What is the role of an architect?

There are many professionals working in the construction industry, each with a particular obligation.

The architect is the only one who works through all the stages of the building project from feasibility, inception all the way to completion, for most building projects.

The architect also works with specialised professionals or consultants for particular areas of the project.

These include the quantity surveyor, structural engineer, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, interior designers, and landscape architects among others.

There are also architectural assistants, technicians, and draughtsmen who help them to complete their drawings. These are usually diploma holders highly skilled in the creation of working drawings.

Robert Kiggundu, the chairman of Architects Registration Board, a body mandated by an act of Parliament, Cap 269, to regulate the practice of Architecture in Uganda, describes an architect technician relationship as being similar to a doctor-nurse relationship.

He said while the nurse may be conversant with treatment and how it is administered, they are not doctors and are not allowed to refer to themselves as such.

“The same applies to technicians or architectural assistants – they are not architects, although many of them may have acquired substantial experience as a result of working on a number of projects. By law, these people are not allowed to be in charge of a building design – and should not be referred to as architects,” Henry Robert Kiggundu, said.

During the third edition of the NBS Housing Baraza, Kiggundu stressed the need for project developers to utilise the services of professionals because this would save them a lot.

Most developers pick their designs from the internet. This is not bad, it actually inspires the architect to come up with what the client wants. However, the work of the architect will be to tailor the design for a tropical climate.

Who is a qualified architect?

A qualified architect is one who should have completed a minimum of five years in a recognised, accredited institution and gained a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Architecture and a minimum of two years internship being mentored by a registered, practising architect before doing professional practice exams for registration.

The graduate architect, who has completed internship and passed the professional practice exams then applies for registration with Architects Registration Board- a body mandated to register architects in Uganda.

Once the individual has been registered, he/she will then be published in the Gazette. That individual is then ready to practice and use the title architect.

Total number of architects on the register are currently 272 and 200 registered and practicing architects 2021.