RULES OF THE ASEAN ARCHITECT COUNCIL

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The governments of Member States of the Association of South East Asian Nations
(collectively referred to as “ASEAN”, and comprising Brunei Darussalam, the
Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic
Republic, Malaysia, the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the
Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam) have agreed on the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement on
Architectural Services which aims to:

 facilitate mobility of Architects;

 exchange information in order to promote adoption of best practices

on standards of architectural education, professional practice and
qualifications;

 conform to the spirit of ASEAN co-operation based on fair distribution

of resources and benefits through collaborative researches; and

 encourage, facilitate and establish mutual recognition of Architects and set

up standards and commitment of technological transfer among ASEAN
Member Countries.

1.1 LEGAL BASIS

These Rules have been developed and will be applied in accordance with the provisions of the
ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) on Architectural Services CPC 8671, and
are intended to be read in conjunction with those provisions. Should the requirements of the
Rules and those of the MRA be found to be inconsistent, the requirements of the MRA will
prevail.

1.2 ASEAN Architect (AA)

 Under the MRA - an Architect or practitioner who holds the nationality of an ASEAN
Member States and possesses qualifications and experience that complies with the
requirements specified in the Assessment Statement may apply to be emplaced on the
registered ASEAN Architect (AA) and accorded the title of ASEAN Architect (AA).
 An AA shall practise architecture where he/she has been adjudged to be competent
under the MRA.

1.3 The ASEAN Architect Council (AAC)

 The ASEAN Architect Council (AAC) shall be established and shall have the
authority to confer and withdraw the title of ASEAN Architect (AA). This authority
may be delegated in writing from time to time by the ASEAN Architect Council
(AAC) to the authorised Monitoring Committee (MC) in each participating ASEAN
Member States. Members of the ASEAN Architect Council (AAC) shall comprise of
one appointed representative from each Monitoring Committee (MC) of the
participating ASEAN Member States.

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  The functions of the ASEAN Architect Council (AAC) shall include:
a) facilitating the development and maintenance of authoritative and reliable Registers
of ASEAN Architects (AA);
b) accepting the ASEAN Architects (AAs) in each participating ASEAN Member
States as possessing general technical and professional competence that is
substantially equivalent to that of Architects registered or licensed in the Country of
Origin;
c) developing, monitoring, maintaining and promoting mutually acceptable standards
and criteria for facilitating practice by ASEAN Architects (AAs) throughout the
participating ASEAN Member States;
d) seeking to gain a greater understanding of existing barriers to such practice and to
develop and promote strategies to help governments and licensing authorities
reduce those barriers and manage their processes in an effective and non-
discriminatory manner;
e) encouraging the relevant governments and licensing authorities, through the
mechanisms available within ASEAN, to adopt and implement streamlined
procedures for granting rights to practice to ASEAN Architects (AAs);
f) identifying and encouraging the implementation of best practice for the preparation
and assessment of architects intending to practise at the professional level; and
g) Continuing mutual monitoring and information exchange by whatever means that
are considered most appropriate, including but not limited to:
1) regular communication and sharing of information concerning assessment
procedures, criteria, systems, manuals, publications and lists of recognised
practitioners;
2) informing all Professional Regulatory Authorities (PRAs) when it has been
notified that an ASEAN Architect (AA) is no longer qualified to undertake
independent professional architectural practice in the Country of Origin, has
not complied with the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) policy of
the Country of Origin at a satisfactory level, or has seriously violated
technical, professional or ethical standards either in the Country of Origin or
the Host Country, whereby such violations have led to deregistration or
suspension from practice or withdrawal from the ASEAN Architect Register;
3) informing the Monitoring Committee of the Country of origin when it has been
notified that an architect from the Country of Origin who has undertaken
practice of architecture in a Host Country is not a registered ASEAN Architect
(AA);
4) verifying the operation of the procedures of participating ASEAN Member
States; and
 The ASEAN Architect Council (AAC) may, whenever it deems appropriate, invite the
non- participating ASEAN Member States or non- ASEAN countries to attend as
observers to its meetings.
 [Each ASEAN Member State shall have only one vote and that the Chairman shall not
have an additional casting vote]

2.0 CHAIRMANSHIP AND ORGANISATION

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2.1 Chairmanship shall be rotated every two years and shall be coming from the Member State
hosting the AAC Secretariat.
2.2 Members of the AAC shall comprise of one appointed official representative from each
Monitoring Committee (MC) of the participating ASEAN Member States. Other delegates
from participating and non participating ASEAN Member States may also attend the meeting
as observers.
2.3 The organisational structure of the AAC shall comprise of:
 Chairman;
 Secretary (to be appointed by the Chairman);
 One appointed representative of each of the participating ASEAN Member States and
2.4 One appointed representative from the non-participating ASEAN Member States may attend
as observers

3.0 AAC SECRETARIAT

3.1 The administration of the ASEAN Architect Council (AAC) shall be facilitated by a
Secretariat. The establishment and funding of the Secretariat shall be decided by the ASEAN
Architect Council (AAC).
3.2 The host of the AAC Secretariat shall be rotated every two (2) years, Member States can
volunteer to serve as the subsequent Secretariat. In the event that there is no volunteer, the
subsequent Secretariat will be the next Member States in alphabetical order. The subsequent
secretariat shall be determined six months prior to expiry of the tenure of the current
Secretariat.
3.3 The Secretariat shall be headed by a Secretary appointed by the Chairman of the AAC.
3.4 The AAC Secretariat shall :
 facilitate the administration of the ASEAN Architect Council (AAC)
 process and maintain an ASEAN Architect Register
 maintain website
 convene meeting
 issue publications
 perform other relevant functions.

