EuropEan policy positions 2014 -2019 - Bundesarchitektenkammer
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European Policy Positions 2014 –2019
European Policy
Positions 2014–2019
05 Quality assurance in access to and practice
of the profession
06 Ensure quality in higher education in all
architectural disciplines
07 Improve the competitiveness of small and
medium-sized European planning offices
09 Integrate quality assurance into public
procurement and design competitions
12 Enable better legislation through increased
transparency
13 Stem the flood of standards
15 Strengthen the international competitiveness
of architects of all disciplines
16 E
nshrine the quality of the built environment
in regional policies and structural funds
17 A sense of proportion in energy and climate
policy in the interests of sustainable buildingQuality assurance
in access to and practice
of the profession
The built environment affects people’s everyday We welcome the completion of the internal also usually involved in the tender and public
market and the elimination of existing barriers, procurement process, as well as being the main
lives and is a testament to the development of our
in particular for small and medium-sized busi- party responsible for project management.
society. Greater awareness of quality in planning nesses. Statutory regulations governing access As part of the European Commission in-
to the architects’ profession and the right to itiative to evaluate the national regulations
and construction, collectively termed “building culture”,
practise as an architect exist in all EU states, as governing access to the profession, the Fed-
is therefore necessary. In 2007, the Leipzig Charter their services have a significant impact on the eral Chamber of German Architects together
safety and welfare of the population. As one with the architects’ chambers of the Länder are
instituted a commitment to a sustainable European
of the liberal professions, architects are also lobbying for the preservation of the existing
city. These principles should be upheld in all relevant bound by the definition recognised by the Eu- and functional system in Germany. The system
ropean Court of Justice: “Members of the liber- places the burden of responsibility on the ar-
European policy areas. To ensure a holistic approach
al professions, by virtue of their particular vo- chitects and at the same time reduces the bur-
to building culture, key quality requirements in cational qualifications, provide on a person- den for the state. Compulsory membership of
al, solely responsible and professionally inde- the professional association with correspond-
architecture and urban planning must also be harmo-
pendent basis intellectual services in the joint ing protection of the job title is an efficient way
nised at the legislative level. In particular, this applies interests of their client and of society.” of guaranteeing the correct qualifications, pro-
The profession must be regulated to pro- fessional supervision and a mandatory system
to regulations governing the awarding of contracts,
tect consumers and ensure that members of of professional training. Therefore, with a view
cultural policy, the EU’s sustainability strategies the profession are qualified, thus ensuring to ensuring consumer protection, the EU needs
the quality of the credence goods they sup- to continue to lobby for professional organisa-
and not least the regulation of the profession in the
ply. Moreover, this is in the interests of con- tion systems for the liberal professions which
internal market. Given these needs, the building trolled, sustainable development of architec- prove successful in the Member States, and en-
ture and urban planning. For this reason, Ger- sure that members of the profession hold the
culture must be strengthened at European level by
many and many other EU Member States have required qualifications.
focussing on the following: a well-established statutory regulation system
in the form of appropriate and interlinked reg-
ulations that do justice to the far-reaching re-
sponsibilities of architects and urban plan-
ners, as well as statutory quality targets. The
responsibilities of the architect are greater in
Germany than in almost all other European
countries: from preliminary studies through
to permits and construction planning, they are
4 European Policy Positions 2014–2019 05Ensure quality in higher Improve the competitiveness
education in all of small and medium-sized
architectural disciplines European planning offices
One of the main tasks of the Federal Cham- The levels of qualification set out in Art. 46 of Over 80 per cent of architects’ offices in Ger- We call on the EU to argue for the recognition
ber of Architects is to maintain high stand- the Directive are of particular importance to many and the other EU Member States have be- and protection of efficient European business
ards of education for architects, interior ar- the profession, as they offer a clear, standard- tween one and four employees and are there- structures, such as that of the German and Eu-
chitects, landscape architects and urban plan- ised legislative foundation – for a profession fore defined as micro-enterprises pursuant to ropean architecture and planning offices, since
ners. The architects’ chambers of the Länder, which is not internationally harmonised – at Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC. they enjoy a good reputation worldwide and
as the statutory authorities for recognition of least on a European level. However, this only The competitiveness of these architects’ of- are able to compete. The trend towards big-
the profession, also support the automatic mu- applies to architects in building construction. fices with their high quality standards should ger, less quality-conscious corporate struc-
tual recognition of certificates and profession- For this reason, the Federal Chamber of Archi- be enhanced. They reflect a broad-based and tures driven by financial considerations pos-
al qualifications as provided for in the amend- tects is lobbying for the prompt introduction thus flexible company structure which should es a threat to their existence. Recent lessons
ed Directive on the Recognition of Profession- of a similar European regulation for the disci- be strengthened so that they can react suc- learned from other sectors show that the dis-
al Qualifications (2005/36/EC, as amended by plines of landscape architecture, interior ar- cessfully to fluctuations in economic activi- solution of long-established and competi-
Directive 2013/55/EU of 20.11.2013). chitecture and urban planning, in order to pro- ty whilst continuing to provide a quality ser- tive business structures does not lead to more
In general, however, the Directive on the mote mutual recognition of these disciplines vice. At the same time, they provide examples growth and employment per se. Indeed, it of-
Recognition of Professional Qualifications falls and their mobility in the internal market. The of cultural diversity and help promote regional ten has the opposite effect.
short of the globally recognised International European Higher Education Area must first architecture as a special quality characteristic
Union of Architects’ Accord on Recommended and foremost be designed to guarantee high of the “Europe of the Regions”. This is why we
International Standards of Professionalism in quality education in all disciplines. In our view, welcome the provision of EU funds for SMEs.
