Certification
Certification
Overview
Introduction
to Certification
Is Your Architect
NCARB-certified?
Standards of
Eligibility
Revocation of
Certification
U.S. Requirements
Canadian
Requirements
BEA Certification Process
Council Record
Compilation
Certification
Process Timeline

Certification
Application
Employment
Verification Form
Broadly Experienced
Foreign Architect
(BEFA) Eligibility
Verification Form

from Chapter 1, 2002-2003 NCARB Handbook for Interns & Architects

1. Good Character
You must be of good character as verified by employers and an NCARB member board where you are registered.

2. Education
You must hold a professional degree in architecture from a program accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) or the Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB) no later than two years after your graduation, or hold a professional degree in architecture, certified by the CACB, from a Canadian university.

ALTERNATIVE TO A PROFESSIONAL DEGREE
If you do not hold a professional degree, NCARB will accept either of the following:

• Satisfaction of NCARB's Broadly Experienced Architect standard, which permits an architect, holding a registration from an NCARB Member Board and having verified experience in comprehensive architectural practice over a prescribed number of years, to demonstrate that his or her professional experience satisfies all his or her education deficiencies.
  
• With respect to applicants with a degree in the field of architecture granted by an academic institution outside the U.S. and Canada, an EESA-NCARB evaluation report stating that you have met the NCARB Education Requirement.

See the NCARB Education Standard for details on how to meet these alternative requirements.

3. Training
You must satisfy the Intern Development Program (IDP) Training Requirement described here and earn a total of 700 Training Units. One Training Unit equals eight hours of acceptable activity in an acceptable work setting. This chart lists the training categories, training areas, and minimum Training Units for each.

WHERE
You may earn Training Units in the following work settings:

A. Training under the direct supervision of a registered architect and when the architectural practice in which you work (a) is in the charge of a person practicing as a principal and (b) encompasses the comprehensive practice of architecture including each of the categories found in the IDP Training Requirements. A minimum of 235 Training Units must be earned in this work setting.

B. Training under the direct supervision of a registered architect when the practice in which you work does not encompass the comprehensive practice of architecture including each of the categories found in the IDP Training Requirements.

C. Training in a firm engaged in the practice of architecture outside the U.S. or Canada if you are under the direct supervision of a person practicing architecture who is neither registered in a U.S. Jurisdiction nor in a Canadian jurisdiction.

D. Training directly related to architecture when under the direct supervision of a registered landscape architect or a registered engineer (practicing as a structural, civil, mechanical, or electrical engineer in the field of building construction).

E. Training in settings other than A, B, C, or D involving the design or construction of the built environment (such as analysis of existing buildings, planning, programming, design of interior space, review of technical submissions, engaging in building construction activities, and the like) when you are under the direct supervision of a person experienced in the activity.

F. A post-professional degree in architecture, or full-time teaching or research in an NAAB- or CACB-accredited program.

FF. Performing professional or community service when not in the settings described in A, B, C, D, E, or F.

HOW MUCH?
These are the limitations on Training Units you may earn in each setting:

G. To satisfy Design & Construction Documents, Training Units (including Units earned from supplementary education) must be earned in the work settings described in A, B, or C.

H. Training Units earned in the work setting described in B may be used to satisfy any of the IDP Training Requirement, but no more than 465 Units may be earned in that work setting.

I. No more than 235 Training Units may be earned in the work setting described in C. No credit will be granted for foreign training other than under the direct supervision of a person practicing architecture.

J. Training Units earned in the work setting described in D may only be used to satisfy the requirements for Construction Contract Administration, Management, and Related Activities, but no more than 235 Training Units may be earned in that work setting.

K. Training Units earned in the work setting described in E may only be used to satisfy Management and Related Activities, but no more than 117 Units may be earned in that work setting.

L. Training Units earned for teaching and research in the work setting described in F may only be used to satisfy Related Activities, but no more than 245 Training Units may be earned in that work setting.

M. A post-professional degree in architecture earned before July 1, 2002 qualifies for 235 Training Units under Related Activities. A post-professional degree in architecture earned on or after July 1, 2002 qualifies for 117 Training Units under Related Activities. Your credit hours must be in subjects evaluated by NCARB as directly related to architecture.

N. You may earn Training Units by completing one or more supplementary education programs approved by NCARB. Credit for such programs shall be in accordance with a table of credits established by NCARB. See IDP Guidelines. Supplementary education cannot be used to satisfy the minimum Training Units required in any category of the IDP Training Requirement. The Training Units that may be earned under this paragraph and under paragraph M may not exceed 235 Units in the aggregate. (See IDP Training Requirements.)

