ARCHITECTURAL PROFESSIONAL

PRACTICE

ZEHRA FARAZ
B.ARCH, SEMESTER X
A8304015024
Importance of Studying Professional Practice for Architects

The term 'professional practice' refers to the conduct and work of someone from a
particular profession.
Professions are occupations that require a prolonged period of education and
training. They are often overseen by professional bodies who may accredit
educational establishments and qualified professionals. Qualification may be
recognized by the designation 'member of...', 'certified', 'chartered member',
'fellow', and so on. For example, a professional member of the Chartered Institute
of Architectural Technologists may use the letters MCIAT after their name
(member of).
Professional bodies have
set standards of ethics, performance, competence, insurance, training and so on that
must be met to remain within the profession. These are typically set out in a code
of conduct.
Some professional designations are protected by law.
Only qualified individuals that are registered with such professional bodies can
offer their services as architects. It is therefore imperative for all budding architects
or even proper architects to study professional practice.

For architects, studying professional practice enables recognizing the basic

principal and legal aspects of practice organization, financial management and
mediation and arbitration as well as an understanding of role and responsibilities of
various professional bodies.
It acquaints them with the role and responsibility of professional bodies and basic
understanding of office documents, tenders and contracts. An architect is directly
responsible for what he or she builds. A direct involvement with the construction
and ultimately responsible for the lives of the people. Such a huge responsibility
can be dealt with the confidence only when one has the experience to do so. Even
the non-licensed professionals could participate in the construction industry purely
based on the merit that they have been in the industry for quite some time and the
experience has taken them places. An architect must possess the knowledge and
technical know-how of the profession so that he can incorporate that into the
design and execute his work. Most graduates out of college face this dynamic
challenge as to why their designs are not welcomed by the principal architects is
because they lack the wisdom that comes with the professional experience of the
job.