Architectural Practice. Under this agreement, this means at least four years of education for However, these funds can currently only be ac-
professional licenses can be issued to an ar- interior architects, landscape architects, ur- cessed through a laborious, decentralised pro-
chitect with at least 5 years of academic edu- ban planners and architects (civil engineering). cess, which acts as a significant barrier for mi-
cation and a subsequent mandatory 2-year pe- cro-enterprises such as planning offices. Over 80 per cent of
riod of practical experience. architects’ offices in
Germany and the other
EU Member States
have between one and
four employees and
are therefore defined as
micro-enterprises.
06 European Policy Positions 2014–2019 078%
Integrate quality assurance
into public procurement
and design competitions
As a cross-sectoral instrument, European pub- contracts without a planning competition. The
lic procurement law is too broad-based for the “price” of architectural services plays a second-
awarding of freelance planning contracts, in ary role in the overall analysis of investment
particular with respect to good design qual- costs and the life-cycle costing of a building.
ity and design competitions. For this reason, If the “price” of the architectural service is low,
the Federal Chamber of Architects is arguing this can even lead to higher building and oper-
for the principle of separating planning and ation costs. In contrast, a high-quality, cost-ef-
construction work in public procurement to fective plan from the start ensures cost-effec-
be universally upheld. This ensures the inde- tive and resource-efficient construction in the
pendent monitoring of construction work. In long-term.
a market characterised by significant infor- In addition, the awarding of public con-
mation asymmetry, this is of paramount im- tracts to SMEs based on the aforementioned
portance in order to protect the interests of structure of German and European architects’
the client with regard to quality and cost ef- offices should be facilitated. The qualifying cri-
ficiency. Contracts for architects must there- teria for SMEs to participate in public tenders
of architects practising their profession fore be consistently separate to contracts for must be set out in such a way that the client
in Germany are active abroad construction work. can use the services on offer to their full po-
Design competitions are normally the best tential, but the process does not place undue
way of ensuring quality when procuring ar- burden on the client. Thus, the criteria for par-
chitectural services, as they offer the client ticipating in the tender should not have a dis-
a comparison of the best solutions by pro- proportionate relationship to the company, e.g.
viding information on the costs of construc- company turnover, but should be increasingly
tion and subsequent building operation costs quality-based with respect to the actual pro-
for the individual construction project along ject and construction work.
with specialist consultation. To this end, the
public procurement criteria enshrined in Euro-
pean public procurement law need to include
a clearer reference to quality, and the public
procurement criteria relating to price should
be better defined to allow for a comprehensive
cost efficiency analysis. This applies to both
public procurement within the framework of
a design competition and the negotiation of
8 European Policy Positions 2014–2019 09Most common countries where German architects are practising abroad 11,2 % Switzerland 11,1 % Austria 6,4 % France 6,3 % Luxembourg 4,9 % Italy 10 European Policy Positions 2014–2019 11
Enable better
legislation
through increased Stem the flood
transparency of standards
Legislation should be limited to what is neces- Technical regulations and standards have a At the same time, European standards are pri-
sary and must be rooted in practice. With re- significant impact on the quality of the over- marily the instruments of economic operators
spect to new legislative initiatives, informa- all planning and execution of buildings and who agree on standardised rules. Standardisa-
tion and reporting duties must be delimited, infrastructure facilities. European standards tion should primarily focus on technical stand-
consultations must be held in a user-friendly regulate building products in particular, but ardisation and should once again be limited to
manner and chambers and associations must also increasingly planning principles, certifi- what is necessary. To this end, it is of particu-
be involved at an early stage in order to be able cation and construction work. They apply to lar importance that best engineering practice
to directly incorporate information from busi- the work of the architect in the performance is considered and no additional bureaucrat-
ness concerning the practical relevance of the of their core functions, not only in terms of ic hurdles are set up. The European Commis-
application of legislation. Properly scheduled technical requirements for construction but sion should be selective when issuing direct
consultations in the key official languages of also increasingly in the area of services, partly standardisation mandates to European stand-
the EU promote communication and prevent through plans to harmonise service provision. ardisation organisations. These cannot replace
anti-EU sentiment among the relevant parties. In total there are almost 24,000 DIN standard careful legislation and democratic participa-
The effectiveness of these consultations would parts which are relevant to the construction tion. The principle of voluntary application of
be significantly enhanced in view of the legis- The Federal Chamber of industry in Germany, of which around 2,500 standards should be retained at European level.
