ARCHITECTS BILL.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 144197, 13 September 1913, Page 3

ARCHITECTS BILL.

REPORTED FROM SELECT COMMITTEE, GREATLY ALTERED. BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT. WELLINGTON, Sept. 12. Mr. C. A. Wilkinson (Egmout) to-day presented the report of tho special committee on the Institute of Architects Bill. He explained that the committee had struck out of tho Bill the clausa giving to members of the institute tho excessive right tc practice as architects. Tho Bill now allowed architects to form an association and register themselves and describe themselves as registered architects and did not prevent any other person from working as an architect or from professing to bo an architect. It did not interfere with tho public in tho least.

Hon. A. T. Ngata: That will come later on.

Mr. T. M. Wilford (Hutt) asked whether the clause defining an architect had been struck out or not. He would like to know whether local bodies’ engineers would be debarred from carrying out of building work for their local authorities under the Bill as reported. Mr. 6, J. Anderson (Mataura) hoped the Bill had boon considerably altered by tho committee. The Prime Minister: You won’t know it. Mr. Anderson added that the original form had pressed heavily on contractors and carpenters who had been in the habit of drawing plans for small cottages. Mr. W. A. Veitch (Wanganui) said the committee had considered the Bill very carefully. They discovered, in going through the measure, that if they referred tho Bill back to the House or if tho Bill, wefrp passed in its original form, great injustice would bo done to many people in New Zealand. The committee was willing to allow architects to improve their status and to provide facilities for the education of young architects, but it was not willing to allow a law to bo passed, to interfere with the business of men who were doing good work, but who were not architects. It was not true, as was said by some, that the Bill would have prevented jerry building, because the fault of tho jerry-built dwelling was that the quality of material used was not of a sufficiently high quality. The only effect of tho Bill would bo fo increase the cost of building cottages, by increasing tho cast of the architectural services. All engineers of local bodies wore exempted from the operations of ,the indeed, any one who’ chose to do so could call himself ,an architect, but ho could not call himself a registered architect. The Bill would give the architect, an improved status. Mr. Wilkinson said the member for Hutt need not bo alarmed about the local bodies’ - engineers, who were entirely excluded from tho operations of the Bill. Tho measure now simply gave the Institute of Architects a legal status, but it did not interfere with persons who were not members of tha institute. ‘ The report was tabled.