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August 2004

The Debut of a Uniform, National "Rolling Clock" for the ARE

Washington, DC—After spirited discussion during NCARB's 2004 Annual Meeting, a majority of Council Member Boards passed a resolution officially creating a "rolling clock" standard for the Architect Registration Examination (ARE). Under the terms of the rolling clock, which will be officially implemented on January 1, 2006, candidates for the ARE must pass the nine-division exam within five years. Three transitional rules, which are noted below, will guide this process.

Background
NCARB's Procedures & Documents Committee, under the leadership of Kevin Monson, AIA, recommended a rolling clock after extensively studying the issue. By establishing this standard, NCARB Member Boards recognize that the practice of architecture changes over time. Likewise, ARE content, its format, and its administration can change over time as well.

In its statement of support, the P&D Committee noted, "Requiring that all divisions be passed within a reasonable period will better assure that the ARE remains a valid measure of the level of competence necessary to independently practice architecture. While some changes may occur within any five-year period, there is a lower likelihood that applicants will be tested under different forms of administration and methodologies than is the case currently with applicants having unlimited time in which to pass all divisions."

The Chauncey Group International, the Council's test development and operations consultant for the ARE, also supports the rolling clock, suggesting that it is psychometrically appropriate especially as the exam continues to evolve. Unlike other professions (including the legal and accounting fields), architecture did not have a uniform, national rolling clock for examination prior to the passage of this resolution.

Transitional Rules
Three basic rules will guide the implementation of the rolling clock:

• For applicants who have passed all divisions of the ARE by January 1, 2006, regardless of the time taken, such applicants will have passed the ARE.
  
  
• For applicants who have passed one or more but not all divisions of the ARE by January 1, 2006, such applicants will have five years to pass all remaining divisions. A passing grade for any remaining division shall be valid for five years, after which time the division must be retaken if the remaining divisions have not been passed. The five-year period shall commence after January 1, 2006, on the date when the first passed division is administered.
  
  
• Divisions passed before January 1, 2006 will not have to be retaken.
  
  
• For applicants who have passed no divisions of the ARE by January 1, 2006, such applicants shall be governed by the above five year requirement. The five-year period shall commence on the date when the first passed division is administered.

What's Next
Long before NCARB introduced this resolution, nine Member Boards already had implemented a rolling clock requirement, among them Texas, Delaware, and South Carolina. NCARB's adoption of a national rolling clock requirement will implement a uniform standard for all jurisdictions, thus facilitating reciprocity. For those states with a rolling clock already in place, their individual requirements can be eliminated, thereby relieving them of some record-keeping burdens, while respecting the intent of their current standards.