The AIA and the Architectural Society of China (ASC) signed a new and revised Accord on Professionalism in Architecture April 14. The accord was signed in Beijing by AIA President Eugene C. Hopkins, FAIA, and ASC President Song Chunhua, Hon. AIA.

The accord extends the longstanding friendship and cooperation agreement between the two professional societies, which began on June 17, 1993, with the first Accord on Professionalism in Architecture, signed in Chicago and renewed in October 1998 in Beijing. The updated and expanded accord extends this agreement for a third five-year period.

“Members of the architecture profession in China and the U.S. are dedicated to the same principles of assurance and improvement of high standards of professionalism, integrity, and competence. Both communities have a set of highly specialized skills and a profound sense of stewardship essential to the development and protection of the built environment,” said Hopkins. “With China enjoying the third fastest growing construction market in the world, and more and more work crossing the two countries’ borders, it is important that we continue to work together. We are so honored and fortunate to continue our positive relationship with our friends and colleagues in China through the extension of this accord.”

Mutual goals
The nine articles of the accord address and outline the shared ASC and AIA desires to:

• Promote understanding and fellowship between architects in China and the U.S.
• Promote the profession’s aesthetic, professional, scientific, social, and technical effectiveness
• Advance standards of architectural education, training, and practice
• Provide leadership in the construction sector to promote a better environment for human life and global protection
• Make the architecture profession of ever-increasing service to society.

Through the adoption of these principles, both professional societies have pledged to work together closely for inter-recognition of standards in education, examination, and registration so that architecture markets in the future can be opened mutually through bilateral negotiations and agreements.

Action items on the agenda
The AIA and ASC also have agreed to principles and agenda items that will seek to further these goals, including:

• Mutual exchange of information on architecture education, training, examination, registration, and discipline, and the mutual exchange of observers and delegations
• Mutual exchange of students, teachers, and professionals and the promotion of cooperation in architecture practice between architects of the two countries
• Mutual exchange of information related to the practice of architecture in subjects such as zoning and building codes, building specifications, practice guides and standards, standard forms of contracts, computer-aided practice, and electronic means of communications and practice
• Ongoing consultation regarding the professional practice of long-term cooperation of each respective professional society established or operating within one another’s countries
• Improvement of the profession’s and the public’s understanding of architecture through coverage in national architecture journals and the exchange of exhibits.

Partners in practice
The accord also reaffirms the two organizations’ involvement with the International Union of Architects (UIA). The AIA and ASC have been working for years as co-directors of the Professional Practice Commission of the UIA. Their joint efforts, including the unanimously adopted 1999 UIA Accord on Recommended International Standards of Professionalism in Architectural Practice, have allowed for improved international advancement of the profession. Both professional societies have agreed to continue their joint collaborative efforts in developing, organizing, conducting, and securing adoption of the work, agreements, and principles of practice prepared by the UIA.

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