The Unconventional Journey

Achieving Architectural Licensure through NCARBs Alternative Path

My passion for drawing, building, and creating began when I was very young. I envisioned myself as an architect. Unfortunately, as you all well know, life doesn’t always turn out the way you planned. The architecture degree gave way to an art history degree. This prepared me for the study and interpretation of historical buildings and monuments. It didn’t take me long to realize how art and architecture were connected.

Having said that, here I am today, working in architecture. What you may find interesting is that I didn’t get where I am today by following the usual path. I’m going to show you how to become an architect without an architectural education via the NCARB Alternative Path.

Here is the process. Start by going to NCARBs website. https:// www.ncarb.org/get-licensed/ licensing-requirements-tool Once there, click the button in the left column: “Additional experience can be accepted as an alternative to the educational requirement.” This highlights all the states and territories that allow licensure via experience. Be aware, not all states allow for experience as an alternative path.

Decide which state you want to be licensed in and research the required AXP hours. Set up your NCARB account and choose your selected state of licensure. High school and college transcripts will be required, so upload them to your account. Set up your AXP reports page to record your hours. Seek a licensed architect to be your mentor as they will approve your AXP hours. I strongly suggest you work with a mentor you like, because you’ll spend a lot of time together. Start recording the hours for the architecture work you’re doing. For example, I submitted mine once a month, but recorded them daily.

It’s vital to understand, if you’re starting from scratch, it will take about eight years to qualify to take the AREs. Nevertheless, if you’ve been in the industry for some time, it’s possible to backlog your hours. Let me explain. You can record your previous 5 years of work and 50% of that time will be applied toward your AXP hours. That said, for anything that is 8 months in retrospect you get 80%.

After completing the required AXP hours, submit them to the state you have selected for licensure. You’ll get an email letting you know you have been approved to take the AREs.

So, what’s next? Once you’re licensed you must remain in good standing with the selected state for 3 years. At that point, you can apply for reciprocity and become licensed in your home state. This is only applicable if you have applied for licensure in a state that is not your residential state. For example, I am in Iowa and the state I applied for licensure in was Colorado. This applied to me. In the case that you are a resident of Colorado, (or any state in this program) you won’t need 3 years of good standing process, you will be licensed immediately in that state only.

For those of you who will need to experience that 3-year process, it may sound like a long time. But the good news is depending on the state you want to be licensed in you may be able to reduce that amount of time. It’s up to the NCARB division of each state to decide if they’ll allow a shorter time frame for reciprocity. For more information, contact your state’s advisor.

I hope this helps. If you need additional information or have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me (hadaway22@yahoo. com).

If there’s anything I could add to conclude this article, I would say: don’t be afraid. Everything worth having takes time. Good luck!

Hadaway is a Project Manager at Rains Architecture, Treasurer at BEC Iowa & AIA Emerging Professionals member in Des Moines,