Architects of Invention (AI) is a RIBA Chartered Practice. Our director, Nikoloz Japaridze, is a chartered member of the RIBA, and all architectural work we produce is undertaken or supervised by a chartered architect. The practice is bound by the RIBA Code of Professional Conduct, the RIBA Code of Practice for Chartered Practices and the ARB Code of Conduct.

 

The policies set out below are owned by the director, reviewed annually, and apply to everyone working for AI in our London and Tbilisi studios — employees, consultants and freelance collaborators alike.

 

We work to a written quality management system, proportionate to the size of the practice, covering how we take on a commission, how decisions are recorded, how drawings and specifications are checked, and how projects are reviewed on completion.

 

We work to the RIBA Client Services Charter. Every commission is confirmed in writing before work starts, setting out the scope of services, the fee basis and payment terms, the programme, the people appointed, our professional indemnity insurance, the limits of our appointment and how to complain if something goes wrong. Information we issue is checked and authorised by the director or the project architect, and every revision is recorded, so the status of any document we have released is traceable.

 

We hold project information as a golden thread: a single, structured and accessible record of the design, the decisions behind it, and the information needed to keep the building safe in use, handed to the client at completion. On buildings within the higher-risk regime this is a duty under the Building Safety Act 2022; we apply the same discipline to every project, and it is what the health and safety file is built from.

 

We review each project at the end of every work stage, and again on completion as a SWOT analysis — strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats — with the findings fed back into the way the practice works.

 

We take our duties as designer under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 seriously. We eliminate foreseeable risk through design where we can, reduce it where we cannot, and give the client, the principal designer and the contractor clear information about the risks that remain.

 

Principal Designer is a separate appointment. Where a client asks AI to act as Principal Designer, that role is engaged under its own contract, with its own scope and fee, and is not included in our standard architectural services. Acting as Principal Designer we plan, manage and coordinate health and safety through the pre-construction phase, coordinate with the Principal Contractor, and prepare and maintain the health and safety file for handover to the client at completion.

 

The director and staff maintain current competence in health, life and fire safety. Where a project falls within the higher-risk building regime under the Building Safety Act 2022, we satisfy ourselves in writing that the practice and the individuals appointed hold the competence the role requires before accepting it. We will decline or withdraw from a commission if we are asked to work in a way we consider unsafe.

 

Our health and safety policy, risk assessments and site-visit procedures are reviewed annually and are available on request.

 

The built environment accounts for a substantial share of global carbon emissions, and we design on that basis. AI is a signatory to Architects Declare and works to the targets of the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge, measuring operational energy, embodied carbon and potable water use on projects where the client’s brief allows, and reporting what we measure to the client.

 

We raise environmental performance at the stage where it still changes the outcome: reuse before demolition, fabric before servicing, low-carbon and bio-based materials, and buildings that can be adapted rather than replaced. Our work in timber-hybrid and printed-concrete construction is part of the same argument.

 

We also manage what the practice itself consumes — studio energy, travel between our offices and our sites, and what we print, procure and dispose of.

 

AI is an equal opportunities employer. We do not discriminate on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation, and we make reasonable adjustments so that people can do their work well.

 

This applies to recruitment, pay, promotion, training and the way we work day to day, and we expect it of the clients, consultants and contractors we work alongside. Recruitment decisions are made against the published requirements of the role. Harassment, bullying and victimisation are disciplinary matters. Anyone who experiences or witnesses discrimination can raise it with the director, or in confidence with Jill Layton at office@architectsofinvention.com, and it will be investigated.

 

In our design work we apply the principles of inclusive design, so that the buildings and places we make can be used by as many people as possible, independently and with dignity.

 

We employ people on written terms and comply with employment law in each country we work in. Hours are recorded, and additional hours are paid or taken back as time off in lieu rather than treated as normal. Everyone has an annual review at which workload, development and pay are discussed.

 

All architectural staff record a minimum of 35 hours of CPD each year, of which at least 20 hours are structured against the RIBA core curriculum, and the practice keeps the records. AI pays for that time and for the material.

 

We support Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 candidates with a named supervisor and experience across the full range of RIBA work stages, recorded against the ARB Part 3 criteria.

 

The practice holds professional indemnity insurance meeting the requirements of the ARB and the RIBA, placed through the RIBA Insurance Agency on the RIBA Architects Premier wording, with territorial and jurisdictional limits worldwide excluding the USA and Canada. Cover is renewed annually in March.

 

A copy of the current certificate, including the limit of indemnity, is available to clients on request, and project-specific cover can be arranged where a commission requires a higher limit.

 

We would rather hear about a problem early. If you are not satisfied with any part of our service, write to Jill Layton at office@architectsofinvention.com or telephone +44 7476 929493. We will acknowledge your complaint within seven days, tell you who is looking into it, and give you a written response within 28 days. Complaints and their outcomes are recorded in a log kept by the practice and reviewed by the director.

 

If we cannot settle the matter between us, we will propose mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution before either party takes it further. You remain free at any point to refer the matter to the Architects Registration Board or to the RIBA.

 

We disclose any interest that could affect our impartiality as soon as we become aware of it, and we will not act for parties with competing interests on the same project without the written agreement of everyone involved.

 

We neither offer nor accept payments, gifts or hospitality intended to influence a decision, consistent with the Bribery Act 2010, and anything offered to us above a nominal value is recorded. We take reasonable steps to satisfy ourselves that there is no forced or child labour in our own operations or in the supply chains of those we recommend, consistent with the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Anyone in the practice can report a concern about wrongdoing without any detriment to their position.

 

We treat client information as confidential and hold personal data in accordance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. We collect only what we need, keep project records for as long as required by our professional indemnity insurance, and pass personal data to third parties only where it is necessary to deliver the project or required by law.

 

These policies are owned by Nikoloz Japaridze, Director, and are reviewed annually in February. Questions about any of them should go to Jill Layton at office@architectsofinvention.com or +44 7476 929493.