Engineers to have same powers as architects

Engineers will have same powers as architects – High Court

Engineers to have same powers as architects

The recent ruling by High Court of Madhya Pradesh, where it said that Engineers to have same powers as Architects has created a huge furore among architectural fraternity in India. The picture of the judgement, from Hindustan Times, Bhopal is below:

Engineers to have same powers as architects

Various architects individually and architecture organisations reportedly have written to The Council of Architecture to file a review petition and take immediate measures to protect the rights of architects.

16 Responses

  1. With due respect to the honorable judges. Engineers – of which branch are competent. Engineering has a wide spectrum from IT to Civil. Even in these sub contents, there are a variety – Structures to sanitary to roads. Well. Now that the Information Technology sector daily invites application for architecture competent personnel. .AS I have repeatedly stated, this noble profession of Architecture is more dead than alive.
    I belong to the few nomads, who like it or not will pursue with conviction and commitment the depth and objecties of architecture, at least in spirit if not in reality till my last breath. may its soul rest in peace before it becomes to pieces.

  2. The Council of Architecture should file a review petition and take immediate measures to protect the rights of architects.Various state development authorities are similarly granting licences to engineers which is not in confirmation with the COA act.

  3. If it’s unconstitutional to discriminate that means that all govt posts for engineers should be open to architects too….

  4. It’s good time to think of this. What makes engineers to enter in to the premises of architectural field? Is it more lucrative? Is it more interesting? Does it lead a good social recognisation? What may be the case, parhaps honorable High court has seen the common part (as in intersection of two sets) in both the professions not the whole of the both. Each field needs special education to render the best of the best services. Architecture does not mean just to draw few lines to prepare a building plan ( as most of the common people understand). It is a blended branch of science, engineering and arts. Yes! The Council of Architecture or the appropriet authority should open up a series of exam and test along with practice under a senior achitect to award a special promotional degree to any engineers who show interest on this unique field to become architect. This will enable the gap between these professional to be minimum and the fight can be stopped. As COA is strict on its rule of five years class room education to get qualification to get the registration, this is not fine for some deeply dedicative individuals to exercise their wit in this field ( Human Resources should not be obstructed). In otherhand qualified architects from many private institutes are also very very poor understanding about the subject as well as very poor on deliverying the things. In this case COA should have some competancy exam to issue the licence so that the country can really be benefitted. I hope the architectural faternity will accept this suggestion and opinion very sportively and with great spirit.

  5. Nurses/Physio-therapists too treat patients. It doesn’t mean they can start practicing the field of surgery without calling themselves doctors.

    The learned judge before passing such a decision should have referred it to a wider bench and should have invited subject matter experts. Dont know if this was done. Doesn’t look like it.

    Has anyone doing anything? COA? IIA? Architect Guru’s?

    1. By the way architect is like beauty parlour who take care about the beauty of structures whereas civil engineer are doctors who knows internal behaviour of structure.

  6. The decision taken by Hon.Court is excellent and quite welcome as many most of subjects are common for both the courses and Institution of Engineers made an attempt to make a Hybrid program -Architects have to pass additional 4 subjects and similarly Civil engineers have to pass 4 additional subjects related to Architecture along with 7 hours Architectural designing and Drawing Paper.It is an Excellent idea of making Architectural engineers,which is recognized by National building code (Architectural engineering course).Why Council of Architecture is silent on this subject?.As all know that ,Institution of engineers is the Oldest and most Respected Council and is a Partner in School of Planning and Architecture,even then the Council of Architecture is not kind enough to consider the equivalence of Hybrid program in recognizing the Architectural engineering program.

  7. It is in-‘fact a good thought to bring in a national debate on the subject of Architectural Engineering. The pioneers of the field of Architecture and Civil Structural Engineering should pool in the advantages of both fields to create a hybrid.
    Once a common platform is established naturally all in-fights will stop. An engineer will be able to practice as an Architect and if need be an Architect also can perform as an Engineer.
    After all at the end of the day it is for the society at large the services are rendered to.
    Let the nation, community and the people benefit from all the innovation and progress that’s brought forth from the field of Architectural Engineering.

