Architects Act 1929

Architects Act 1929

This Act may be cited as the Architects Act 1929.

This Act shall come into operation on 1st January 1930.

In this Act –

architect means – a person who is registered as an architect in accordance with Part IV; and a person who is entitled to hold deemed registration as an architect;

architect or architecture does not include naval architect or naval architecture or landscape architect or landscape architecture;

Board means the Board of Architects of Tasmania established by this Act;

complainant means a person who has made a complaint;

complaint means a complaint, made under section 20A, that has not been withdrawn;

continuing professional development requirement means a continuing professional development requirement determined by the Board under section 20G;

deemed registration means an entitlement to automatic deemed registration, within the meaning of the Mutual Recognition Act 1992 of the Commonwealth;

Institute means the Tasmanian Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects or any other institute which may hereafter be substituted therefor;

member means member of the Board;

professional misconduct, in relation to a person, means – substantial or persistent unprofessional conduct by the person; or conduct of the person, whether or not occurring in connection with the practice of architecture, that would justify concluding that the person is not a fit and proper person to be an architect;

register means the register of architects kept by the Registrar in accordance with Part III;

Registrar means the Registrar appointed under section 7;

unprofessional conduct, in relation to a person, means conduct by the person, in the course of the practice of architecture by the person, that falls short of the standard of competence and diligence that a member of the public is entitled to expect of a reasonably competent person engaging in the practice of architecture.

Nothing in this Act derogates from the effect of the Mutual Recognition (Tasmania) Act 1993, the Mutual Recognition Act 1992 of the Commonwealth or the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act 1997 of the Commonwealth.

For the purposes of this Act there shall be established a Board, to be called the "Board of Architects of Tasmania".

The Board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal, and may sue and be sued in its corporate name.

The Board consists of 5 members as follows:the President of the Institute;2 persons appointed by the Governor, at least one of whom is recommended by the Minister as representing the interests of consumers;2 practising architects elected by the council of the Institute in a manner determined by the council.

The Board shall elect one of its members as chairman of the Board, and any 3 members of the Board shall be a quorum for the conduct of business.

The President of the Institute shall hold office so long as he or she is such President, and every other member shall hold office for a term of 3 years, and shall be eligible for re-appointment or re-election, as the case may be.

The Governor may remove any member for neglect of duty, incompetence, dishonourable conduct, or other cause which he or she considers sufficient.

If the office of a member becomes vacant during the term for which he or she is appointed or elected, a member shall be appointed or elected in his or her place who shall hold office for the remainder of such term.

If a member is likely from any cause to be absent from meetings of the Board for more than 3 months, the Governor may appoint a deputy to act for the member during the member’s absence, and such deputy shall have the same powers, rights, and duties as the member in whose place he or she is appointed.

If at any time the President of the Institute fails to act as a member, or if the council of the Institute fails to elect its representatives to the Board within the prescribed time, or if such representatives fail to act as members, the Governor may appoint any person to be a member to fill the vacancy occasioned by any such failure, and any person so appointed shall for all purposes be deemed to have been duly appointed or elected as a member.

A member of the Board is entitled to be paid the remuneration and travelling allowances fixed by the Minister from time to time in respect of that member.

Subject to this Act, the Board shall meet at such times and conduct its business in such manner as the members may decide, or as may be prescribed.

The office of a member shall become vacant if he or she– becomes bankrupt or compounds with his or her creditors; is absent without leave of the Board from 3 consecutive meetings of which due notice has been given to him or her either personally or by post; resigns his or her office by writing under his or her own hand addressed to the Governor; or is removed from office by the Governor.

The validity of any act or resolution of the Board shall not be affected by any informality or irregularity in its constitution, and a quorum of the Board may exercise all the powers and authority of the Board notwithstanding that the office of a member may be vacant.

The Board shall appoint a Registrar, and such other officers as the Board thinks necessary, and may pay to any person so appointed such salary or remuneration as the Board thinks fit.

The Registrar shall be charged with the custody of the register.

All moneys received by the Board or the Registrar under this Act shall be paid into the funds of the Board.

The remuneration of the Registrar, and the officers appointed by the Board, and all other expenses of and incidental to the administration of this Act, shall be paid by the Board out of its funds.

Any surplus moneys in the funds of the Board which are not required for the purposes of subsection (2) may be expended by the Board for the purposes of the advancement of architecture in such manner as the Board may determine.

The Registrar is to keep a register of architects in a form that the Registrar considers appropriate.

The register is to contain details of the following matters relating to each architect:the name and business or other address of the architect; the class of registration and the conditions, if any, imposed on the registration; in the case of a person registered as an architect in accordance with Part IV, the date and description of the qualification in respect of which the registration is granted; in the case of a person who is an architect due to holding deemed registration, any details that the Registrar considers necessary in relation to the architect; any other matter that the Registrar considers appropriate; any prescribed matter.

If the Registrar becomes aware of any change to a matter entered in the register in respect of an architect, the Registrar is to amend that particular accordingly.

If the registration of a person is cancelled under this Act, the Registrar must remove the name of the person from the register.

The Registrar, on the application of an architect, may, with the approval of the Board, alter the class of registration or the conditions imposed on the registration, or both, entered, in relation to the architect, in the register.

If the class of registration of an architect, or the conditions of registration of an architect, are altered under subsection (3B), the class or conditions are taken to be imposed, on the day on which the register is so altered, on the registration of the architect.

The register shall be made available at all reasonable times for inspection by any person at the office of the Board.

The Registrar may, if he or she considers it appropriate, publish in the Gazette the registered number, name, and address of every architect whose name is in the register referred to in section 9 at that time.