Architecture design governance and assurance
Things to help you
- Last reviewed
- 4 June 2026
- Owner
- Head of Architecture
DDT professionals and teams have access to a plethora of design skills and experience from across professional communities in DfE.
You may find it helpful to ask your community for help with design problems, or run a technical show and tell at a community meet-up.
You can also email the Heads of Profession to ask for help to facilitate a peer review of your design.
Peer review
A peer review is bringing together the right people to review your design and provide helpful, constructive advice, whatever your stage of delivery. This could be early on when you’re thinking about the problem space and options, or later, when you have physical designs.
Typically, you’d have a design and some narrative documented to share in advance of the session - this could be a simple diagram, a design pack or links to documentation on your repository/wiki. This gives reviewers the opportunity to understand the context and think of questions about your design.
During the session, you’ll walk through key points of your design, ask for and discuss feedback. It should be an open, honest and constructive conversation, amongst trusted peers. You should make notes and summarise these (and any actions) back to the group. For particularly large or complex designs, the DDT standards forum may be able to provide support.
After the session, the team will need to record and track any significant or cross-cutting decisions and actions.
Email the Architecture Profession for advice on setting up a peer review.
Show and tells
It may be more appropriate for you to bring specialists and team members together for a Show and Tell. These are a great way to provide support, challenge and design assurance in a less formal setting.
Email the Heads of Profession to get a slot at a community meet-up.
Further guidance
For any other information on standards or assuring your design, reach out to the DDT standards forum.