Bill gets support from opposition benchs but Brantley calls for amendment
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FOLLOWING its first reading on November 25, the Architects Registration Bill, 2010 was passed in the St. Kitts and Nevis House of Assembly on Friday, December 3.
Mover of the Bill, Prime Minister and Parliamentary Representative of Constituency Six, Dr. the Hon. Denzil Douglas argued that the Bill, which was designed to regulate the conduct of professionals in this sector, would elevate the standard of architects and the construction industry while promoting safety in the construction of buildings in the twin-island Federation.
“Once these architects and practitioners become registered by law here in St. Christopher and Nevis, they would be better able and prepared to be accepted by their own counterparts and sister organisations within the Caribbean community, so that they would be able to practice their professional skills in other Caribbean countries and beyond the Caribbean countries into Canada and into the European countries as well,” Dr. Douglas argued.
He explained that sections of the Bill address qualifications of architects for registration, development of an architect registration board, the board’s functions and its authority, and a special registration of practicing architects in the Federation.
Douglas further explained that the Executive had received many comments on the Bill since its first reading and therefore its amendment, which would allow practicing architects in good standing to continue plying their skills for the development of the Federation.
“The Executive, having considered a lot of the comments that we have received over the last 10 or so days, have decided to ask at the appropriate time in the movement of the Bill to the House to ask for an amendment or during what we will call the committee stage to bring to the House a relevant section that can speak to the grandfathering of those who currently are practicing, who are otherwise in good standing in terms of the professional ethics, and allow them the opportunity to continue to ply the skills and use the experience that they have obtained over the years to bear full weight to the infrastructural development of St. Kitts and Nevis.”
In their presentations, members on the opposition benchs lent their support to the Bill. However, while he lauded the government for providing more time for the Bill to be debated among professional architects in St. Kitts and Nevis, Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Mark Brantley said he had some concerns with sections of it and called for an amendment.
“There is no provision in the Bill which said if you are an architect you must register, and I would have thought that that should have been a starting point. If you are an architect and you wish to practice your trade in St. Kitts and Nevis you must register.
“My concern is this…that it appears insofar Section 16 is concerned about the fee, that someone can, of course in my respectful submission, provide architectural services for free, in which case the issue of fee may not be so germane to their consideration that they design something for some charitable organisation or some organisation. They do so for free; that is for no expectation of payment; and I would like the Act to be fulsome as possible and so to capture the profession of architecture,” Brantley argued.
He stressed that some sections of the legislature seem to deviate from the standards that Dr. Douglas desires to achieve.
“It seems to me that there is some duality in the provisions. Because, on the one hand, we understand the scheme of the legislation is to provide a framework for architects, which lends to the professionalism. On the other hand, at Section 20, it seems like we are carving out actions or activities which people can engage in which do not fall in the context of the legislation.
“And so, on my reading, it seems to me that Section 20, for example, will allow someone to design a house, which is 1 400 square feet, and there is no harm or foul. And they can proceed to do that because the size of the house means that they do not fall within the necessary threshold. And if the Hon. Mover is concerned about standards are to be applied, then it means that the standard for a one-storey house ought, in my view, to be similar.”
