The line between architects and other professionals working in the industry is very blurred to most Ugandans including those who are educated. To most Ugandans ‘architects’ are engineers. A few, who seem to be able to tell the difference between the two professions don’t seem to know the difference between an architect and a technician. This confusion in the title and what architects actually do is the result of lack of awareness, mythical perceptions and a public service structure that commits all construction works, whether it is a road, bridge, sculpture or an ordinary house to the hands of engineers. That is why you will find most local authorities having municipal or district engineers but no municipal or district architects. It may not make sense but some ‘architects’ are not architects and I will attempt to explain here why.
As a leader in the fraternity, I am fortunate to be invited to a lot of gatherings and consequently meet with a lot of people from all levels including businessmen, senior public servants, other professionals and lay people. At these meetings, I am often introduced as an engineer much to my disappointment and on many occasions, I clarify things. Most architects find it offensive to be called engineers, but some have chosen not to fight over this anymore. The worst form of misclassification any architect will not be willing to stand, however, is calling a technician an architect. A few years back, I was asked to submit a proposal for a job and after evaluation of the different proposals; the client thought it was necessary to speak to the people behind the proposals. As we waited for our turns, I started speaking to my competition seated next to me and as the exchange between us went on, it became apparent that this was not another professionally qualified architect, but rather an architectural technician. I was disappointed and taken aback in equal measure. How could he possibly have landed an invitation as an architect and even be evaluated to the level of being orally interviewed.
I see the same thing happening a lot in the media. It’s not necessarily the technicians putting themselves forward as architects, but more the reporters and members of public who seem to have the perception that these two roles are one and the same. I have taken time off to correct this impression to the two leading national newspapers and while one of them seems to have understood the problem, the other and particularly one notorious reporter has decided to promote this misinformation. Some property programmes on TV have also constantly referred to non-architects as architects.
Earlier this year, a friend of mine asked me to start an Ask the Architect series on social media. What I do is simply answer generic questions from members of the public about construction. Over a period of one week, I received over 100 questions and most of them were from developers who had problems either having their plans approved by the local authority or simply encountered problems during construction. For many of them that I followed up, the first thing that hit me was the inexcusable poor quality of the drawings, which, on further inspection, hadn’t been drawn up by architects – something many developers didn’t know. Recently, the newspaper I referred to earlier published drawings supposedly for a design of a house in Uganda with two of the rooms in the centre of the house and totally surrounded by other rooms. On another occasion, one such ‘architect’ had given a client, plans of a house that did not fit on the plot the developer owned. The most unfortunate thing is that sometimes, a few exposed and informed developers come to the Architects Registration Board (ARB) expecting us to do something –yet in reality we cannot act on non-architects. At the moment, ARB does not have powers to prosecute and imprison the fraudulent charlatans.
As a leader in the fraternity and currently chairperson of the regulating body, I will not tire of making this clarification. The public needs to know the differences between the roles within our industry. A draftsman/technician is not an architect. I am aware that, this is not so much an issue for the big and more knowledgeable clients, such as government departments and corporate organizations, who already tend to know the difference and the value using a real architect brings. I am talking to homeowners embarking on the daunting task of putting up their house – the single biggest construction project that many of them will ever handle throughout their lives. I know that most of you are overwhelmed with information at the start of your project and that what most of you care about is how much can be saved especially on things that do not directly translate into brick and mortar. I am aware that most of you have been fed on the biggest myth in the construction industry – architects are expensive – but do not entrust your biggest investment to the hands of an impostor. You would not want to be treated by a nurse just because a doctor is expensive, why would you take that option for something you are going to live with the rest of your life
I have heard some of you argue that the quality of some architects’ work is as horrendous as that of the technicians I am trying to disparage. And others have even argued that some technicians produce better work than architects. I hear you all. There are good and bad architects, just as there are good and bad technicians, but dealing with an architect at least guarantees you your money back or at least an improvement if you complain to us. Many technicians will con you into paying for a green stamp from a registered architect that it is the first official approval of your plans – it is not. If anything, stamping is against the architect’s professional code of conduct and if caught such an architect will face the disciplinary committee of the ARB.
To my fellow architects, stop stamping drawings that are not produced by your staff or under your supervision. One of these days, an exposed client or developer will make a claim on your professional indemnity for negligence and your will find yourself in troubled waters even before the ARB comes for you. And I can guarantee you that any developer who successfully makes a claim on your indemnity will most probably lead to your suspension if they bring your case to the ARB. To those who are saying that ARB and USA are not doing enough to stamp out the quacks, I hear you and agree with you. We will soon Iaunch the Kampala Inquisition, a festival that will not only celebrate Kampala’s finest buildings and spaces but also intended to raise the profile of our profession by demystifying architecture and the role of the architect, and in turn, showing the value of using an architect.
Finally, I urge all people in positions of responsibility and especially those who have power to disseminate information to remember that we all have a responsibility to create an orderly, strong and safe built environment. Promoting under qualified or unqualified people as professionals and giving them a platform to share ideas on a subject they remotely understand is not only sowing seeds of chaos but also undermining and devaluing those that are qualified in the eyes of future clients. Members of the public need educating in the benefits of using a real architect.