lative purpose. Architects is advocating standard parts are relevant to architects in the We require transparent, public processes and
performance of their core functions. Around more parliamentary input on the issuing of
for the principle of
90 per cent of the standardisation which tan- mandates within the framework of European
separating planning and gibly affects the construction industry and ar- standardisation. The national principle of del-
construction work in chitects stems from European or international egation must be strengthened in order to allow
public procurement to be standardisation projects. The scope and com- the affected parties to be involved in the stand-
plexity of the standards have increased signif- ardization process to at least some extent.
universally upheld. This
icantly. In the meantime, the sheer diversity
ensures the independent of standardisation procedures and processes
monitoring of construction is overwhelming.
work.
12 European Policy Positions 2014–2019 13Strengthen the international
competitiveness of architects
of all disciplines
Architects from Germany are involved in plan- The requirement for micro-construction pro-
ning and construction projects beyond na- jects to be put out to international tender does
tional borders. The Federal Chamber of Ar- not reflect the market reality of the contract-
chitects supports the global export of archi- ing authority, nor the predominantly medi-
tectural services. Our objective is to facilitate um-sized enterprise architects’ offices, and
the cross-border exchange of planning servic- does not add value at any point. If the market
83 %
es and to increase professional mobility. The is to be opened up, thus ensuring better access
positive image of German architects of all dis- to and greater transparency in the area of pub-
ciplines abroad should be promoted, thus cre- lic construction projects, then the high stand-
ating opportunities for them. ards in health and safety and environmental
Free trade in services must therefore be and consumer protection must be maintained.
strengthened. To safeguard professional op-
portunities for graduates, certificates must be
recognised internationally. At the same time,
the Federal Chamber of Architects argues for
the current international public procurement
thresholds to be raised. Our objective is to
facilitate the cross-border
exchange of planning
services and to increase
professional mobility.
for all office sizes, the primary focus
of activity for architects abroad is Europe
14 European Policy Positions 2014–2019 15Enshrine the quality A sense of proportion
of the built environment in energy and climate policy
in regional policies in the interests
and structural funds of sustainable building
Europe needs vibrant towns offering a high The strategic framework for EU climate and Simply assessing individual products or build-
quality of life. They can only uphold their func- energy policies for the period up to 2030 has ings is inadequate for the task. We argue that
tion as cradles of societal change and econom- been defined taking into account the targets energy efficiency targets and requirements
ic growth if the social balance within and be- and lessons learned from the 20-20-20 strat- should go beyond the individual building to
tween the towns is maintained, their cultural egy which focussed on three objectives: reduc- focus to a greater extent on the built environ-
diversity is allowed to flourish and a high qual- ing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing en- ment, the urban district or the town or mu-
ity environment is created in both design and ergy efficiency and increasing the share of re- nicipality itself, for example in the Directive
construction. newables. In our opinion, sustainable and thus on Energy Efficiency in Buildings (2010/31/EU).
Urban development policy is the responsi- resource-efficient construction, both for new Furthermore, the obligations with respect
bility of the Member States. In order to pro- buildings and existing stock, is one of the de- to control mechanisms applied via certifica-
mote the urban dimension of the European cisive factors in reaching the targets set out in tion and qualification systems must be re-
sustainability strategy and the Europe 2020 European climate and energy policies. viewed for proportionality. A stronger focus
growth strategy, the EU should consider the However, key renovation work on buildings on the effectiveness of these systems is need-
quality criteria of the built environment and to improve energy efficiency has shown that ed, to avoid hampering their quality-orientat-
the qualifications of the specialists needed to energy efficiency requirements must be set ed implementation in the design and planning
meet these criteria when granting Structural with a sense of proportion. They must be fi- process with increased bureaucracy. Through
Funds and authorising the corresponding pro- nancially viable, sustainable, non-contradic- sustainable architecture, we can and want to
grams and projects. tory and proportionate to other requirements make an effective and decisive contribution to-
(e.g. fire protection, sound insulation, age.ap- wards a vital change in the way we use our nat-
propriate construction etc.). Sustainable build- ural resources.
ing quality can only be achieved by drawing up
a holistic plan and at the same time motivating
clients, investors, building owners and users to
renovate buildings to save energy.
16 European Policy Positions 2014–2019 17Publisher & Editor Bundesarchitektenkammer e.V. / Federal Chamber of German Architects Askanischer Platz 4 10963 Berlin, Germany Editorial deadline September 2014 Source of statistical data Hommerich Forschung www.hommerich.de Design 4S, Berlin Print DCM Druck Center Meckenheim GmbH 18 European Policy Positions 2014–2019
Askanischer Platz 4 10963 Berlin, Germany Postfach 61 03 28 10925 Berlin, Germany T +49 . 30 . 26 39 44 - 0 F +49 . 30 . 26 39 44 - 90 info@bak.de www.bak.de
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