Built environment professionals have rejected the Architectural and Quantity Surveying Practitioners Bill, 2026, calling on Parliament to withdraw the proposed legislation and develop a comprehensive regulatory framework that gives individual professions greater autonomy.
The professionals, drawn from the Association of Construction Managers of Kenya (ACMK), The Architects Alliance and the Interior Designers Association of Kenya (IDAK), said the Bill seeks to regulate distinct professions under a single board despite differences in training, competencies, scopes of practice and professional responsibilities.
The Bill, National Assembly Bill No. 47 of 2026, was first read in Parliament on August 5, 2026 and referred to the Departmental Committee on Housing, Urban Planning and Public Works.
Speaking during a press briefing in Nairobi Monday, ACMK President Ephraim Kakui said the professionals were not opposed to regulation but wanted a system that adequately represented each profession.
“We are not opposing regulation; we are demanding better regulation,” Kakui said.
He said placing architects, quantity surveyors, interior designers, landscape architects, construction project managers and technicians under one board risked professional conflict, duplication and weakened public protection.
Kakui said the Bill should instead be suspended to allow Parliament to review previous research and proposals on regulation of built environment professions, including work associated with Professor Alfred Omenya.
The associations want Parliament to undertake an inclusive stakeholder process, define clear scopes of practice and professional responsibilities, and establish strong profession-specific regulatory structures.
Architects Alliance Executive Member Arch. Muchiri Waititu said Kenya’s regulatory framework had failed to keep pace with the evolution of the built environment sector.
He noted that the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors (BORAQS) was established in 1934, when professions such as construction management and interior design had not developed to their current form.
“The government is not a player in the engagement. It is a referee,” Waititu said, arguing that the government should provide oversight while allowing professional bodies to regulate their respective fields.
Waititu accused the current regulatory approach of threatening the survival of professional associations and taking the sector back to a period when built environment professions were less differentiated.
He said professionals had previously engaged Parliament on separate legislative proposals covering architects, county surveyors and affordable housing, and questioned why the proposals had been replaced by a single Bill.
“We completely reject this Bill in its entirety,” Waititu said.
IDAK President Prof. George Washington Karani said interior design was a mature profession that required specialised regulation, dismissing the perception that it was primarily about decoration.
“Interior design is the process,” Karani said, explaining that the profession affects the safety, health, functionality and accessibility of spaces where Kenyans live, work and undertake other activities.
He said placing interior designers under a board dominated by other professions would deny them meaningful representation.
“One person cannot do anything,” Karani said, referring to the Bill’s proposed representation of different professions on the regulatory board.
Karani proposed profession-specific regulatory boards operating alongside a broader built environment council responsible for coordination and policy.
He also rejected claims that interior design lacked university-level training in Kenya, saying he had undertaken undergraduate, master’s and doctoral studies in the discipline locally.
“We are not standing here for our professions, but we are standing here for Kenyans who need to live in safe spaces, spaces that promote their health and spaces that work,” Karani said.
The professionals also raised concerns about the role of the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Housing, Urban Planning and Public Works, Hon. Joseph K. Tonui, who is the sponsor of the Bill. They called for his resignation, alleging a conflict of interest. The Bill is officially listed by Parliament as the Architectural and Quantity Surveying Practitioners Bill, 2026.
Former ACMK President and council member Nashon Okowa said the proposed legislation should provide a long-term framework for the sector rather than address immediate concerns.
“The construction of this sector requires a Bill for the next 20 years,” Okowa said.
He linked weaknesses in professional regulation to building collapses, project delays and cost overruns, arguing that Kenya should examine regulatory models used in other jurisdictions, including South Africa.
Okowa said the current system was largely government-led and that greater member-driven regulation would strengthen professional development and accountability.
He also raised concern over opportunities being lost to foreign contractors and professionals, saying local practitioners needed a regulatory environment that would enable them to compete effectively.
The associations maintained that their opposition was not a dispute between professions but a call for legislation that safeguards public safety while recognising the distinct responsibilities of each profession.
They want Parliament to reject the Bill in its current form, review previous research on built environment regulation, undertake comprehensive stakeholder consultations and initiate an inclusive process towards legislation coordinating Kenya’s built environment professions.
The professionals further warned that if the Bill is enacted in its current form, they could seek legal redress over provisions they consider inconsistent with the structure and training of some professions.
Kenya’s Parliament has already invited members of the public and stakeholders to submit memoranda on the Bill, which seeks to repeal and replace the existing legal framework governing architects and quantity surveyors while expanding regulation to other built environment professions.
By Nancy Omondi and Zipporah Odionyi
