register due to prepayment and credit balances
Online systems
In last year’s annual report, we outlined the work we had been doing to develop a safe, efficient and convenient online service for joining or rejoining the Register. This aspect of our online systems would complement the existing electronic processes for paying the retention fee and for updating personal details that appear in the online Register of Architects. In particular, we have worked hard to promote the ease and convenience to architects of paying their fee online, and the fact that almost 12,000 architects chose to pay their fee by this method is a measure of success in this area. It also means that the architect receives instant confirmation of receipt of their payment and a pdf certificate of registration, leaving no doubt as to whether their payment has been received.
After extensive testing, the online registration system went live in April 2012. When we were developing the system, our ultimate aim was to provide a service that would drive down timelines and make registration and re-registration as quick, as easy and as accessible as possible in a secure environment. We wanted to offer applicants the flexibility to begin an application, save it if needs be, and then come back to it at to the point in the application where they had left off. Because the system was developed to be fully electronic, applicants would need to have a facility to upload the required supporting documents rather than submitting an electronic application and sending the documents to us by other means, and they would need to be able to make the relevant payment online once their application was complete.
The system we have delivered achieves all of these aims, and this is supported by the feedback we have had from users of the service, which has been very positive and complimentary with some good ideas for improvements and enhancements to the system.
An example of some of the comments we have received is:
“Simple to use”
“Very fast and intuitive”
“Sorry if my feedback can’t help you to improve the system, but I am fully satisfied as it is right now”
“I found the online application easy to use and understand”
“I think that the online application system is very efficient”
“I found the process very user friendly and wasn’t complicated”
“It took approximately 10 minutes to complete”
We consider all suggestions we receive, and we have made amendments to enhance the users’ experience of online registration.
Online registration statistics
The following statistics, from going live in April 2012 through to 31 December 2012, demonstrate the effectiveness of the online registration system.
Main routes to registration
Applications received online
|
|
|
| Applicants 1,024 |
Applicants 429 |
|
 78%Percentage of all applicants applied online |
 76%Percentage of all applicants applied online |
|
| Driving down average processing time from 17 days to 8 days during 2012 |
Driving down average processing time from 27 days to 22 days during 2012 |
Annual retention fee
2012 saw some changes to the retention fee, both in its level and the time period for payment.
Fee increase
It was never going to be an easy decision to increase the fee, particularly when set against the backdrop of an uncertain economic situation for everyone connected with the building and construction industry. By way of background, the fee had remained at the same level - £86 – for both 2009 and 2010. The fee was reduced by £6 for 2011, and this £80 fee was held for 2012. The Board was only by a combination of efficiency savings, running a deficit budget and drawing on its reserves that the Board could achieve this. It acknowledged at the time that it would be unable to continue holding the fee at this level without it impacting on the delivery of ARB’s statutory duties.
When it came to setting the fee at £98.50 for 2013, the Board took a number of factors into account. The level of reserves was falling below the Board’s policy of holding four months’ operating costs, as these had been used to subsidise the retention fee and also to fund ARB’s escalating workload. The Board also needed to ensure that there were sufficient funds for discharging the other elements of ARB’s regulatory activities, for example, maintaining the Register, prescribing qualifications, and regulating use of the title “architect”. In deciding upon the level of increase, the Board was determined to keep the increase to as low a level as possible to avoid placing too much of a financial burden on architects, and even at £98.50, it is still one of the lowest fees paid by any professional.
Revised payment period and deadline
As well as an increase to the fee, the Board agreed some other changes during 2012 both to the timescale for payment to be made and to the cut-off point for payment. Once the changes are fully implemented, all retention fees will be paid by 1 January in the calendar year for which the fee is due.
The Board consulted on the proposed changes and agreed that the payment period should be reduced from 90 days to 60 days. A shorter timeframe for payment means that architects are less likely to overlook paying their fee, and costs are reduced because there would be less of a need to send out reminders to those architects who had not yet paid their fee.
In conjunction with this change, the Board also agreed to change the cut-off point for payment. Historically, the retention fee invoice was posted to architects in late November/early December of the year before the fee fell due. Architects would then have three months in which to pay their fee, with a payment deadline of 31 March. The Board found that this system created uncertainty for members of the public who may be using the Register either to find an architect or to check an architect’s registration because for the first three months of the year, the registered status of those architects who had not paid their fee was technically in limbo.
The Board therefore agreed to change the current system both to ensure clarity of the Register for consumers and a fairer process for all. The Board also agreed that there should be a transitional arrangement for introducing the new system to help lessen the impact of the changes on architects. For the 2013 fee, this meant that the retention fee invoice was sent out in November, with the final payment date being 31 January 2013.
Payment period for the 2014 annual retention fee
Arrangements for paying the 2014 fee are slightly different from those we operated in 2013. The formal invoice will be sent out in October 2013, with a final date for payment falling on 31 December 2013.
We will be sending out information about the new timeline and payment date later in the year, both to help architects ensure that they pay their fee in time and avoid being removed from the Register for non-payment, and to publicise our opening hours during the retention fee collection period.