During the rule of the Knights of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, resident military architects and engineers were mostly foreigners. A number of Maltese 'periti', or experts, were trained under a system of practical apprenticeships, supplemented by theoretical instruction at the Università. There is evidence of a two-year course, held in the period 1831-33, and of a three-year course, held in the period 1863-1866.

In 1905, the School of Architecture was established under the science branch of the Faculty of Literature and Science, established in 1898. Between 1904-1920, this faculty split into two. Subsequently, in 1915, the Course of Engineering and Architecture was established as an independent Faculty. By 1934, the Faculty was divided into three Departments, that of Architecture, Civil Engineering, and Municipal Engineering.

When the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology, (Polytechnic), was set up in the late fifties, the trend was set for a separation of civil engineering from architectural design studies, following the anglo-saxon model. The first courses, leading to distinct Bachelor of Science degrees in Civil Engineering, were offered by the Polytechnic in the mid-sixties. The Department of Architecture, at the University of Malta, on the other hand, moved to a two-tier degree programme, leading to an Honours Bachelors Degree in Architecture.

In 1972, there was a political decision to revert to a unified degree course, leading to a Bachelors degree in Engineering and Architecture. In the late seventies, early eighties, the Faculty was gradually absorbed into the new Faculty of Engineering. The Faculty of Architecture & Civil Engineering was re-established in the late eighties, the name continuing to reflect the formal title that had been prescribed for the profession, namely that of 'Architect and Civil Engineer', after a brief period, where the professional title was 'Architect and Land Surveyor'.

In 1998, the Periti Act was approved in the place of the Architects’ Ordnance, with the professional title changing to the traditional term of 'perit'.

The faculty, recently named Faculty for the Built Environment, has a system of streams of study with the final two years of a five year course leading to a master degree.