NN. No more than 10 Training Units may be earned in the work setting described in FF.

WHEN
This is when you may earn Training Units:

O. Training Units may be earned only after satisfactory completion of any one of the following:

1) three years in an NAAB-accredited professional degree program;
2) the third year of a four-year pre-professional degree program in architecture accepted for direct entry to a two-year NAAB-accredited professional master's degree program;
3) one year in a NAAB-accredited professional master's degree program following receipt of a nonprofessional degree;
4) 96 semester credit hours as evaluated in accordance with the NCARB Education Standard, of which no more than 60 hours can be in the general education category; or
5) a number of years equivalent to the periods set out in clauses 1), 2), or 3) above, in a CACB-accredited professional degree program.

Note that 32 semester credit hours or 48 quarter credit hours equal one year in an academic program.

P. To earn Training Units in any work setting other than F (a post-professional degree or teaching or research), you must work at least 35 hours per week for a minimum period of 10 consecutive weeks, or work at least 20 hours per week for six or more consecutive months. To earn Training Units for teaching or research, you must be employed on a full-time basis.

Q. No experience used to meet the Education Requirement may be used to earn Training Units.

VERIFICATION
Every training activity, the setting in which it took place, and the time devoted to the activity must be verified by a responsible person who supervised your activity.

R. If the person verifying the training activity is not a registered architect, the work setting will not qualify under A or B.

S. If the person verifying the training activity is not a practicing architect, the work setting will not qualify under C.

T. If the person verifying the training activity is not a registered engineer or a registered landscape architect, the work setting will not qualify under D.

U. If you were at the time of the activity already a registered architect and not under the supervision of another, the verification must be by a person who observed the activity and who was your partner or a person employed by the same employer as employed you. Under no circumstances may you verify your own training activity.

UU. To earn Training Units in settings A through E if you were not an employee of the organization in which you received your training, you must submit evidence that you were nonetheless working under the direct supervision of the person overseeing your work.

DEFINITIONS
V. A "registered architect" is a person registered to practice architecture in the jurisdiction in which he/she practices.

W. A person practices as a "principal" by being (a) a registered architect and (b) the person in charge of the organization's architectural practice, either alone or with other registered architects.

X. "Direct Supervision" means that degree of supervision by a person overseeing the work of another, where both perform their work in the same office, where personal contact is routine, and whereby the supervisor has both control over and detailed professional knowledge of the work prepared under his/her supervision.

Y. "Training Unit" means eight hours of acceptable work in an acceptable work setting.

ALTERNATIVE TO IDP TRAINING REQUIREMENT
Z. In lieu of satisfying the IDP Training Requirement, NCARB will accept any one of the following:

1) Registration by an NCARB member board for five consecutive years and submission of evidence satisfactory to NCARB showing that your practice included exposure to each of the IDP Training Areas.
2) Five years of foreign experience as a principal in an organization whose architectural practice encompasses the comprehensive practice of architecture including each category found in the IDP Training Requirement and submission of evidence satisfactory to NCARB showing that your experience included exposure to each of the IDP Training Areas.
3) Registration by an NCARB member board before July 1, 1996, and satisfaction before or after that date of the NCARB training requirements existing on June 30, 1996.
4) Satisfaction on or before June 30, 1996 of the NCARB training requirements existing on June 30, 1996;
5) Satisfactory completion of the Canadian Intern Architect Program.

4. Examination
You must have passed either the NCARB Architect Registration Examination (ARE); or the NCARB Professional Examination, including either the Qualifying Test or the Equivalency Examination, when required by NCARB standards; or the NCARB examination syllabus, provided such examinations and the pass/fail standards applied were in accordance with NCARB standards current at the time you took the examination.

ALTERNATIVE TO EXAMINATION REQUIREMENT
If you fail to meet the examination requirement, you may still be certified in the following circumstances:

• If your examination deficiency arose from causes other than having failed a division of an examination under applicable NCARB pass/fail standards, and the deficiency is, in NCARB's judgment, compensated for by your demonstration of competency in the deficient area.
  
  
• If your registration was based in whole or in part on having passed sections of the California Architect Licensing Examination (CALE) between 1987 and 1989, you are deemed to have passed the corresponding divisions of the ARE.

5. Registration
You must hold a current registration to practice architecture issued by an NCARB member board.

6. General
In evaluating qualifications, NCARB may, prior to certification, require you to substantiate the quality and character of your experience, even if you have met the technical requirements set forth above.