Unlicensed architects may not be faced with compulsory assessment for registration after all.

In a move that has been criticised as unnecessary by the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI), who said such legislation would undermine consumer confidence and protection; TD John O'Donoghue has introduced a Private Members' Bill to amend the Building Control Act 2007.

It legally protects the word 'architect' and requires all practitioners to register with the institute.

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The Building Control (Amendment) Bill provides a 'grandfather clause' for self-trained architects to retain their official status.

Former Ceann Comhairle, Mr O'Donoghue said that without the clause "hundreds of working architects would be losing out on their official status because they pursued a different route to qualification".

However, the Registrar of the RIAI John Grabby said there was already a grandfather clause in the legislation.

Registration included assessment by a technical board, which he described as "fair, accessible, structured, independent and based on expert assessment".

But the Architects' Alliance, a group set up by established self-trained architects in the wake of the 2007 Act, disputes the independence of the process.

The alliance has about 180 members and estimates there are about 400 unlicensed architects.

(BMcC/KMcA)