Systemic Risks in the Australian Architecture Sector: The ARBV and NSW ARB Report Explained
The ARBV and NSW ARB joint report on systemic risks in the architecture sector (October 2022): D&C procurement, client agreements, NCC compliance and the climate and technology disruptors, with what a practice can do about each.
In October 2022 the Architects Registration Board of Victoria and the NSW Architects Registration Board published a joint deep-dive report, Systemic Risks in the Australian Architecture Sector, prepared by Dr Dariel De Sousa of Dart Legal & Consulting. This article summarises its findings, and the ARBV's June 2025 follow-up on compliance culture, for practitioners in both states.
1. What a systemic risk is
A systemic risk affects the whole sector rather than one practice or one project. It can harm the public, erode trust in the profession, and outrun a regulator's ability to manage standards through individual complaints. The report's point is that the registration boards can see these risks building across many files, while any single architect only sees their own.
2. The four risks the report names
Design and construct procurement
D&C dominates large Australian projects. It is efficient for the client and it moves the architect out of the lead role once the contractor is appointed. The risks the report identifies:
Bespoke D&C agreements with terms the architect has little power to negotiate.
Liability that stays with the architect while control over delivery passes to the builder.
Professional indemnity insurance that is harder to obtain and dearer as a result.
Marginalisation of the architect from project management and from site.
The response is contractual: take legal advice on D&C novation terms, assert the architect's role in the early stages, and understand what you are signing before the deed of novation arrives.
Client–architect relationships
Missing or incomplete client–architect agreements, disputes over scope and fees, unrealistic expectations from a thin brief, and percentage fees that make the architect look responsible for cost blow-outs. In both Victoria and NSW the codes of conduct require a written agreement and transparency about fees, so a missing agreement is itself a conduct issue, not just a commercial one.
Building defects and NCC compliance
Architects are under growing scrutiny for their part in defective residential buildings. The report notes there is no clear evidence tying defects to architectural design, but it names three contributing conditions: documentation that leaves the builder to decide compliance, D&C pressure that degrades quality, and gaps in NCC knowledge. The recommended practice is to understand and apply the NCC, to document how the design complies even where nobody requires it, and to build a compliance culture in the office. The ARBV's 2025 follow-up report, Strengthening Compliance Culture in the Architecture Sector, develops that last point.
Disruptive forces: climate and technology
Climate. Sustainable design that is poorly explained, documented or implemented is a liability, and the regulatory floor (energy efficiency, condensation, net-zero commitments) keeps rising.
Technology. BIM, automation and AI tools are changing workflows faster than short-term D&C project teams and outdated standards can absorb.
3. The regulatory frame
Neither board dictates how a project is procured. Each enforces the conduct rules that sit underneath any procurement model:
| Victoria (ARBV) | New South Wales (NSW ARB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Act | Architects Act 1991 (Vic) | Architects Act 2003 (NSW) |
| Regulations | Architects Regulations (the 2015 Regulations, remade in 2026) | Architects Regulation 2017 (NSW) |
| Code of conduct | Victorian Architects Code of Professional Conduct | NSW Architects Code of Professional Conduct (Schedule 2 of the Regulation) |
| Written agreement required | Yes | Yes |
Both boards expect registered architects to be proactive about compliance, to complete meaningful CPD, and to keep clients informed in writing.
4. What a practice can do this quarter
Use a compliant client–architect agreement (the Australian Institute of Architects publishes one) on every commission, including the small ones.
Have D&C novation deeds reviewed by a construction lawyer before signing, and price the review into the fee.
Record NCC compliance decisions on the drawings and in the specification: the Performance Requirement, the pathway (Deemed-to-Satisfy or Performance Solution) and the evidence. A certifier can then check the reasoning rather than reconstruct it.
Put condensation, energy efficiency and Section J documentation on the QA checklist, since those are the areas where the regulatory floor moved most between NCC 2019 and NCC 2025.
Spend CPD hours on the two disruptors the report names, rather than only on design.
Sources: Systemic Risks in the Australian Architecture Sector, ARBV and NSW ARB, October 2022 (PDF); ARBV project background; NSW ARB announcement; Strengthening Compliance Culture in the Architecture Sector, ARBV, June 2025 (PDF). First published 12 May 2025; sources named and NSW frame added 2 September 2026.
