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Following the Professional Standards team’s preliminary work on a complaint, it is referred to an Investigations Panel to consider.
The role of the Investigations Panel is to look at whether there are issues of unacceptable professional conduct or serious professional incompetence that are sufficiently serious for the architect to have a case to answer at a Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) hearing.
Guidance notes here set out how the Investigations Panel considers complaints.
The Investigations Panel is drawn from an Investigations Pool made up of nine people, a mix of architects and members of the public. A panel of three people from the Investigations Pool will be selected to consider each complaint. Of the three people that consider a complaint, one is an architect and the remaining two are members of the public. Where necessary, for example if a case is complex or technical, the panel can ask one of the Board’s solicitors or architect inquirers to assist them with their investigation.
After considering the complaint, the Investigations Panel will either:
- dismiss the complaint; or
- give the architect advice about their future conduct; or
- refer the complaint to the PCC.
The Investigations Rules set out the terms of reference and procedures to be followed by the Investigations Pool. The Investigations Rules were most recently updated in April 2022.
- The 2019 Investigations Rules apply in any complaint received by ARB before 1st April 2022.
- The 2022 Investigations Rules apply in any complaint received on or after 1st April 2022.
