Watch out for cowboys

November 8, 2004

Dear Sir,

Last week I saw a brief article in your newspaper entitled ?Architects to get added protection? and until today I?ve not had the chance to sit down and actually think much about it. I?m hoping you will excuse a raised eyebrow here when I read that architects are getting added protection, as indicated in your headline. Do you think there might be the faintest possibility that there could be those who feel that the public could use a spot of protection while we?re at it?

The article itself goes on about the need for liability coverage and the fact that registered architects carry such coverage ? for the protection of the public we?re led to understand. Great! Seven-storey buildings, rebuilding Hamilton Harbour ? no problems there. Apartment additions, swimming pools and moon gates ? it may be a touch of overkill to talk of liability coverage. In any case, I feel there are a number of points which could be added, as they may be of interest to your readers.

First, I think the Bermuda public has become quite discerning as far as first checking out who does and does not provide good architectural design services, or any form of service for that matter.

It is a small Island, so that?s not hard to do. The public enjoys today some options in choosing (a) how much they want to pay for services, and (b) whom they choose to carry them out. There is fairly wide coverage out there, from those who simply design minor works and pretty much walk you through the planning process, to those I like to refer to as the ?Capital A Boys?, who provide full service design and project management.

Obviously the price one pays for the latter range of services depends on who you go to, but it is generally understood that The Capital A Boys are at the top of the scale as far as fees go. The point here is that the public does have a choice.

The second point is that over quite a number of years now we have seen the IBA lobbying to get laws passed which, in essence and in my opinion, will be designed to ensure that when the public wants design services, they can only go to a registered member of the IBA to get them. This effectively inhibits the public?s freedom to choose who they want, to provide such services, and what range of fees they will end up paying for them. In other words, we are talking about an attempt to create a monopoly situation.

As I mentioned earlier, we do have quite a discerning public now and one which I?m reasonably sure can see a cowboy, so to speak, when one appears on the scene. These people exist in all walks of life and in all areas of business in Bermuda, and you only have to check around to find our who they are.

This applies to design services and building contractors, auto repair shops, maintenance people ? you name it. The whole spectrum is out there. So my question is: ?Do we need to legislate to protect the public from these cowboys, or are they not grown up enough to take care of themselves?? Surely less legislation is preferable to more legislation.

The last point I wanted to mention, is the fact that amongst the people actively providing design services on the Island today, there are quite a large proportion of black Bermudians who make their living doing this sort of work. I, like everyone else, have been listening closely to Premier Scott?s dialogue about black empowerment, redistribution of wealth, and upward mobility for blacks and so on.

It would be surprising therefore to think that his Government would entertain the idea of a very small and arguably elite group of people like the IBA, attempting to corner the market thereby possibly (1) depriving the public of their freedom of choice in the matter, and (2) threatening the livelihood of quite a sizable group of his own people.

Food for thought, Mr. Editor, and I hope people out there will think carefully about this and discuss the matter with their parliamentary representatives before any such Act is slipped quietly through the House.