Continuous Professional Development
CPD at the RIBA
RIBA 2006 CPD Providers Network Directory.
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Continuing Professional Development (CPD) obligations exist to help ensure that qualified professionals maintain their competence to practice. This is true in countless professional sectors in the UK.
At its very basic level, CPD is for consumer protection. It is also a way of ensuring that architects keep up-to-date within a rapidly changing profession. CPD should also enhance an architect's current and future development (professionally, personally and for staff within a business.)
All chartered members of the RIBA are obliged to do CPD every year. This is true no matter where in the world the member lives or what sort of work is undertaken. Only fully retired members are exempt from this obligation.
Chartered members of the RIBA are required to do the following each year:
At least 19.5 hours per year from the RIBA's prescribed core curriculum for CPD
At least 17.5 hours of professional development in other subjects relevant to your own CPD needs
Record activity via the RIBA's CPD record sheet (preferably online)
Plan CPD via the RIBA's professional development plan (preferably online).
The RIBA will, at the end of every year, monitor a random sample of chartered members' CPD. We will ask to see CPD record sheets. It would be helpful to see professional development plans as well.