Licensed vs Unlicensed Architect [Pros & Cons]

Unless you have been licensed by a state, it is illegal to call yourself an architect in the United States. This is a cumbersome process that requires one to take multiple examinations, naturally, a degree in architecture and long periods of apprenticeship. Yet, scores of unlicensed architects operate as “designers” and question the need to acquire a license. Needless to say, the debate on whether or not to get a license has been going on for a long time, with both sides putting forth their arguments and perspectives on the issue.

Over the last many decades, there have been many laws instituted to regulate architecture, and guidelines for architects have been issued. This is to protect the public from fraud and provide them with the necessary expertise in the form of highly-trained professionals such as doctors, engineers and so on, and at the same time, make sure that these people have the right credentials. But though the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) conducts the same examinations for architects across the US, doubts have lingered about the validity and importance of the licensing process.

So how does one decide? Should you get your architecture license or not? Take a look at the arguments from both camps, and then decide for yourself which side you want to be on:

Why You Should Get a License?

You Can Legally Call Yourself an Architect

Regardless of the ongoing debate, the law is the law. With a license under your belt, you can legally call yourself an architect and solicit your services that involve the health, safety, and welfare of the public. If you don’t have a license, you are not an architect, and if you have a license, you are. There is no such term such as an “unlicensed architect”. The debate holds true when you ask yourself if you have seen any “unlicensed” doctors or lawyers.

You Get Ample Time to Pass the Exam

When one is studying to pass the Architect Registration Examination (ARE), they probably don’t realize that they have plenty of time to pass that exam; 5 years! If for any reason you have to take a couple of years off (birth of a child, medical reasons or active military duty), you can make use of the five-year rolling clock, and pick up from where you stopped the clock. This way, you will not lose any of your hard work!

New Opportunities Will Present Themselves

Once you have passed your ARE and get your “licensed architect stamp”, not only will it imbibe you with confidence, you will find that it has opened up opportunities that didn’t exist before. Also, the fact that you have a license will make prospective clients more confident towards you and will keep you in their recommended list about upcoming projects.

Better Money

Though this can again lead to an endless debate, ensuring licensure for yourself will advance your career and generate more income. Compared with their unlicensed counterparts, licensed architects earn more. Also, if you are a licensed architect, you will be offered a higher salary by any reputed architectural firm.

Higher Level of Authority

Once you have a license of architecture under your belt, your level of authority in the field goes up a notch. You may be just an average architect, but to the rest of the world, it would mean that you are qualified to do your job. Besides, it will also give you a position in the office hierarchy, wherever you work. You may have worked as an intern or a designer while you were going through the ARE, but after you have acquired your license, you will be known as an “architect”.

Now that you have seen valid-enough reasons to get your architecture license, let’s see some arguments against it:

Why You Should Not Get a License?

Priorities

Once you are done with your education, acquiring an architect’s license may not the topmost thing on your mind. You may have had other aspirations that may not require you to take an architect’s license at all. While studying architecture, you may have noticed that this education can be used in certain other fields such as filmmaking or interior design. Fact is, you don’t need an architect’s degree to pursue a career in these fields.

Time Commitment

Ask yourself this question — do you really have hundreds of hours of study time to squeeze in while maintaining a full-time job? The licensing process will require you to complete 96 key tasks in 6 practice areas and report about 3,740 hours. Do you have the time for that, or you could be simply doing something that you are actually good at, or devote this time to build a profitable business?

Never-Ending Internship

A lot of people find the Internship Development Program extremely cumbersome, burdening and time-consuming, and find it difficult to keep up with it. If you have already started work with an architectural firm, you will find the extra work quite grueling. And this is just the tip of the iceberg; even after you get your license, you will have to keep fulfilling other educational requirements to keep your license fresh, or it might be taken away by the state.

Herd Behavior

Just because everyone else has done it or is doing it does not make it right or ideal for you. As we said earlier, if you have been thinking about branching out, go ahead and do it; because following a beaten path will only stifle your growth. Your education as an architect has already armed you with a unique set of skills such as fundamentals about space and construction, project management, model building, graphic designing, rendering and so on. It is up to you how you put these skills to use creatively, and not a finite path.

Conclusion

Whether you get an architectural license or not, it is a personal choice. It is entirely up to you to decide whether getting a license is really important to you and if you should devote your time to that. If you have already obtained your license or are getting there, be open-minded about those who have made their own personal decisions. There have been people who have struggled and gotten their licenses and were glad they did, yet there are others who realized that it wasn’t the path they wanted to be on and changed their career paths midway.