ARB’s response to the Grenfell Tower fire

The Grenfell Tower fire was a national tragedy, and one of the UK’s worst modern disasters. We are acutely aware of the suffering of all those who have been impacted.

The public expect architects to always act ethically and in the interest of public safety. They must take accountability for their design work and raise without fear any concerns they may have.

Our research into public perceptions of professionalism among architects in the UK showed that the public perceive architects to have high standards because of the extensive training required to join the profession. Of all the technical skills required of architects, safety is the most important for the public as the impact of unsafe behaviour can be catastrophic.

Improvements to the way in which architects are regulated had begun before the Inquiry’s Phase 2 report.

The report recommended that ARB review the changes we have already made to the training and education of architects, to ensure they are sufficient in the light of the Inquiry’s findings.  

We have now done this.

We have also reviewed the evidence presented to the Inquiry and its conclusions to consider whether further reform is needed. The changes we have already made and the work we are undertaking is set out below.

1. Publishing guidelines on Fire and Life Safety Design and updated guidance for accredited learning providers
2. Modernising the initial education and training of architects
3. Introducing mandatory Continuing Professional Development
4. Updating the Architects Code of Conduct and Practice
5. Investigating the involvement of architects to the fire

1. New guidelines on Fire and Life Safety Design and updated guidance for accredited learning providers

In 2018, Dame Judith Hackitt’s report, ‘Building a Safer Future’, recommended that we should address fire safety in design as part of the competence levels required of architects.

In March 2021, we responded to this by publishing new Fire and Life Safety Design guidelines for architects, as well as similar guidance for learning providers.

The guidelines for architects emphasised a number of important areas all architects must consider:

1. Professionalism and ethics: the health and safety of the public must come first; all architects have a professional duty to operate only within the limits of their professional competence; and be willing to challenge the behaviour of others.
2. Managing risk: the importance of risk management principles, including specific legislative requirements around building construction and the role of the architect within the design team.
3. Fire and life safety design: explicit requirements to understand designing for fire and life safety, including understanding the principles of fire and smoke generation; product performance.

The guidance for learning providers described how the key areas above needed to be covered as a requirement for ARB accreditation.

2. Modernising the initial education and training of architects

In 2023 ARB published the conclusions of a three-year period of research, engagement and consultation on the initial education and training of architects. The engagement and consultation processes were also an opportunity to ensure fire and life safety design is fully embedded within the initial education and training of architects.

As a result, we introduced a new set of Competency Outcomes that all students must meet before they can join the Register of Architects. Those outcomes were agreed by our Board following consultation with the public, the profession, academia and across the built environment about what skills, knowledge, behaviours and experience architects will need to meet the challenges of this century. Particular attention was given to the findings of Dame Judith Hackitt’s report in 2018.

The new Outcomes include a sharper focus on safety, with fire and life safety covered within 15 of those Outcomes, including requirements that architects must:

• Know the principles required to ensure that buildings are safe to construct, inhabit, use and maintain, refurbish, re-use and deconstruct.
• Be able to prepare and document designs that demonstrate appropriate consideration of fire safety, life safety and wellbeing and inclusivity of users, the public and building constructors.
• Uphold the architect’s obligations to the health and safety of the public and building users and building constructors.

The Inquiry recommended that ARB review the changes we have already made to the training and education of architects, to ensure they are sufficient in the light of the Inquiry’s findings. We have conducted this review.

Our work included a mapping exercise to assess all the relevant recommendations from the Inquiry Phase 2 Report with ARB’s new Competency Outcomes. We also spoke to external experts who helped draft the competency outcomes. We remain confident that the competency outcomes are a comprehensive basis to provide assurance around the skills, knowledge, behaviours and experience of newly qualified architects.

We have also modernised the way in which we regulate learning providers, so we can better hold them to account for producing competent architects. We have introduced a new set of Standards for Learning Providers, to ensure that students being awarded an accredited qualification will have met all the competence outcomes, that there are sufficient resources in place to deliver a qualification, and that there is an organisational culture which will ensure consistent quality and support students.

3. Introducing mandatory Continuing Professional Development

Competency and continuing professional development were key themes in Dame Judith Hackitt’s report, Building a Safer Future (2018). Subsequently, the Government brought forward legislation within the Building Safety Act 2022 to enable ARB to require continuing professional development (CPD) on a statutory basis.

We launched our new CPD scheme in January 2024 after extensive policy development and public consultation, and in order to renew their registration at the end of the year, architects must confirm that they have carried out CPD.

Our scheme is designed to be flexible and accessible. It is also outcomes focused, and activities based. The aim is to help all architects to maintain and develop their professional competence throughout their careers and give assurance to the public and those who use the services of architects.

As part of the scheme, we decided to include the right to mandate particular topics of architectural practice that must be covered by an architect’s CPD activities. One of the two mandatory topics for both 2024 and 2025 is fire and life safety design (the other being environmental sustainability). This underscores our commitment to fostering a culture of ongoing competence and vigilance within the profession.

We have worked closely with the Royal Institute of British Architects and others to encourage early compliance with the scheme, and will continue to work with the professional bodies for architects of all devolved nations to ensure that the technical competence requirements of the profession, particularly in respect of fire and life safety design, are met reliably and consistently.

4. Updating the Architects Code of Conduct and Practice

The Inquiry underscored some of the key principles of professionalism, such as recognising the boundaries of one’s level of competence, and the paramount importance of safety. It also reinforced the importance of ethical behaviour and a culture that supports good decision making across the built environment sector.

We have recently consulted on a revised Code of Conduct for architects. This consultation closed in December 2024 and demonstrated support for the updated Code. The updated Code will now be finalised and implemented in summer 2025. It will:

1. Reinforce the duty of architects to prioritise the public interest in all aspects of their work.
2. Include explicit provisions on ethical behaviour and accountability.
3. Be underpinned by guidance which support architects in making decisions that align with societal and regulatory expectations, particularly in respect of safety.

It will also be further supported by a suite of guidance on how architects can meet the Standards in specific situations and contexts. These topics will include guidance on building safety, and how and when architects should raise concerns about poor or unsafe practices.

There is existing guidance on fire and life safety design and, as part of this work, we will review it to ensure it remains current and reflects the key findings from the Inquiry.

5. Investigating the involvement of architects to the fire

We have been monitoring the Grenfell Tower Inquiry closely since it was established, but we were obliged to wait until the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase Two Report was published before undertaking any formal investigative activities.

Following the publication of the report, formal investigations have commenced into whether any architects involved in the refurbishment might be guilty of a disciplinary offence under the Architects Code.

The Grenfell Tower fire was a national tragedy and is rightly considered one of the UK’s worst modern disasters, and we are sensitive to the strong public interest of taking appropriate action without delay. The investigations must be conducted properly if they are to be effective, and can be complex, particularly when they take place in the background of potential criminal proceedings which must not be prejudiced.

It is ARB’s policy to not comment on the detail of investigations until or unless they reach a public hearing of our Professional Conduct Committee, so that the Committee can make an independent decision based on the evidence available. Information regarding forthcoming hearings is published to our website here.