Renewing your registration

The retention fee is £225 and must be paid using your MyARB profile, using credit/debit card, or ApplePay or GooglePay.

No. We don’t accept payment of the retention fee in instalments. The Architects Act 1997 requires that we take one fee, annually.

No. There is no reduced fee if you are retired. If you are retired, you do not need to maintain your registration. You do not need to be on the Register to call yourself an architect in social situations, but you must be on the Register if you are using the title ‘architect in business or practice. If you choose to remain registered, you must complete the professional declarations and pay the full retention fee. You can find out more about the CPD you must do here.

If you are on parental leave it is up to you whether you continue your registration. ARB operates a Register of those who are practising. There are no reduced fees for architects on parental leave. If you are on statutory family leave, you can find out more about your CPD obligations here.

ARB is not VAT registered and our fees do not include VAT.

Your annual retention fee is tax deductible, you will need to contact HMRC direct. For more information, please go to https://arb.org.uk/taxrelief/

If you are a UK taxpayer, you can claim tax relief on your annual registration fees. It is not a process we are able to undertake for you, but HMRC.

We issue a Retention Fee request notice by email at the end of October each year. As soon you have paid your fee online, a receipt will be sent to your personal email address. To obtain an additional copy of the receipt you can log into your MyARB portal and go to ‘My Safekeeping Documents’ in the left hand menu. Click on the drop down arrow to the right of the transaction line to email the receipt to your personal email.

Regarding your CPD declaration, you will be asked to confirm that you have completed your CPD and if you have saved it on MyARB or with RIBA.

• If you are a RIBA member and choosing to record your CPD with RIBA you will only have to upload your RIBA record to MyARB if you are selected for annual review. You must still sign a declaration on MyARB to confirm you have completed your CPD for 2024.
• Please note we cannot accept any other type of CPD record from other CPD providers. If you are not a RIBA member choosing to record your CPD with RIBA, then you must record your CPD through MyARB.
• CPD certificates or attendance certificates will not be accepted as evidence of participation in CPD. Please do not upload any to MyARB.
• If you are new to the Register this year, you do not need to submit a CPD record but you must still make your declarations, so you must still log on.
• If you have been unable to complete your CPD, you can apply for a deferment. This must be done as part of the retention process, so you must still log on.

For guidance and specific FAQs on the CPD scheme please see this page. If you have any questions about CPD, please email CPD@arb.org.uk

You must pay your fee at the time of making your declaration. If your deferral is rejected, you will still have time to record the CPD that you do in 2025. We will email you to advise you how you can do this, but if you do not comply and are formally removed from the Register, the retention fee is not refundable.

However, if you applied to be reinstated to the Register in 2026, you will pay additional administrative fees but you will not be required to pay the retention fee again.

CPD compliance provides assurance to the public that architects are developing their skills, and are safe to practise.  All architects must make an honest declaration when they pay their fee. We won’t be able to process your retention fee without it.   The Code of Conduct requires architects to be honest; anyone who makes an incorrect or misleading statement may be subject to disciplinary proceedings.

In those circumstances, any retention fee would not be refunded.

Architects can choose to leave the register at any point in the year, but the retention fee is non-refundable.

No. We don’t accept payment by direct debit, because you need to make a personal declaration at the time of payment.

As soon you have paid your fee online, a Registration Certificate will be sent to your personal email address. To obtain an additional copy of the Registration Certificate, you can log into your MyARB portal and go to ‘My Safekeeping Documents’ in the left hand menu.

Click on the drop down arrow to the right of the relevant certificate to email this to your personal email. We do not print and send any documents in the post.

We ask you to ensure your EDI data is checked and updated so we can accurately describe the make up of the Register and reflect any requirements in Board work or Accreditation processes. These are not made public, nor are they made available to ARB team members.

For those who do not wish to share information, there are options for ‘Prefer not to say’.

Yes. If you are a UK taxpayer, you can claim tax relief on your annual registration fees. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) allow individuals to claim tax relief on professional subscriptions or fees which have to be paid to carry out a job. ARB annual retention fee payments are included in this category. You can only claim tax relief on your annual retention fees via the HMRC. It is not a process we are able to undertake for you. Non-UK taxpayers are not eligible for tax relief.

