CPD requirements by profession

CPD requirements for architects: ARB and RIBA explained

Last reviewed 27 October 2026

Architects answer to two different bodies for CPD, and they ask for very different things. The Architects Registration Board (ARB) is the statutory regulator: it decides whether you stay on the Register, and it deliberately doesn’t count hours. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is the professional body: it sets a firm annual number and a prescribed curriculum for its Chartered Members. If you hold both, you are working to both at once, and mixing them up is the commonest way to end up with a CPD record that satisfies one and not the other.

Two bodies, two different tests

The difference in consequence matters. ARB’s test is whether you are fit to remain registered as an architect; RIBA’s is whether you remain in good standing as a Chartered Member. ARB’s sanction is the more serious one, which is why the declaration at renewal deserves care.

ARB: outcomes, not hours

ARB’s scheme is outcomes-based. Its guidance says plainly that it does not set a minimum number of hours to complete. What it asks for instead:

• Record your CPD. Each activity is logged, in ARB’s MyARB system or in the RIBA tool if you are a RIBA member.
• Reflect on each activity. Each recorded activity needs a learning reflection. ARB states that this reflection is the evidence that demonstrates your compliance.
• Cover the mandatory topics. ARB currently names two: fire and life safety, and environmental sustainability. It reviews each year whether to set topics, so check the current list rather than relying on last year’s.
• Declare it at renewal. To renew at year end you declare that you have carried out CPD and state where it is recorded, or that you have a deferment agreed.

ARB suggests, without mandating it, that you carry out at least eight activities a year, including at least one per mandatory topic. It is a benchmark rather than a rule, but it is a sensible plan to work to: ARB’s own review of the first year of the scheme found a median of four recorded activities against that recommendation of eight.

Because there is no hours target, the quality of each entry carries the weight. ARB does not accept CPD certificates as evidence, and attendance reports should not be uploaded. A good entry says what the activity was, what you learned, and how it changes your practice. If a review finds a record does not meet the requirements, ARB gives time to put it right, and architects who do not are at risk of removal. CPD applies even if you are retired, part-time, working abroad or in another field while on the Register; architects joining the Register for the first time in a calendar year do not need to record CPD for that year.

RIBA: 35 hours and a core curriculum

RIBA’s requirement for Chartered Members is more conventional in shape and more prescriptive in content:

• At least 35 hours of relevant learning each year.
• At least 20 of those hours on the ten core topics — two hours per topic per year.
• Half structured where possible. RIBA advises that half of your CPD should be structured, such as face-to-face or online courses.
• Any mandatory tests. RIBA also expects you to pass any mandatory competence test required in a given year. Its current example is the RIBA Health and Safety Test, which since 1 January 2025 applies to practising Chartered Members whose work involves designer’s duties under the CDM Regulations 2015 and the Building Regulations (Amendment) Regulations 2023 in England. It is free and must be passed every five years.

The ten core topics, as RIBA names them, are architecture for social purpose; health, safety and wellbeing; business, clients and services; legal, regulatory and statutory compliance; procurement and contracts; sustainable architecture; inclusive environments; places, planning and communities; building conservation and heritage; and design, construction and technology. RIBA publishes its own core programme to help members meet them, but there is no obligation to use it.

CPD is recorded in the RIBA online CPD recording tool. RIBA audits the records there, does not accept other forms of proof, and states that it does not require attendance or CPD certificates. Members on maternity, parental, carer, adoption or long-term sick leave may apply for a deferral.

If you are both: one record, two tests

RIBA members can record once and satisfy both bodies: ARB’s guidance describes the RIBA tool’s “What did you learn / how will you apply it?” field as the reflection ARB looks for. But three things do not carry across automatically:

1. The mandatory topics. Fire and life safety, and environmental sustainability, are an ARB requirement. They overlap with the RIBA core topics but they are not the same list. Check each one off separately.
2. The declaration. The ARB declaration at renewal is yours to make, and it stays your responsibility even though the data lives in RIBA’s system.
3. Deferments. RIBA and ARB deferments are separate. A deferral granted by one does not give you the other.

Where CPD accreditation fits — and where it doesn’t

Neither ARB nor RIBA approves or accredits courses, and nothing a third party issues can make a course “ARB-approved” or “RIBA-approved”. A provider using those words about a third-party-accredited course is overstating what it holds.

