Why choose a RIBA Chartered Practice?

Posted by Hunter Dunning on 20th March 2020 -

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We’ve recently spoken with Scenario Architecture, a multi-award-winning RIBA Chartered practice based in North London, and we would like to shed some light on why choosing a RIBA Chartered practice is beneficial and how it can also benefit employees.

First things first, a RIBA Architectural Practice is an accredited practice that meets the strict criteria of the Royal Institution of British Architects. RIBA will only support practices who can demonstrate effective business performance and those who commit to excellence in the industry and therefore you know that the firm’s standards have to be high.

RIBA’S ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

At least one full-time principals (Director or Partner) must be a RIBA Chartered Member
At least one in eight of the staff members must be a RIBA Chartered Member and all architectural work must be supervised by a RIBA Chartered Member
The practice must commit to operating policies regarding best practice in: Employment, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion; Health and Safety; Quality Management and Environmental Management. (2)

WHY CHOOSE A RIBA CHARTERED ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE?

When looking to appoint an Architect to work on your dream home you have many factors to think about, one of those is what the potential practice has to offer and their background. So, why choose a RIBA Architectural Practice?

Scenario Architecture have recently shared their expert advice. Here’s a snippet “By selecting a RIBA architectural practice for your project, you will have total peace of mind. They comply with all kinds of strict criteria, including that of covering insurance, health and safety and quality management systems. Ideally, you should select a RIBA practice that has experience with the kind of project you are looking to begin. If you can find a RIBA practice that suits your requirements in terms of the type of project you’re looking to create, then you know you’ve found ‘the one’.

To help you figure this out, take a look at the amount of projects they have built that are similar to the one you would like to start, as well as the contacts that they have with the local planning department, and their track record of approvals. You can also ask for references to see how responsive they were to changes, how their team communicated, and how well they managed the budget they were given.

By having an initial consultation, you should be able to gather all of the information you need and figure out whether a practice is actually right for you. There are websites you can use that can help you to choose from the 3,500 RIBA chartered practices if you want more choice.”

You can read Scenario Architecture’s full blog post about choosing a RIBA Chartered practice here.

WHY WORK FOR A RIBA CHARTERED PRACTICE?

As an Architect looking to further your career, a RIBA Chartered practice could be highly beneficial to you. Of course there are pros and cons to every company but with a RIBA Chartered practice you can feel assured that you will be looked after and work on some of the highest standard projects going. Here’s some of our top reasons to work for a RIBA Chartered practice.

1.) JOB SECURITY

Although no job is bullet proof and redundancies can happen anywhere, working for a RIBA chartered practice could give you some reassurance in your role. RIBA send business to their accredited practice’s with client referrals and ‘Find an Architect’ services, meaning the risk of redundancy should be lower.

2.) COMPANY PROMOTIONS BY RIBA

RIBA often promote their practices at key exhibitions as well as consumer and trade shows such as; Grand Designs Live, MIPIM, UK Construction Week, Homebuilding & Renovating and Vision (and that’s just to name a few of the promotional benefits). Having the company you work for in the limelight with a good reputation is always going to serve you well as an employee.

3.) FUTURE EMPLOYMENT

Although it may not be on your priority list at the moment, having a RIBA Chartered practice on your CV will score you brownie points if you move on in your career. Reputable names on your CV will get you noticed much quicker than other candidates and some employers even request that their new staff member has specifically come from a RIBA Chartered practice.

4.) HEALTH & SAFETY IN PRACTICE

RIBA Chartered Practices are required to operate health and safety risk management in their project work. If a practice has over 5 staff members then a person has to be nominated and qualified to be responsible for the health and safety of the staff, the maintenance of the health and safety policies and the communication of it to all staff members. This may sound like a small benefit but your wellbeing at work really does matter for both your physical and mental health.

5.) STUDYING SUPPORT

Many RIBA Chartered practices employ students working towards their Part 3 qualification and have certain regulations to abide be, meaning study leave and lots of support is there at the ready. This gives an aspiring Architect the right opportunities and scope to progress in their studies and career.

WHAT DO SCENARIO ARCHITECTURE SAY?

Ran Ankory, Director of Scenario Architecture says: “Scenario is a RIBA chartered practice, reflecting our commitment to delivering the highest quality of professional services, ethical and best practice standards.

As a chartered practise, we have access to the RIBA 24/7 business helpline which we find extremely useful and use to obtain expert advice whenever we feel that it is required.” If you’re looking for successful London Architectsto work with, Scenario Architecture’s listing with the RIBA can be found following this link.

Here’s some project examples of RIBA Chartered practice, Scenario Architecture.