Section 22 of the Building Control Act 2007 currently provides a route towards registration for longstanding practitioners who had been providing architectural services in Ireland commensurate with those understood as being provided by Architects for the purposes of the Act for a period of ten years at the time the Act became law. This provision is transitional in nature and enables this category of persons, who may not have any formal academic training, qualifications or certification, to become registered once they have been assessed as eligible for registration by the Technical Assessment Board in accordance with the practical experience assessment procedure. In addition, section 14(f) provides a permanent route to registration for practically trained persons who have seven years appropriate practical experience and who have passed the prescribed register examination.
The issue of amending the Building Control Act 2007 along the lines suggested does not therefore arise and I would encourage all practically trained persons to pursue the routes to registration which are currently open to them with a view to joining the small but growing numbers of practically trained architects already on the register.