The Executive Yuan today passed a draft amendment to various articles of the Architects Act. It will be sent to the Legislature for deliberation.
Explaining the changes, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) stated construction contract types have changed a great deal since Taiwan entered the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2002, and the construction industry development trend of the future is to make an entire project the responsibility of the firm contracted to complete it. This model, a type of turnkey project, integrates architects and technicians with planning and design abilities.
Additionally, the amendment proposes to allow an architect to establish his or her office as a legal entity, making room to expand the scale of his or her business.
Moreover, the amendment splits violations by architects into two categories: breaches of administrative regulations and contraventions of rules for the practice of architecture. Architects or architecture offices which commit administrative breaches shall be fined and/or otherwise penalized by the competent authority, while practice violations will be handled by the Disciplinary Committee for Architects.
Additionally, reciprocal recognition of different countries' architects is promoted in response to Taiwan's entry to the WTO and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and complementary regulations regarding foreign architects taking the national architect licensure examination and practicing in Taiwan are added.
The major points of the draft amendment are as follows:
1. Architects are permitted to establish offices that are legal entities, facilitating their businesses' growth. (Article 7)
2. The standards for remuneration for architectural design and supervision for architects contracted to execute a project shall henceforth be set by the central competent authority. (Article 34)
3. Stipulations with respect to disciplinary action against architects are amended. (Articles 54 and 55)
4. A statute of limitations setting a deadline for taking such disciplinary action against architects is provided. (Article 56)
5. A chapter on penalties is introduced. Architects or offices which violate administrative regulations stipulated in this act will be subjected to administrative penalties. (Articles 62 to 69)
6. Reciprocal recognition of different countries' architects is promoted as a follow-up to Taiwan's accession to the WTO, and complementary regulations related to foreign architects taking the national architect licensure examination and practicing in Taiwan are added. (Article 73)