6 Accrediting organisations and registers In addition to architects and surveyors, accreditation in building conservation is also offered for structural and civil engineers (CARE), architectural technicians (CIAT), conservation officers and other heritage specialists (IHBC). The Institute of Historic Building Conservation – 1,315 The IHBC is the largest single body of historic built environment professionals in the UK with over 2,500 members, of whom 1,315 have been assessed and accredited, 1,281 as full members and 34 as associate members. Having developed out of the former Association of Conservation Officers, the proportion of IHBC members employed in local or national government has slowly declined over several decades and now stands at 28 per cent, and its membership now includes a wide variety of heritage sector professionals, with over half in private practice. Accredited members include 260 architects and surveyors, most of whom are not accredited in conservation by any other body. Of the 91 full members who are surveyors (MRICS), only 12 are known to be accredited by RICS. Architects Accredited in Building Conservation (AABC) Register – 411 The AABC Register was the first conservation register to be established for architects and it is still the largest, with 411 architects ‘skilled and experienced in the repair, maintenance and adaptation of historic buildings.’ They are assessed by peers and client-focused lay assessors: www.aabc-register.co.uk. The Conservation Accreditation Register for Engineers (CARE) – 97 This register identifies civil and structural engineers skilled in the conservation of historical structures and sites and is administered by the Institution of Civil Engineers. It currently includes over 100 accredited members, 97 of whom are in the UK. Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists – 28 CIAT maintains a register of its members who are actively practising in conservation and have been assessed and accredited against a set of competences agreed by the Edinburgh Group, a consortium of heritage bodies which includes representatives of Historic England, Historic Environment Scotland and the sector’s professional bodies. There are currently 28 CIATaccredited conservationists. Two accrediting bodies with overlapping interests are also important; the Chartered Institute for Archaeology (CIfA) and the Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association (EASA). Many of CIfA’s 1,616 accredited full members specialise in buildings archaeology, and as EASA’s full members are required to demonstrate their experience in the ‘care, maintenance, design or construction of ecclesiastical buildings’, a high proportion of its 178 full members will have developed expertise in the conservation of ecclesiastical buildings. CPD with the IHBC at the Palace Theatre, Swansea, which has now been converted for offices and community use
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