Architectural Review Panels: What Every Architect Should Know
One of the quiet pleasures of being an architect is the variety. One day you’re deep in a complex commercial project, the next you’re reviewing someone’s house extension against a set of estate guidelines. It keeps you sharp — and it keeps you honest.
From time to time, you’ll be asked to serve on an architectural review panel for an estate or sectional title development. It’s not glamorous work, and it won’t make you rich. But it matters. Someone has to hold the line on quality, and if you do it well, you protect both the built environment and your own professional reputation.
Here’s what I’ve learned.
Set Up Clear Terms of Engagement — Before You Start
Before you accept the appointment, nail down how you’ll receive submissions. Insist on a single point of contact — one named person — and specify that all applications must come via email. If you don’t do this, you will be buried. Homeowners, builders, plumbers, interior decorators — everyone will try to contact you directly, and everyone will think their job is urgent. A clear channel protects your time and ensures there’s a paper trail for every submission.
While you’re at it, specify your turnaround time upfront. Ten working days from receipt of a complete submission is reasonable. Without a defined timeline, applicants will chase you the moment they’ve sent something. Define “complete submission” too — if drawings are missing or don’t meet the format requirements, the clock doesn’t start until they do.
Know the Guidelines and Stay Inside Them
Your role on a review panel is to apply the architectural guidelines, not to express your personal taste. This is a harder discipline than it sounds. You’ll look at a drawing and instinctively think “I wouldn’t do it that way” — but that’s not the question. The question is: does it comply with the guidelines or not?
The moment you start substituting your own judgement for the guidelines, you’ve stepped outside your mandate. You’ve also opened yourself up to disputes that are very difficult to defend, because your reasoning becomes subjective.
If the guidelines were written by someone else, read them carefully before accepting the appointment. If they’re vague or incomplete, flag it — and consider making amendments a condition of your acceptance.
If you’re writing the guidelines yourself, be precise. Specify exactly what drawings are required for a submission: site plan, floor plans, all four elevations, materials schedule. Specify the format — A1 printed, or A3 PDF. The more specific you are upfront, the fewer arguments you’ll have later.
Use a Structured Review Template
When you sit down to review a set of drawings, don’t write discursive comments. Set up a simple table:
Column 1: The relevant clause in the architectural guidelines
Column 2: Your comment
Column 3: Finding — In Order / Not In Order
That’s it. Work through the guidelines systematically, point by point. Your responses are factual, not emotional. People have significant money invested in these applications, and they have timelines. When a finding goes against them, they need to understand exactly why — and they need to be able to address it specifically and resubmit.
A structured template also protects you. If someone later claims you approved something that doesn’t comply, the record speaks for itself.
In Summary
Architectural review work is a small but important part of the profession. Done well, it upholds standards, gives homeowners confidence in their investment, and keeps estates from becoming an architectural free-for-all. Done badly — or without clear terms — it becomes a source of conflict that no one needs.
Be specific. Be systematic. Stay in your lane. And make sure the paperwork is tight from day one.
— Tim Hewitt-Coleman
Director, noh ARCHITECTS
Gqeberha, Eastern Cape
noh ARCHITECTS 