Complaints Procedures
Any member of the public may lay a complaint against an architect or a person who was an architect at the time.
Laying a complaint is a way of holding an architect to account. However, it cannot lead to compensation, that being for the courts etc.
Getting help
If you want to discuss what's happened and whether a complaint is warranted, or how the complaints process works, please ring the NZRAB at 04 471 1336.
How to lay a complaint
If you are going to lay a complaint, please use our complaint form to lay out what the complaint is about. We have two versions, depending on when the problem occurred. A complaint must be made by a person which means a natural person, not by an incorporated body.
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If the conduct in question occurred on or after 1 January 2018, please use this complaint form which has attached the current Code of Ethics
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If the conduct in question occurred prior to 1 January 2018, please use this complaint form which has attached the earlier Code of Ethics that applied then.
Complaints need to include related written evidence – terms of appointments, fee invoices, emails, plans or photographs, or whatever else is relevant. The complaint and evidential material should be assembled in an orderly way as a pdf or series of pdfs and emailed to the NZRAB at info@nzrab.org.nz
The process
The NZRAB's complaints procedures work as follows:
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A complaint is laid – it must be in writing.
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The complaint is referred to the architect who is invited to respond.
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The complaint and the response are referred to an Investigating Committee.
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The Investigating Committee either dismisses the complaint or refers it to a formal Disciplinary Hearing.
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The Disciplinary Hearing is like a court with a charge presented and sworn evidence – the complainant is a witness.
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If the Disciplinary Hearing finds that the architect is at fault, typically a penalty is imposed.
The main grounds for a complaint are:
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the architect has breached the New Zealand Architects’ Code of Ethic; and/or
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the architect has been negligent or incompetent
This process is not speedy and typically takes more than 12 months to complete.
Competence Concern
The NZRAB also has a separate procedure by which anyone can raise a concern about an architect's competence in general, which we then follow up in a different way.