With ARB in particular, there is a further point worth being honest about: a certificate is not what ARB asks for. A certificate of any kind, accredited or not, is not accepted as evidence of your CPD; your reflection is. What independent accreditation offers an architect is therefore a different thing — confidence in the quality of what you choose to learn. An AssuredCPD-accredited course has written learning outcomes, a CPD-hour figure assessed as proportionate rather than self-declared, and a verifiable certificate reference. The outcomes give you something specific to reflect on; the hours figure tells you what to log against RIBA’s 35; and the verification matters if an employer, client or insurer ever asks. We are careful about the limits of what a provider may claim — see what you can and can’t claim once a course is CPD accredited.

If you provide CPD for architects — a practice running internal sessions, a product manufacturer, an independent trainer — the same applies in reverse: your learners need good learning outcomes and a defensible hours figure to reflect on. Our guide to whether in-house training can be CPD accredited sets out how that works, and our construction sector page covers the wider built-environment market.

How the UK bodies compare

CPD requirements are set independently by each body, and they differ far more than most people expect. Across the sixteen below, several set no hours target at all; several count records, pieces or outcomes rather than time; two require a set share of the total to be verifiable; and two fix around half or more of the requirement to named subject areas. Architects are unusual in being governed by both models at once — a regulator that counts activities and reflection, and a professional body that counts hours and topics.

Three practical points fall out of that table. First, a figure from one body tells you nothing about another — RIBA’s 35 hours a year, the NMC’s 35 hours over three years and ARB’s eight suggested activities are not comparable quantities. Second, several bodies specify not just how much CPD but what kind: named topics for ARB and RIBA, verifiable units for ACCA and the GDC, participatory hours for the NMC. Third, if you hold dual registration, the stricter rule governs your planning.

Five mistakes that cost architects their CPD year

1. Chasing hours for ARB. ARB doesn’t count them. Thirty-five hours with no reflections satisfies RIBA’s arithmetic but not ARB’s test.
2. Treating the certificate as the record. Neither body accepts it as evidence. The reflection is the evidence.
3. Missing the 31 December lock. ARB records lock at midnight on 31 December and cannot be completed for a previous year. A catch-up in January is too late.
4. Forgetting the mandatory topics. They change from year to year. Fire and life safety, and environmental sustainability, are the current ARB pair; check the page each January.
5. Declaring before recording. The renewal declaration says where your CPD is recorded. Declaring CPD that is not recorded puts you at risk of removal from the Register.

Common questions

How many CPD hours do architects need?

It depends on who you report to. The Architects Registration Board (ARB), the statutory regulator, sets no minimum number of hours. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) requires Chartered Members to complete at least 35 hours of relevant learning each year, of which at least 20 must cover its ten core topics.

Is CPD mandatory for architects in the UK?

Yes. Architects on the ARB Register must carry out and record CPD and declare it when they renew each year. Declaring CPD that was not recorded puts you at risk of being removed from the Register.

What are ARB's mandatory CPD topics?

ARB currently names two: fire and life safety, and environmental sustainability. ARB reviews each year whether to set mandatory topics, so check its CPD page for the current list.

Does ARB accept CPD certificates as evidence?

No. ARB states that it will not accept CPD certificates as evidence of CPD. Your recorded reflection on what you learned and how you will apply it is the evidence that demonstrates compliance. Attendance reports should not be uploaded either.

Does RIBA require CPD certificates?

No. RIBA says it does not require attendance or CPD certificates. It audits the records you log in its online CPD recording tool and does not accept other forms of proof.

What is the CPD deadline for architects?

ARB entries can be edited until midnight on 31 December of the reporting year, after which the record locks. RIBA members must also complete their record by 31 December, and ARB does not extend that deadline. CPD cannot be recorded for a previous year or after the retention fee period closes.

Can I defer CPD for parental leave or illness?

Yes, with conditions. ARB offers a one-year deferment for statutory family leave or long-term sickness where CPD was not possible for six months or more in a calendar year, applied for during retention. RIBA offers deferral for maternity, parental, carer, adoption and long-term sick leave. The two deferments are separate.

Do architects need CPD-accredited courses?

Neither ARB nor RIBA requires courses to be accredited by a third party, and neither accepts a certificate as proof on its own. Independent accreditation is useful for the quality of what you choose to record: stated learning outcomes, a justified hours figure and a checkable certificate.

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AssuredCPD is an independent CPD accreditation body. We are not a government or regulatory body and do not award regulated qualifications. AssuredCPD accreditation is not endorsement, approval or recognition by any professional body named on this page, and we have no affiliation with them. Requirements are summarised from each body’s own published guidance and were checked on 27 October 2026; those bodies change their rules from time to time, so always confirm against the official source linked above before relying on it.