IfA - A Chartered Institute

[Oxbeast]

"However, anyone can practise as an architect, but only registered architects can call themselves an Architect as it is a protected title. They do not have to belong to the RIBA. "

Yes, they're the ones calling themselves 'architectural consultant'.

I would be for this in principle, but I would want the IfA to change significantly. As invisible man says, only a minority of a profession are actually chartered, but I think surveyors would be a better comparison to archaeologists. The top bods are full charter members, and other ranks are members of RICS, working towards their chartered status. There are loads of complicated formulae about time served, qualifications and experience to get to the various grades. It is made worthwhile be being paid more, being able to be more mobile and having a properly deifned career structure.

I would want to IfA to start behaving more professionally and represent the interests of the profession as a whole, rather than being a club for managers run in the interests of companies. I think they would be better off starting to ask themselves why people don't want to join.