Big changes in store for path to architect licensure

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Changes are gradually coming to the ways that architects can get licensed, reflecting the evolution of a profession that has helped to shape the environment around us.

I think this is unprecedented, said Michael J. Armstrong, CEO of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards which is generating the changes.

The single most significant change would be a new path labeled licensure upon graduation, which would be a structured, streamlined approach to becoming an architect. Another change thats already underway is a redesign of the Intern Development Program, which is a major step in the journey to become an architect.

One starting point for the overhaul of the licensing requirements is a single statistic: The average age at which a person gets licensed or registered as an architect is 34. In addition, only about half of the graduates from architecture schools go on to be licensed, Armstrong said.

For a 17- or 18-year-old college prospect looking at careers in todays economy, spending the next 16 years to become a licensed architect can seem pretty old school compared to what might be achieved over the same period of time in information technology, Armstrong said.

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We hear from people who have a lot of career options when they go to school, he said. There are choices out there that didnt exist before.

David Dekker, principal of Studio Southwest Architects in Albuquerque, was licensed at age 26, or about as fast as it could be achieved in the early 1980s. He credits his comparatively fast track to licensure largely to his upbringing.

My dad was an architect. From the time I was 10 years old, I was running blueprints in the office. Later I worked summers in construction and did drafting for my dad, said the Texas Tech College of Architecture graduate. That kind of background allowed me to take the exam and pass it.

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Big changes in store for path to architect licensure