Experience Areas

The AXP® identifies 96 key tasks that fall into six practice areas. To demonstrate your ability to perform those tasks, you’ll need to report a total of 3,740 hours across the six areas.

Experience Area Required Hours Tasks
Practice Management 160 16
Project Management 360 32
Programming & Analysis 260 18
Project Planning & Design 1,080 17
Project Development & Documentation 1,520 7
Construction & Evaluation 360 6
Total Hours 3,740 96

Each experience area aligns with an ARE® 5.0 division, so you can use the AXP to guide your professional growth and exam strategy.

The 96 tasks are designed to span several phases of your early career—some are simpler and can be completed earlier in your career, while others may require skills and experience that are developed over time. Work with your supervisor to create a strategy to complete the AXP.

If you are completing the AXP through the portfolio method rather than hourly reporting, you will need to upload exhibits demonstrating competency in all 96 AXP tasks.

Remember: Each jurisdiction sets its own requirements for initial licensure, and some require additional experience. Check our licensing requirements tool to explore your jurisdiction’s requirements.

Experience Settings

To qualify for the AXP, your work must fall under one of two experience settings. These settings define the type of organization, the work performed, and who verifies your experience. Nearly half of your documented experience (1,860 hours) must be gained while employed by an architecture firm legally practicing architecture and under the supervision of an architect licensed architect in the United States or Canada—this is experience setting A.

  • Setting A: Work performed in an architecture firm
  • Setting O: Experience that can be performed outside an architecture firm

See the AXP Guidelines for a detailed explanation of the requirements for each experience opportunity.