In addition to its official duties as a public body, the Chamber of Budapest Architects (BÉK) protects the interests of the members and provides a framework for the self-management of the profession. Its important goal is to increase the social recognition of the architects and other associate professions, to strengthen the professional community of the members, as well as to intensify the interest in architecture among the wider public, and to develop the architectural culture.
BÉK is one of the 19 regional chambers of the Chamber of Hungarian Architects. It is a public body with self-government, territorial tasks and competences, which performs public tasks prescribed by law in order to ensure the legality and high standard of architectural and related activities. With this, it parallelly serves the protection of the interests of architects and other professionals working in related areas, as well as builders and customers.
BÉK, the largest of the regional chambers with almost 4,500 members and registrars, has been operating since 6 January 1997, in accordance with the 1996 law on the professional chambers of designing and consulting engineers and architects.
In the framework of its public duties, BÉK maintains the list of engineers and experts with territorial (Budapest) competence, in the field of architecture, interior design, garden and landscape design, and urban planning. Also, it registers building energy auditors, building site managers and technical supervisors. The Chamber maintains the list of land-use planners with national competence, and performs tasks related to the recognition of foreign certifications in its field.