The Practice Charter — Standard Practice

Preamble

Standard Practice was constituted in 1852, in the year following the Great Exhibition, by the master guilds of the decorative and manufacturing trades. Machines had made production available to persons of no standing. The guilds established the Office to preserve the standard of work, and to determine the exceptions to it.

The Charter has since been revised twice. In 1985, the setting of type became available to any person with a desk. In 2026, the production of finished work became available to any person with a sentence. On each occasion the means of making became more widely held, and the Office reaffirmed its responsibility to determine Standing. This is Revision 03.

Part 1 Definitions

1.1
“Office” means Standard Practice, Office for Exceptions, and any person acting under its authority.
1.2
“Work” means any thing made, drafted, tested, generated, rehearsed or begun.
1.3
“Practice” means Work undertaken by a Practitioner of Standing.
1.4
“Practitioner of Standing” means a person whose Practice has been recognised by the Office.
1.5
“Recognition” means the determination by the Office that Work constitutes Practice.
1.6
“Evidence of Prior Practice” means Work made under a Permit.
1.7
“Permit” means a Permit to Make issued under Part 5.
1.8
“New Practice” means Work undertaken by any person other than a Practitioner of Standing, and any Work by a Practitioner of Standing which the Office does not deem a Continuation of Practice.
1.9
“Continuation of Practice” means Work by a Practitioner of Standing, however new, which the Office deems consistent with their Practice.
1.10
“Recognised Practice”, when counted in years, means the period beginning on the date of a person’s first Permit.
1.11
“Sponsor” means a Practitioner of Standing who accepts responsibility for the Work of an Applicant.
1.12
“Personal Activity” means Work which is not Practice. Personal Activity is valued by the Office.
1.13
“Applicant” means any person who is not a Practitioner of Standing.
1.14
“Influence” means any Work, teaching, review, publication or platform of a Practitioner of Standing which a person has encountered, or may reasonably be presumed to have encountered.
1.15
“Determination” means any decision of the Office, including a decision not to decide.
1.16
“Standard” means the Standard published at Schedule B, as interpreted by the Office.
1.17
“Standing” means the status by which the Office accepts a person’s eligibility to undertake Practice. Evidence requirements depend on the Standing already held.
1.18
“Retrospective Regularisation” means the recognition of previously undertaken Work as authorised, subject to evidence that authorisation existed at the time of making.
1.19
“Attribution” means the Office’s determination of the Practice to which Work belongs.
1.20
“Assistance” means a contribution entered under another Practitioner’s recognised Practice. Assistance does not establish independent Standing.
1.21
“Public Record” means the record of Practice admitted to public recognition. Receipt of correspondence does not constitute admission.
1.22
“Record” means the file of applications, notices, Determinations and Observations held by the Office in respect of a person.

Part 2 Authority and scope

2.1
This Charter applies to all Work, whether made, proposed, tested or begun.
2.2
Work undertaken without a Permit is within the scope of this Charter by reason of having been undertaken.
2.3
The Office interprets this Charter. Its interpretations form part of the Charter.
2.4
The Office classifies Work, determines Standing and recognises exceptions.
2.5
The Standard is maintained on the advice of Practitioners of Standing.
2.6
The Office determines who is a Practitioner of Standing (1.4).
2.7
Nothing in this Charter prevents the making of Work. It determines whether Work counts.

Part 3 Classification of Practice

3.1
On Determination, Work is classified as New Practice, Continuation of Practice or Personal Activity.
3.2
Work by a Practitioner of Standing is presumed to be a Continuation of Practice and requires no Permit.
3.3
New Practice requires a Permit before it is begun.
3.4
Work without a defined outcome is classified as Personal Activity, unless it is undertaken by a Practitioner of Standing, in which case it is classified as research.
3.5
Classification follows the Standing of the maker at the time of making. Identical Works may be differently classified.

Part 4 Grounds for Standing

4.1
Standing is established by Recognition on the Grounds set out in Schedule A.
4.2
An Applicant must satisfy no fewer than three Grounds.
4.3
Craft alone shall not constitute Standing.
4.4
Evidence of a Ground is admissible only when confirmed by the verifier named in Schedule A.
4.5
Evidence verified by a client, body or institution is admissible only where that client, body or institution holds Standing. That Standing is determined by the Office.
4.6
Evidence provided is not evidence accepted. Grounds are assessed once Evidence of Prior Practice has been established (6.1).
4.7
A person who declares Standing at verification is presumed to hold it.
The presumption is not reviewed unless contested by a Practitioner of Standing.

