Supervision of work

Under section 8D(1) of the Act and clause 2(4) of the Code, unregistered staff of approved companies and partnerships cannot provide architectural services unless:

• a director or partner who is an architect is responsible for the carrying out of the services;
• those services are carried out under the supervision of an architect.

This obligation is intended to ensure that every project carried out by an approved company or partnership has the supporting expertise of an architect and that a director or partner is accountable for the provision of the architectural services.

‘Supervision’ is not defined in the Act, Regulations or the Code. However, when read in context, this means that a registered architect is directing, observing and controlling the work of the unregistered staff member. This may not need to be on a daily basis (dependent on their level of experience and skill), but it must be often enough that the work being carried out by the unregistered staff member is regularly monitored and overseen by an architect and is subject to their overall direction.

Effective supervision would generally involve an architect:

• leading the work to be undertaken
• reviewing work as it progresses
• providing guidance and making corrections, where necessary
• ensuring compliance with all applicable laws
• taking responsibility for the final product.

The level of supervision required will depend on the complexity, risk and stage of a project, as well as the experience and expertise of the person performing the work.

Complex work will usually require more frequent and intense supervision compared to simpler work. Similarly, relatively junior and inexperienced staff are likely to require more supervision compared to more senior, experienced staff.

Theoretically, an architect may be able to supervise the work of a person located geographically distant to them. Whether this will, in reality, afford an adequate level of supervision will be dependent on the nature of the work being undertaken and the effectiveness of the communication arrangements between the supervisor and supervisee. A remotely located supervisor must use their professional judgement to determine whether they can adequately direct, observe and control the work of the person under their supervision. It is recommended that they obtain the written consent of the architect director or partner to the arrangement. If the supervision is inadequate, the supervisor and/or the architect director or partner may be in contravention of section 8D(1) of the Act and clause 2(4) of the Code. The next sections explore in more detail what supervision looks like in the context of approved companies and partnerships.

Approved companies and partnerships must take steps to ensure that architectural services provided by their firms are carried out by:

• a registered architect; or
• a person working under the supervision of a registered architect.

This means there should be clear arrangements identifying:

• who is responsible for each project
• which architect is supervising the work
• which staff are performing work under supervision of a registered architect
• how supervision will occur in practice, including progressive review of work and sign-off arrangements.

The supervising architect does not need to be a director of an approved company or a partner of an approved partnership. They can be an architect who is an employee of the company or partnership. However, the architect director or partner (as the case may be) will be responsible for the provision of the services.

An architect director of an approved company or architect member of an approved partnership is responsible for the carrying out of architectural services by the entity.

In practice, this means that they should take steps to implement systems, policies and processes so that:

• architects with appropriate experience and expertise lead projects, and
• architectural work by staff and contractors is adequately supervised by architects.

Architect directors and members do not satisfy their responsibilities by simply appointing an architect to supervise work when there is no real oversight in practice.

Supervision arrangements must also be realistic. Spreading supervising architects too thinly across too many projects is unlikely to meet the supervision requirements in the Code.

The supervision requirements apply to the provision of ‘architectural services’.

The term ‘architectural services’ is not defined in the Act but, when considered in the context of the Act, means services relating to the design and construction of buildings orother built environment projects, which are commonly carried out by architects.

Architectural services might include:

• taking instructions from and liaising with clients
• preparing concept designs, town planning drawings, construction drawings, shop drawings, specifications and other related documents
• liaising with other consultants, such as engineers, in relation to a building design
• preparing and lodging consent applications with regulatory authorities, such as planning permit applications, building permit applications and report and consent applications
• undertaking contract administration tasks in relation to a building contract.

Unregistered employees who are carrying out work of this sort must be supervised in their work by an architect, regardless of where they may be physically located.

Under the legal principle of vicarious liability, employers are generally held legally responsible for the negligent acts, errors, or omissions made by their employees where the conduct occurs within the ‘course of employment’. An employee may be liable if they engage in deliberate wrongdoing, recklessness or act outside the scope of their employment.

The Code establishes standards of professional conduct and practice for all architects and some additional standards for architect directors and partners of approved companies and partnerships. Specifically:

• an employee may be held to account for conduct in contravention of the Code if they are an architect;
• an architect director or partner of an approved company or partnership may be held to account in connection with an employee’s conduct if they, by their own conduct, have fallen short of standards of professional conduct (for example, they did not take steps to ensure the employee was adequately supervised or did not take reasonable steps to prevent the conduct (e.g. by providing proper training and having relevant policies in place));
• under sub-clause 2(4)(c) of the Code, architect directors or partners must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the approved company or partnership complies with specific provisions of the Code as if they were imposed on the company or partnership.

Architects must recognise the limits of their own experience and expertise when deciding whether and how to undertake architectural work for a client.

This issue may arise in the context of projects that are large in scale or complex or require specialised knowledge or expertise, such as:

• large-scale infrastructure
• heritage laws apply
• sensitive environmental zones apply
• use of innovative materials and techniques.

If work is outside an architect’s area of expertise or experience, the architect should either:

• decline or limit the scope of the engagement
• perform the work only under the supervision or guidance of an architect with the necessary expertise and experience.

Where there is insufficient experience and expertise within an architectural practice to provide adequate supervision, an architect with the relevant expertise and experience should be brought in from outside the practice to supervise the work.

Records must be kept of the details of the architect responsible for supervising the work carried out under a client agreement.

Good practice records may include:

• the supervising architect’s name and registration number
• their role on the project
• scope of work supervised
• architect’s review notes or approvals
• any change in the supervising architect during the project.

Records should be clear, accurate and capable of being produced if required.