4.0 AAC MEETINGS

4.1 General Meetings of the ASEAN Architect Council (AAC) shall be held at least once a year to
deal with applications by Monitoring Committees seeking authorisation to initiate Registers
and/or authorisation to review the Guidelines on Criteria and Procedures, Assessment
Statement and other related guidelines, procedures and documentation, and recommend any
amendments to all the Professional Regulatory Authorities (PRAs).
4.2 Meeting of AAC may be held if needs arise. The Secretariat shall circulate an invitation signed
by the Chairman to call for an AAC meeting giving reasonable notice prior to the date of the
meeting. The invitation shall specify the agenda, time and venue of the meetings.
Confirmation from participating member states to participate in the AAC meeting shall be

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 received by the Secretariat fourteen (14) days before the meeting. The meeting shall have a
quorum of at least five (5) Member States.
4.3 Decision on any matter shall be made in the ASEAN spirit of cooperation among members
attending the meeting.
4.4 The Agenda of the meeting shall include, among others, report of the Monitoring Committee
update of the Register, financial statement and any other matters relating to the operation of
the MRA’s.
4.5 In the event of the Chairman of the AAC is unable to chair the meeting, the chairman shall
delegate a person who he/she deems fit to chair the meeting.

5.0 REVIEW PROCEDURES

5.1 Assessment Statement
 The Monitoring Committee (MC) of each participating ASEAN Member States seeking
authorisation to initiate a Register for the purpose of the registered ASEAN Architect
(AA) shall prepare an Assessment Statement setting out the criteria and procedures for
assessing compliance with the qualifications set out at Article 3.1 of the MRA for
Architect applicants.
 The proposed statement shall be reviewed and approved by the ASEAN Architect
Council (AAC). Guidelines on criteria and procedures and examples are set out in
Appendices B, C and D of the MRA.
5.2 Conferment and Withdrawal
 Conferment shall be issued based on the endorsed Assessment Statement of the
respective MC. The operation of the procedures may be verified from time to time as and
when required.
 The PRA of the Host Country shall notify the AAC Secretariat promptly in writing when
a Registered Foreign Architect (RFA) has contravened the MRA, or has seriously
violated technical, professional or ethical standards in the Host Country whereby such
violations have led to deregistration or suspension from practice.
 MC of the Country of Origin shall notify the AAC Secretariat promptly in writing when
an ASEAN Architect (AA):
a) has contravened the MRA, or
b) is no longer qualified to undertake independent professional architectural practice
in the Country of Origin,
c) has not complied with Continuing Professional Development (CPD) policy of the
Country of Origin to a satisfactory level, or
d) has seriously violated technical, professional or ethical standards in the Country of
Origin whereby such violations have led to deregistration or suspension from
practice.
 Where Article 5.2.ii. and 5.2.iii. above is applicable, the respective MC shall withdraw
and deregister the said AA from the ASEAN Architect Register (AAR).
 AAC shall inform all PRAs when it has been notified that an AA is deregistered or
suspended from practice or withdrawn from the AAR

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6.0 CERTIFICATES
6.1 The registration as an AA is attested by a certificate signed by the Chairman of MC of the
Country of Origin on behalf of AAC.
6.2 The AA Certificate will be issued once by the MC of the applicant’s country and shall be valid
for a period of 2 (two) years and shall be renewed upon expiry and with the fees paid to the
respective Monitoring Committee.
6.3 The AA title may be retained as long as the holder remains registered.

7.0 REPORTING
The ASEAN Architect Council (AAC) shall report its progress of work to ASEAN Coordinating
Committee on Services (CCS) as and when required.

8.0 FINANCES
The Secretariat financial expenditure shall be borne by the respective participating Member States that
host the Secretariat, unless otherwise decided.

9.0 APPEALS AND DISPUTE SETTLEMENT

The provisions of the ASEAN Protocol on Enhanced Dispute Settlement Mechanism, done at
Vientiane, Lao PDR on the 29 November 2004, shall apply to disputes concerning the interpretation,
implementation, and/or application of any of the provisions under the MRA.

10.0 RULES AMENDMENT

10.1 Any MC of the Participating Member States may request in writing any amendment to all or
any part of this Rules.
10.2 The provisions of this Rules may only be modified through amendments mutually agreed
upon in writing by the MC of all the Participating Member States in a General Meeting of
AAC, provided that the proposal has been received by the Secretariat at least three (3)
calendar months prior to the Meeting and disseminated to all AAC members at least two (2)
months prior to the Meeting. Any such amendment agreed to shall be reduced in writing and
shall form part of this rules and shall come into force on such date as may be determined by
all the Participating Member States.
10.3 Any amendment shall not prejudice the rights and obligations arising from or based on this
Rules prior or up to the date of such amendment.

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