Architects

Only qualified architects registered with the Architects Registration Board (ARB) are entitled to call themselves ‘architects’ in the UK and only registered architects who are members of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and adhere to the RIBA code of Conduct of Professional Conduct can be called ‘Chartered Architects’.

Architects are required by UK law to be registered with the ARB and to comply with the Board’s Standards of Conduct and Practice. The ARB also has an obligation to represent consumers’ interests and in the final resort architects are subject to the disciplinary sanction of the Board in respect of ‘unacceptable professional conduct or serious professional incompetence’.

In general terms, all architects who undertake professional work, whether through a partnership or company or as a sole trader or in a private capacity, are required to maintain professional indemnity cover, appropriate to the scale and type of work undertaken.

This policy, like most PI policies in the London market, will usually be renewable annually and written on a ‘claims made’ basis (which is defined in the Professional Indemnity section of this web site). There are minimum requirements stipulated by the Board in respect of coverage within the policy wording which should be on a civil/legal liability basis, ‘any one claim’ or ‘each and every claim and legal defence costs are to apply in addition to the limit of indemnity.

In terms of the limit of indemnity required by the Board, this is stated as £250,000 where gross fee income of the practice in the last financial year was less than £100,000, £500,000 for fee income between £100,000 - £200,000 and £1,000,000 for fee income exceeding £200,000. These are minimum limits only and for many practices will not be adequate. Although the level of self insured excess is not a specific requirement of the Board, practices are advised that this should not be so high as to prejudice the financial stability of the practice.

Quercus PI can offer over 25 years experience in placing PI insurance for the construction industry and, coupled with providing competitive quotations, will give a full advisory service in relation to:

• Collateral warranties, duty of care undertakings and tender documents
• Criminal prosecution defence costs
• Notification of claims and/or potential circumstances
• Run-off cover
• Retirement rules
• Policy terms and conditions
• Claims handling
• Risk management
• Completion of proposal form

Download Proposal Form:
Adobe PDF Format
Microsoft Word Format