Description
Conservation Accreditation Schemes
Working with older and historic buildings, traditional (pre-1919) buildings and designated buildings, such as Listed Buildings, calls for a particular set of skills and expertise. To gain conservation accreditation, professionals have to submit evidence of their knowledge, skills and experience. Registers of accredited professionals can be used to find professionals with the prerequisite skills.
Some grant funders, including Department for Communities Northern Ireland, Historic Environment Service (Cadw), Historic England and Historic Environment Scotland, require the use of accredited professionals, so it is important to check the funding requirements for the project.
Further details on the conservation accreditation and certification schemes that exist for the range of professionals, and on when using conservation accredited professionals is required by grant funders, can be found at www.historicengland.co.uk.
Supporting Organisations
The following organisations support this Contract:
- RIBA Conservation Register, operated by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
- Register of Architects Accredited in Building Conservation (AABC), operated by AABC Register Ltd
- Directory of Accredited Conservationists, operated by the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT)
- Accreditation in Conservation Architecture scheme, operated by Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS)
- Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC), the professional body for historic environment conservation specialists across many disciplines
- Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association (EASA), a membership organisation which aims to advance the knowledge and practice of ecclesiastical architecture.
Key features
- is suitable for simple, non-complex commercial projects of any value
- is devised as an agreement between an Architect/Consultant and a business client or a public authority (including charities, religious organisations and not-for-profit bodies) and is a ‘construction contract’ to which the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (HGCRA, also known as the Construction Act) applies.
- focuses on the Architect/Consultant providing conservation architectural services
Easy to understand
The RIBA Concise Professional Services Contract 2020: Conservation Architectural Services is written in plain English, which provides three key benefits:
1. the language used in the contract is succinct and easy to understand, compared to other standard forms of contracts
2. the terms of the contract are fair and equitable for both the Client and the Architect/Consultant
3. the clause structure used in the contract avoids the use of large numbers of sub-sub clauses and large amounts of cross-referencing between provisions
Copies required for each Party
It is legally advisable that both parties to the contract each have an original signed version. Therefore, you should purchase two copies of the contract, so that both the Client and the Architect/Consultant has an original signed copy. Alternatively, prepare your contract online – see RIBA Contracts Digital – which allows you to issue final copies of the contract to each party at no extra cost.
Integration with other RIBA documents
The RIBA Concise Professional Services Contract 2020: Conservation Architectural Services has been specifically written to integrate with the RIBA Building Contracts and the RIBA Plan of Work.
