Statutory Approvals and Institute Regulation
Approvals questions test the sequence, the applicant, and the evidence produced at the end - plus what the Institute can do to a member who cuts corners.
The approval chain
Title and survey, then planning clearance, then development or building permit from the UDA or local authority, then clearances from fire, water, electricity, roads and environment, then construction under stage inspections, then a certificate of conformity or occupancy, then utility connections. Approval conditions often include landscape, drainage, parking and access requirements that must be built, not just drawn. Approvals are time-limited: work must usually start within the validity period and lapses if it does not.
Who is the applicant
The owner is the applicant; the architect acts as agent. Sign only documents you are authorised to sign, and keep the authority's approved drawings as the controlling set. Any change after approval must be re-submitted and approved before it is built.
Institute regulation
Corporate membership carries obligations: continuing professional development, adherence to the code of conduct, honest use of the title and letterhead, and cooperation with a complaints and disciplinary process that can end in caution, suspension or removal from membership.
Worked example
The contractor wants to start piling because the programme is tight, and the client agrees. Reasoning: building without approval exposes the owner to stop-work and demolition orders and exposes the architect to a disciplinary complaint for assisting non-compliance; site insurance and the contractor's obligations assume a lawful site. Correct route: ask the authority in writing for phased approval of the foundations, and re-sequence the programme until written approval is issued.
Traps
Building unapproved changes; confusing the owner's statutory duty with the architect's; using the title before you are entitled to; letting an approval lapse.