If you don’t fill in a personal tax return yourself, you can get tax relief by contacting the HMRC via:

• Letter

• Phone

See the How to get allowances and reliefs on the HMRC website for full details of each method. If you fill in a personal tax return, you can claim for tax relief on the employment page of the return. Please see the HMRC website for details of the time limits for receiving tax relief on payments in previous years.

No. The declarations relate to personal circumstances and your CPD status. Others will not be able to answer on your behalf. The Registration Certificate and/or receipt issued at the time of payment may be used to claim fees back from employers, if appropriate. We will not accept payments from employers made to us outside of MyARB. They will be refunded.

However, you may use the payment card of your choice to pay your fee online (business or personal).

Unfortunately, we cannot reduce the retention fee that you must pay to remain registered.

You could contact the Architect Benevolent Society to understand what support, if any, they can offer: Home – Architects Benevolent Society.

If you do not make the declaration and payment by the 31 December 2025, you will be automatically removed from the Register, and no longer legally able to use the title of ‘architect’. You will need to apply to re-join the Register and pay the relevant re-joining fees:

https://arb.org.uk/architect-information/applying-for-registration-for-the-first-time/fees/.

Yes, as a registered architect you already have a profile on MyARB. Without a profile on MyARB, you cannot pay your registration fee.

If you left the Register prior to September 2023 you will need to contact us at info@arb.org.uk to receive your login details. Please include your full name, and your registration number so we can identify you. Please do not attempt to set up a duplicate MyARB profile. If you are in doubt, please email us on info@arb.org.uk

If you have already signed up to the portal, you access this here.

We require a ‘registration’ contact address and email for regulatory communications and a ‘business’ address for the online Register. Your registration contact details remain private.

The Architects Act 1997 requires us to record a business address for every registered architect, and for that information to be publicly available on the Register. The address you give for your business address should be the address from which you conduct the majority of your business.  It can be a home address if you work from home, or it can be a PO Box. The address can be partially hidden, but it must show the town or city and the first part of the postcode, for the purpose of public protection and ease of identification of those who are registered. You can find out more about how to have your business address concealed here.

If you are a registered architect you must login to MyARB. If you are retired, you may not need to continue to be registered. You do not need to be on the Register to call yourself an architect in social situations, but you must be on the Register if you are using the title ‘architect in business or practice. To find out more about resigning from the register, visit this page.

We recognise that not everyone may be able to use the portal due to specific circumstances. If you have a disability or other condition that makes it difficult for you to use the portal, you may be eligible for a ‘reasonable adjustment.’ This adjustment could allow you to manage and record your CPD activities manually instead of using the online system.

If you believe you need a reasonable adjustment, it’s important to reach out to us directly. Please contact us at info@arb.org.uk to discuss your situation.

Our team will guide you through the process of requesting an adjustment and provide you with the necessary support and information on how to proceed.

For more information on reasonable adjustments, including eligibility criteria and how we consider requests, please refer to our guidance here.

Whilst the Architects Act 1997 requires you to provide a business address for the public Register, you can request that this information is partially concealed.

If you make this request, only your name, registration number and the country your business is located in will be displayed on the Register. E.g. John Smith, France.

All other information such as practice name or employer, street location or email/telephone details will not be displayed, although we need them for contacting you for regulatory purposes.

This is to recognise that some architects may have reasons for not wanting their exact location to be known. This partial concealment approach allows us to balance this need, with the public requirement to correctly identify architects on the Register.

It does mean, however, that those who select that will not be able to be located using the “find an architect” search feature, and may miss out on potential clients who are looking for architects in their area.

If you wish to partially conceal your details, please contact us at the email address below, including your registration number, name, your current address and the date that you wish the concealed address to be effective.

No, you must record your CPD either directly on MyARB, or with RIBA unless you have an agreed ‘reasonable adjustment’ in place.

You can find more information for the CPD scheme here.