Catalogue description Records of the Royal Fine Art Commission

The Royal Fine Art Commission was appointed by royal warrant in May 1924 to enquire into questions of public amenity or artistic importance referred to it by government departments and other public or quasi-public bodies. These limited duties were extended by a further warrant of 1933 which enabled the commission to call to the attention of these bodies any project or development which in its opinion affected amenities of a national or public character. In 1946 it received a further extension of its powers to enable it to ask for information and to make visits of inspection. The Commission met on a monthly basis, except in August, to discuss such matters as town planning in London, powers of planning authorities, erection or repair of public buildings and bridges (including St Paul's bridge) and projects of national importance.

In the first twenty years of its life the commission's work was almost entirely concerned with individual projects, but following the Second World War the need to take account of post-war planning and reconstruction broadened its scope. Its interests embrace the design of new buildings, alterations to existing buildings, and other developments affecting the visual environment such as roads and bridges.

In 1999, the RFAC was wound up, and its functions taken over by the newly established Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.