Part 5 Applications and Permits

5.1
An application for a Permit to Make is made on Form P-1. Permits are issued in the classes the Office lists as open, on the requirements it sets for each.
5.2
Each application requires:
1. (a) a statement of outcome;
2. (b) a Sponsor; and
3. (c) declarations that the Work has not begun and that submission does not establish Standing.
An outcome to be determined during making is a statement of outcome, and is classified under 3.4.
5.3
A Deferral is not a refusal. An application may be deferred indefinitely.
5.4
Work under Permit is reviewed at the following intervals:
1. (a) Practitioners of Standing: on completion, at the discretion of the Office;
2. (b) Applicants with a Sponsor: after each trial;
3. (c) Applicants without a Sponsor: see 5.5.
5.5
Applications without a Sponsor are received.
Receipt does not satisfy 5.2(b).
5.6
A complete application is received and determined. Completeness does not require the grant of a Permit.
5.7
A Practitioner of Standing proposing a Continuation of Practice states the title of the Work. The remaining requirements are waived (3.2).

Part 6 Evidence

6.1
Every application for a Permit requires Evidence of Prior Practice.
6.2
Work made without a Permit is admissible as Personal Activity only.
Personal Activity is not Evidence of Prior Practice.
6.3
The Office may accept the reputation of a Sponsor in place of evidence.
6.4
Years of practice are counted from a person’s first Permit (1.10). Earlier years cannot be verified (8.2).
6.5
Work begun in order to demonstrate capacity is Work made without a Permit.

Part 7 Review and Observations

7.1
A Determination may be reviewed where this Charter was misapplied. A review does not restore standing.
7.2
A request which contends that this Charter is itself mistaken is not a request for review. It is an Observation.
7.3
Observations are filed with the Standard and considered at the next Revision. Revisions are not scheduled.
7.4
The lodging of an Observation does not affect any Determination, save that it is entered in the Record.
7.5
Where the Office finds that a clause was applied as written, a request for review is taken to contend that the clause is mistaken (7.2).
7.6
An Observation may be lodged on Form O-1 at any time.

Part 8 The Record

8.1
The Office enters each application, notice, Determination, request and Observation in the Record of the person concerned.
8.2
Matters which are not in the Record cannot be verified.
8.3
The Record is permanent. It may be viewed by the person concerned. It may be amended only by the Office.
8.4
Entry in the Record is not Recognition. Correspondence is recorded whether or not the Work it concerns is admitted.
8.5
Work is admitted to the Public Record on Recognition. A Continuation of Practice is admitted on Determination.
8.6
Eligibility for the Public Record follows Standing.
8.7
Publication of the Public Record is at the discretion of the Office.

Part 9 Unregistered Practice

9.1
Work made without a current Permit is received by the Office on disclosure.
A Notice of Receipt is not a penalty.
9.2
Received Work is classified as Personal Activity. It may not be cited as experience, submitted for review, entered in the Record as Practice, or used as Evidence of Prior Practice.
9.3
Work undertaken before a person’s first Permit is deemed preparatory. It adds no years of Recognised Practice.
9.4
Where Work shows Influence, the Office may determine that it constitutes a Continuation of the Practice of the Practitioner of Standing concerned. Attribution is entered accordingly, and the maker’s contribution is recorded as Assistance.
Attributed Work is admitted to the Public Record under the Practice to which it is attributed. Assistance is not admitted.
9.5
Disclosure is not an admission, except for the purposes of this Part.
9.6
A person may apply on Form RR-1 for Retrospective Regularisation. The application must include evidence that a Permit was held at the time of making.
A reference to a Permit is not evidence that it was held (8.2).
9.7
Undisclosed Work later identified by the Office is treated as disclosed.

Schedule A Grounds for Standing

Read with Part 4. No fewer than three Grounds are required (4.2).

Ground	Admissible evidence	Accepted verifier	Qualification
A1 Impact	Work that demonstrably changed an outcome for a client or institution	The client	Admissible where the client holds Standing (4.5).
A2 Endorsement	Selection, publication, or membership by a body of Standing	The body	The Standing of the body is determined by the Office (4.5).
A3 Pedigree	Education, employment or commission from institutions of Standing	The institution	As for A2.
A4 Craft	Command of the formal rules of the medium	None named	Craft alone shall not constitute Standing (4.3).
A5 Contribution	Teaching, speaking, publishing or mentoring	The audience	An audience is counted where it includes a Practitioner of Standing.

Schedule B The Standard

B.1
Work is assessed against the Standard by reference to:
1. (a) demonstrated command of the medium;
2. (b) intelligible intent;
3. (c) recognised precedent; and
4. (d) contribution to Practice.
B.2
The criteria are interpreted by the Office on the advice of Practitioners of Standing (2.5).
B.3
Recognised precedent is established by Work already admitted to the Public Record.
B.4
A departure from the Standard may be accepted as innovation where the Work is a Continuation of Practice.
B.5
Selections made during standing verification are retained with the Standard.
They are not Observations under Part 7, are not entered in the Record, and do not amend the Standard.

The Practice Charter.