The Architects Registration Board (ARB) has announced a £6 increase in the annual retention fee for 2025, setting it at £205, which represents a 3% increase. Architects on the UK register are required to pay this annual retention fee to cover regulatory costs. The fee can be paid online from 24 October 2024 online.

The Architects Registration Board (ARB) has launched a public consultation on a new approach to UK registration for internationally qualified architects. ARB seeks to overhaul the registration process to align with its approach to UK education and training. The proposals include changes to the registration requirements assessed through the Prescribed Exam, eligibility requirements, and the administration and assessment format of the exam, among other aspects. These changes would also apply to the UK Adaptation Assessment. The consultation closes on 6 January 2025.

The Architects Registration Board (ARB) has launched a consultation on proposed changes to professional practical experience (PPE) for trainee architects, aimed at improving fair and consistent access to high-quality practical experience for aspiring architects. The reforms are intended to strengthen support for trainees as they progress towards registration. The consultation closes on 15 April 2025.

The Architects Registration Board (ARB) has published a report on the first statutory continuing professional development (CPD) cycle, introduced in 2025 following post-Grenfell recommendations. The report shows that more than 85% of architects initially complied with the mandatory scheme, with more than 38,000 architects making CPD declarations. Of the 21,003 MyARB records reviewed, 20,661 achieved final compliance. However, the report identified inconsistencies in the quality of learning reflection, with some records describing activities undertaken rather than what was learned and how it was applied in practice. ARB also reported that 270 architects were removed from the register for non-compliance.

The Architects Registration Board (ARB) has published the results of its consultation on a new Code of Conduct and Practice for Architects, revealing strong support for the updated Standards and guidance. The ARB Board confirmed that all proposed Standards and guidance topics will be incorporated into its Code of Conduct, with the final version expected to be published in summer 2025. ARB has also launched the first in a series of consultations on accompanying guidance documents, focusing on three key topics: dealing with complaints, professional indemnity insurance, and terms of engagement. This consultation closes on 9 April 2025. Further guidance documents will be published for consultation in subsequent phases, with the next round scheduled for summer 2025.

The Architects Registration Board (ARB) has published a new Architects Code of Conduct and Practice, which will come into effect on 1 September 2025, replacing the 2017 version. Developed under ARB’s statutory duty in section 13 of the Architects Act 1997, the updated Code outlines six core Standards—honesty and integrity, public interest, competence, professional practice, communication and collaboration, and respect—each supported by practical examples. The revised Code reflects changes in the regulatory landscape, including the Grenfell Tower disaster, the climate emergency and evolving expectations around equality, diversity and inclusion. It follows a consultation held in 2024, which showed strong support for the proposed Standards. To assist architects in applying the Code, ARB is also publishing supporting guidance in phases, with the second tranche—covering conflicts of interest, finances and whistleblowing—now open for consultation.

Arbitration City (ARBI.CITY) and the Silicon Valley Arbitration & Mediation Center (SVAMC) have organised an event in Paris on 22 March 2024, hosted by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, providing updates on the SVAMC artificial intelligence (AI) guidelines, which have been nominated for the 2024 Global Arbitration Review Innovation Award. The panel at the event will include drafting committee members Benjamin I. Malek, Dmitri Evseev, Elizabeth Chan, Marta Garcia Bel, Orlando Cabrera and Sofia Klot. Valerio Letizia, an associate from Freshfields Paris, will also be on the panel.

See reference-date'>Accounting reference date (ARD).

A global integrated fuel cycle company which formerly encompassed mining, conversion, enrichment, fuel manufacture, reactor design and construction, reprocessing and waste management. In 2015 the company was restructured with its reactor business being transferred to a wholly owned subsidiary New NP. On 31 December 2017 New NP was sold to EDF, MHI and Assystem and has since been renamed Framatome.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note summarises the procedure for appointing arbitrators under the 3rd edition of the ARIAS (UK) Rules, which were adopted in 2014 (the ARIAS Rules). For an introduction to ARIAS, see Practice Note: Arbitration under the ARIAS (UK) Rules 2014 [Archived]. Requirements under ARIAS Rules Parties to an ARIAS arbitration are able to agree how many arbitrators should form their tribunal and what qualifications they should have (ARIAS, rule 6.1). If and to the extent that the parties do not agree on the composition of the tribunal, the default provisions set out in the ARIAS rules apply (which are the same in their basic structure as the procedure for appointment of a tribunal under the ARIAS arbitration clause). The rules state that, subject to any contrary agreement by the parties: • the tribunal will comprise three arbitrators. One is appointed by the claimant, another by the respondent, and the third is appointed by the other two arbitrators (ARIAS, rule 6.2) • the

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note summarises the procedure for progress of a dispute under the 3rd edition of the AIDA Reinsurance and Insurance and Arbitration Society (ARIAS) (UK) Rules (the ARIAS Rules), which were adopted in 2014. For an introduction to ARIAS, see Practice Note: ARIAS (UK) Rules and Procedure. There is no standardised procedural framework governing the progress of an ARIAS arbitration to a hearing, unlike other arbitration rules. The emphasis is on the parties themselves agreeing a procedure and time scales (ARIAS, rule 10.1 and Note to Rule 10) which enable the proportionate resolution of the dispute. Where the parties do agree, the tribunal is entitled to overrule any agreement which it considers does not permit the resolution of the dispute in a proportionate manner without unnecessary delay or expense (ARIAS, rule 10.1). In practice, an arbitral tribunal is likely to give considerable weight to any solutions which the parties themselves have agreed on for any given matter relating to the progress

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note summarises the procedures for starting an arbitration and responding to notice of an arbitration in accordance with the third edition of the ARIAS (UK) Rules, which was adopted in 2014 (the ARIAS Rules). The ARIAS Rules apply to any ARIAS arbitration commenced on or after 1 January 2014. ARIAS arbitrations commenced before 1 January 2014 are governed by the ARIAS Rules 1997 (click here for the second edition). For an introduction to ARIAS, see Practice Note: Arbitration under the ARIAS (UK) Rules 2014 [Archived]. For guidance on agreeing to use the ARIAS Rules to govern the resolution of disputes, see Practice Note: ARIAS (2014)—general procedure [Archived]. Starting an arbitration Notice of Arbitration The party commencing the arbitration (the claimant) does so by sending to the intended respondent written notice of arbitration (ARIAS, rule 4.1). The notice of arbitration (the Notice or Notice of Arbitration) should include or be accompanied by: