Architects want their own law as MPs weigh one board for built environment

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The Architects’ Alliance has asked Parliament to drop plans to regulate architects, quantity surveyors and other built environment professionals under one board, saying architects carry a duty of care for public safety that needs its own law.

The alliance’s president, Senator Sylvia Kasanga, presented its proposals to the National Assembly’s Housing, Urban Planning and Public Works Committee in Nairobi on Saturday, the Kenya News Agency reported. The committee is reviewing the Architectural and Quantity Surveying Practitioners Bill, 2026.

“We maintain that the architect has the duty of care for public safety and therefore requires their own separate regulation,” Kasanga said.

What the Bill proposes

The Bill, National Assembly Bill No. 47 of 2026, is sponsored by Joseph K. Tonui, MP. It would repeal and replace the Architects and Quantity Surveyors Act, Cap. 525, according to the National Assembly’s call for public memoranda. It provides for the training, registration and licensing of architects, quantity surveyors, landscape architects, interior designers, construction project managers and their technicians, and would set up an Architecture and Quantity Surveying Practitioners Board.

The proposed law also seeks to cover newer areas of practice, including green building technologies, climate change mitigation, artificial intelligence and design-and-build arrangements.

One council, separate laws

Kasanga proposed that the Bill be recast as a Built Environment Council Bill. The council would coordinate matters across the sector, while each profession would be regulated under its own statute. She said the current arrangement dates from the colonial era and should be reviewed to reflect today’s industry and international standards.

“If it must continue, then the structure of the Bill has to change,” she said, adding that the alliance would send further proposals to the committee.

The submission builds on objections raised in August, when the Association of Construction Managers of Kenya, the Architects Alliance and the Interior Designers Association of Kenya asked Parliament to withdraw the Bill. At the time, the groups pointed out that the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors was set up in 1934, before construction management and interior design had grown into separate professions.

Interior designers and fundis seek recognition

Not every group at Saturday’s sitting opposed the Bill. Susan Elisha, head of partnerships at the Association of Designers of Kenya and a founding member of Buy Africa, Build Africa, backed it but asked for amendments that recognise interior design as a profession and introduce training and competence checks for site technicians and artisans, known as fundis.

“Kenya needs stronger professional accountability across the entire construction value chain,” Elisha said. She cited the recent collapse of a building during demolition on Moi Avenue, which injured workers, as a reminder of the need for proper supervision on construction sites.

“We support this Bill, but with amendments that professionalise the sector and create an all-inclusive framework,” she said.

Cecilia Mbati, chairperson of the Interior Designers of Kenya, proposed one overarching board with distinct chapters for each discipline. She also asked that the title of construction manager be protected in law and that graduates of accredited construction management degrees get a direct route to professional registration.

What happens next

The Bill was read a first time on August 5, 2026 and referred to the housing committee, which will weigh the submissions before reporting back to the House. Its final shape will decide which professions the new board licenses and which professional titles are protected on Kenyan building sites. Professionals tracking openings in the sector can browse current construction jobs in Kenya.