Quality by Title

Quality by Title: A report on quality measures in professional registration bodies

Heintz, John L. (TU Delft Design & Construction Management)

2018-09-26

Architects in the Netherlands enjoy the exclusive right to use the title “Architect”1. The use of a regulated title communicates to the client that the bearer of the title fulfills the requirements and has the adequate qualifications to provide him or her with the required standard of service and will provide advice and services in the best interest of the client. Regulation of professional title is therefore, a means to protect the public, by providing a legally sanctioned assurance that registered architects, able to use the title, can be relied upon to provide a proper standard of quality of service. This report will examine the practice of title regulation for architects in several countries in and outside Europe, and two comparable professions within the Netherlands. The purpose is to establish what benefits, for the profession as well as for society, the title regulation is intended to deliver, and to examine the different measures incorporated into the regulation of title in order to ensure the quality of the professional services provided by title holders. The report will begin with a review of the scientific literature on professional regulation. It will then proceed to examine the regulatory means used to ensure the quality of professional services by architectural registration bodies in the chose countries and the registration bodies for barristers and structural engineers in the Netherlands. The particular means examined include Continuing Professional Development, Codes of Ethics, Discipline and requirements for Liability Insurance. The report concludes that the means chosen are relatively uniform across the regulatory bodies studied, with two exceptions. Almost all bodies studied require a fixed amount of continuing professional development activity per year, most have codes of ethics and/or extensive regulations written into the law creating the regulatory body. Most exert disciplinary control over their professionals, sanctioning registrants for lack of competence or poor conduct through warnings, fines, suspensions or, in extremis, removal from the register. Finally, most require that their members carry minimum amounts of professional liability insurance. There exists a broad consensus among regulatory bodies over the value and proportionality of these instruments.

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© 2018 John L. Heintz, ,