Anyone know this firm?

They don’t seem to have built anything, all their photos are stock pics. They have no recognised professional accreditation. Caveat emptor.

If someone has no professional accreditation but has got a degree in architecture and relevant experience and can show you a portfolio, could they be an option? I understand that RIAI/RIBA etc. have extra exams for architects but they all seem to be in bloody Blackrock with very few to choose from in West Dublin. I don’t want to limit my search to one or two architects and I would like an architect who has an office relatively near our site as I highly doubt anyone is going to trudge across Dublin traffic half as often as a local architect would pop in on site.

Does a professional accreditation give the client any additional guarantees?

depends on what it is you “want” – it might very well be that some unqualified person working from home ticks all your boxes. I was starving on Thursday morning and a macdonalds did the trick. If I’d taken the missus there onThursday night though I’d’ve got my bollocks handed to me.

Does not being an RIAI member automatically mean a person is not a qualified architect?

@murphaph wrote:

Does not being an RIAI member automatically mean a person is not a qualified architect?

There is no obligation for a qualified architect to join the RIAI. In fact in Irelnad there is no obligation for any professional within the Construction industry to join a professional institute to practice at present to the best of my knowledge. However under the Building Control Act 2007, architects have to register to describe themselves as architects. The registration will be administered by the RIAI…. the relevant regulations aren’t in place yet as far as I know , so this doesn’t happen at the moment.

BTW it never any harm to check with the relevant institute to see if someone is a member, as sometimes people claim to be members of institues and aren’t or the institute in somecases never existed.

Thanks Jackscout. It is quite astounding that an individual can quite legally describe themselves as an architect without any formal qualifications! I wonder have any buildings designed by such charlatans actually been erected (and have any fallen down!).

I see some achitects are members of RIBA. I presume this is just as ‘good’ as the RIAI?

@murphaph wrote:

I see some achitects are members of RIBA. I presume this is just as ‘good’ as the RIAI?

RIBA is the British version of the RIAI,

I would say half the houses in Ireland have been built by these “charlatans”. But then again, the other half have been designed by qualified architects – though it’s not always easy to figure out which is which.

And it may be a point for discussion as to who has greater responsibility for ensuring that a building doesn’t fall down – architect, architectural technician or structural engineer…

the builder ?