29 Aug 2024

The Ministry of Transport and Public Works has taken a crucial step towards modernising regulation of the architectural profession in Botswana.

To that effect, the Architects’ Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was presented in Parliament on Monday, which aimed at updating and expanding the regulation of the architectural profession in the country.

Presenting the Bill on behalf of transport and public works minister, Assistant Minister for State President, Honourable Boitumelo Gofhamodimo said regulation of professionals in the field of architecture was governed by the Architects Registration Act.

She said the profession had evolved with new subfields emerging that were not adequately regulated under the existing Act.

“The impact of the profession has far reaching implications on the country as a whole as such there is a need to ensure that only duly qualified professionals are allowed to operate in the industry,” she said.

Additionally, she said calls had been made by the professionals in the unregulated subfields in the industry for proper regulation of the subfields.

She said the current Act provided for a registration council which was not empowered to regulate professionals outside the scope provided for in the Act.

To address such concerns, she said the Bill proposed a comprehensive framework designed to regulate all professionals within the architectural field.

She further stated that a holistic review of the Act would be undertaken when the council had been reconstituted through the inclusion of the sub cadres per the draft Bill.

Outlining some of the changes proposed in the Bill, she said would be changing title of the Act to reflect all the cadres considered under the architectural profession.

She said the Bill also encompassed the change of the name of the council to architectural professionals’ council to ensure the representation of all cadres within the council.

The Bill also included the expanded list of architectural professionals to include the interior architects, landscape architects, interior designers, urban designers as well as the related technologists and candidates sub cadres under each sun profession.

The other part of the Bill encompassed changes made to ensure collaboration between the council and the relevant accrediting authority for architectural professionals. “This is also to enable professionals to be absorbed into the local market,” she said.

She also highlighted that the other part of the Bill encompassed changes made to provide for the necessary transitional arrangements in terms of time, for those who had not registered, to do so within six months, without any penalties being incurred. ENDS