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USEFUL INFORMAT ION
6
PROFESSIONAL ACCREDITATION
IN BUILDING CONSERVATION
LUCY STEWART
P
ROFESSIONAL TRAINING
in building
conservation benefits both professionals
and clients and is critical to the success
of many projects. Using this training
to become accredited in conservation
is key to the career progression of most
conservation professionals. But what exactly
is accreditation, how is it monitored, and why
is it so highly valued in the heritage world?
More importantly for some, how does one
set about building on professional training to
become accredited as a building conservation
specialist and then maintaining this level of
professional standing for years to come?
This article explains briefly how
conservation accreditation has developed, and
gives pointers and encouragement to those
hoping to become registered in their field,
while giving those already accredited ideas for
continuing their training.
The perspective here is that of an
architect. However, strong similarities exist
between all accreditation bodies across the
various building professions.
WHAT IS ACCREDITATION AND
HOW DOES IT WORK?
There are many different accreditation bodies
and professional membership organisations
representing the various construction
professions in the UK and Ireland. The
principal organisations and conservation
accreditation schemes are listed below.
Typically, accreditation is based on
the peer-assessment of a selection of the
applicant’s work (some assessment teams
include an ‘intelligent client’ lay assessor).
Examples of completed work are submitted
which demonstrate the applicant’s experience
in building conservation, with the aim of
showing a variety of types of work from
report writing, through to detailed drawing
and specifying. These examples are then
backed up with evidence of continuing
professional development (CPD) courses
undertaken, the applicant’s CV and a
personal statement outlining what has been
learned through the experiences shown. For
applicants to be successful, the assessors
must agree that they can demonstrate the
required level of competence in a range
of aspects of building conservation.
In the case of the AABC Register, its
primary purpose is to protect the historic built
environment from damaging interventions
by people not skilled in historic building
conservation and adaptation. To this end it
publishes, for the benefit of clients, a register
of architects whose work and skills in building
conservation have been established by peer
assessment, moderated by a lay assessor
representing the client.
Most of the other bodies listed
in the table above publish registers of
accredited professionals for the benefit of
clients and owners of heritage assets. The
IHBC and the CIfA publish membership
lists in their printed yearbooks.
THE EDINBURGH GROUP
It was recognised in the early stages of
developing accreditation for different
professions, that many shared similar
goals, and it gradually became clear that
equivalence across the professions would
be required. The accreditation providers
have met annually since 2002, initially
in Edinburgh but now nationally, to help
to ensure a degree of integration across
all schemes. The Edinburgh Group now
acts as a joint forum for all schemes.
Before the Edinburgh Group’s foundation
in 2002, the various accreditation schemes
had taken different approaches to assessment
so one of the early roles of the group was to act
as a mutually supportive forum at which past
successes and failures, as well as ideas about
the future, could be openly discussed.
The main accreditation providers now
follow similar submission formats, requiring
five examples with clear analysis of ICOMOS
guidelines, CPD notes and a personal
statement. This provides parity and enables
accredited professionals from a wide variety
of backgrounds to have confidence in each
other’s abilities. It also allows clients and
specifiers to easily identify and select the right
personnel to work on their heritage project.
This should give the client confidence that the
appointed person will oversee work with due
diligence and in a professional manner.
Unfortunately, many of the qualified
architects, archaeologists, engineers,
conservators and surveyors who work with
the UK’s six million pre-1919 buildings have
insufficient formal training to do so. A UK
ORGANISATION/SCHEME
ACCREDITED CLASSES OF
MEMBERSHIP
PROFESSION
Architects Accredited in Building
Conservation (AABC)
Architect Accredited in
Building Conservation /
Consultant Architect
Accredited in Building
Conservation
architects
Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) /
Royal Society of Architects in Wales* (RSAW) /
Royal Society of Ulster Architects* (RSUA)
Conservation Registrant /
Conservation Architect /
Specialist Conservation
Architect
Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland
(RIAS)
Advanced Accreditation /
Accreditation
Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland
(RIAI)
Conservation Architect /
Practice Grades I/II/III
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
(RICS)
Building Conservation
Accreditation
surveyors
Conservation Accreditation Register for
Engineers (CARE)
Conservation Accredited
Engineer
engineers
The Institute of Conservation (Icon)
Accredited Conservator-
Restorer
conservator-
restorers
Chartered Institute of Architectural
Technologists (CIAT)
CIAT-Accredited
Conservationist
architectural
technologists
Institute of Historic Building Conservation
(IHBC)
Full Member /
Associate Member
multidisciplinary
Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA)
Member / Associate /
Practitioner
archaeologists
* Conservation architects who are members of the RSAW or RSUA can apply for conservation
accreditation under the RIBA and/or AABC schemes