  8. Did any engineers have guts to draft on a single table without sleeping 48 hrs…v architects did that thing…

    1. Does a architect is able to do calculation for stability of structure without sleeping we did that thing and do you want to say that you are an draftsman LOL

  9. I think both Engineers and Architects should study each other’s subjects in depth. It is childish to show other professionals as less important than their own. I know civil engineering. It is a vast field and building construction is a very small part of it. Whereas design and construction of various bridges, dams, cooling towers, Chimneys, atomic power plants involves both the RCC designs and steel structure design. Those fighting Architects (for only those who don’t respect other professions) , if you are ready to work on all these aspects I will definitely salute you. But it should be RCC and steel structure designing and not only planning and Drafting on paper. I apologise those who have felt bad about my remarks

  10. Engineers are more qualified and competent then architect technically …..good decision… It helps to break monopoly of architects

  11. It is a welcome decision! Specifically Civil Engineers should be specified. Most Architects pay very little to structural engineers compared to the risk they bear in carrying forward the concept of an Architect. Civil Engineers should be legally allowed to practice as Architects.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent

Source - Deccan Chronicle

Wall As a Public Space
“To read public space only as a spatial condition, as a matter of square footage, zoning, or physical access, is to miss half the picture.”
—Reshma Esther Thomas

Reshma Esther Thomas examines how Hyderabad’s flyover pillars, painted with Cheriyal-style murals under the GHMC’s ‘City Art Scape’ initiative, reveal the paradox of managed public space. What appears to be beautification is actually cultural assertion in the wake of the 2014 bifurcation, bureaucratising a surface that once belonged to those without institutional power.

Read More »
Khazans in Slavador du Mundo, Bardez, Goa. © Kusum Priya (1)

The Map That Was Never Yours
“If publicness is reduced to what is legally accessible, then these landscapes were never public to begin with.”
—V.V. Kusum Priya

As part of our editorial: What makes a space public?, V.V. Kusum Priya argues that Section 39A of Goa’s 2024 Town and Country Planning Act this isn’t just a legal issue, and that it’s the erosion of an unrecognised but collectively sustained commons, and a question of what “public” really means and who benefits from the legislations surrounding this.

Read More »
Life on the public spaces in downtown Calcutta. Source - Wikimedia


“Appropriation of public spaces is the genesis of political movements, of ideological apparatus, and of endangering the city’s multi-dimensional fabric.”
—Dr. Seema Khanwalkar

Dr. Seema Khanwalkar, explores how the public spaces in India are dynamic, contested areas shaped by informal economies, migration, and social negotiation. She reveals how the transactional activities democratise ownership of these spaces, while the political and religious appropriation increasingly displaces this organic vitality, creating exclusion and anxiety. This shrinking of inclusive public space threatens urban social fabric, yet remains largely absent from city planning conversations, making it a far deeper crisis than mere encroachment.

Read More »
Sen Kapadia


“… people like Sen [Kapadia] don’t really leave. They become the questions we continue to ask.”
—A Tribute by Nuru Karim

Nuru Karim reflects on his relationship with Sen Kapadia through three transformative “states of being”—as a student, as a studio colleague, and as an independent professional. To capture Sen’s essence, Karim draws on three powerful metaphors: a mountain (commanding yet silent), a banyan tree (generous and sheltering), and a river (unseen yet ever-present). Together, these images paint a portrait of a man whose quiet depth left an indelible mark on all who encountered him.

Read More »

Featured Publications

New Release

Stories that provoke enquiry into built environment

www.architecture.live

Subscribe & Join a Community of Lakhs of Readers

We Need Your Support

To be able to continue the work we are doing and keeping it free for all, we request our readers to support in every way possible.

Your contribution, no matter the size, helps our small team sustain this space. Thank you for your support.

Contribute using UPI

Contribute Using Cards