A week late but my I have two issues with the RIBA competency tests:
1. What the hell do you test? Given the extraordinary range of work architects undertake at different scales and in different contexts, what would be considered 'core' knowledge. At a large scale, architects

are be supported by a range of specialists who would advise on H&S, fire, BRegs compliance, sustainability etc and it's increasingly rare for them ever to manage the contract. At this scale, the architect is essentially a co-ordinator of other specialists. At a small scale,

architects are expected to handle much more of a project directly without specialist input but it would be clearly ridiculous expect them to know about the requirements for fire safety on a skyscraper. Where is the overlap that you test?

2. Timing: the Grenfell inquiry is ongoing. The RIBA and ARB should be highlighting the deficiencies in procurement and the low cost (at any cost) culture within large D&B contracts that the trial has so far highlighted. By doing this now, it sort of suggests culpability/

acceptance of guilt. I think it would be more sensible to wait until the inquiry has finished and conclusions reached before even discussing something like this.