Gov. Jay Inslee recently signed into law a bill that is aimed at simplifying the testing process for people seeking an architectural career in Washington.
Currently, the law in Washington requires an applicant to pass the required examination to qualify for registration as an architect in the state. However, there is a five-year rolling timeline for all applicants to successfully complete every section of the registration exam. According to a news release from the office of Rep. Stephanie McClintock (R-Vancouver), who brought the bill forward, House Bill 1880 will eliminate the five-year rolling timeline.
The new law will go into effect July 1, 2024.
Jared Bradshaw-Vinson, AIA, Associate Principal with Aetta Architects (formerly Johanssen Wing), said they see this new law as a positive for Aetta and for the architectural field, as well as an important step toward further increasing diverse representation in the industry.
“Like many firms, Aetta supports employees in pursuing their professional credentials, and in maintaining a healthy work-life balance,” Bradshaw-Vinson said. “We hope eliminating the unnecessary impediments to licensure imposed by the five-year timeline will further support our efforts to attract, train and retain excellent staff.”
Although Bradshaw-Vinson said the five-year timeline hasn’t caused any issues in their hiring process at Aetta, he said they are hopeful that under the new guidelines Aetta – and other architecture firms – will continue to attract the best and brightest talent, including those from diverse backgrounds.
“Eliminating the rolling clock advances a more inclusive future for the architecture profession,” Bradshaw-Vinson said.
Brockett Davidson, a senior architect with LSW Architects, has been heavily involved with the work on changing the rolling timeline, as he is the current president of the Southwest Washington chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Davidson explained that in order to become an architect in the United States, candidates must spend five-to-seven years getting a specialized education at an NAAB-accredited school or architecture to earn a degree; gain and document 3,740 hours of professional experience across six experience areas; pass six exams (divisions of the ARE or Architectural Registration Exam); and get registered in the state(s) they wish to practice in.
Davidson said that the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) develops and administers the exams, as well as the professional experience program. However, licensure is through the Architectural Board of the state or territory where the applicant wants to practice architecture, which can result in some variation in the rules around licensure depending on the state. Generally, though, they follow along with the standards established by NCARB.
“Prior to April 30, 2023, NCARB maintained a rolling clock policy, which placed a five-year expiration date on passed divisions of the ARE,” Davidson said. “This meant that if you were working towards completing all your exams, you could end up having to re-take divisions of the exam you already completed, if you took more than five years to complete all six exams (it was nine when I took them). NCARB’s Board of Directors unanimously decided at their January meeting of that year to retire the policy.”
When NCARB made this change, Davidson said there were a few states that had regulatory impediments to immediately adopt this change, Washington being one of them. Architects in Washington met with their legislators, organized through the AIA Washington Council, to push through legislation to get the rolling clock retirement to apply to Washington as well.
Some of the talking points that AIA Washington Council provided to architects included numerous reasons why change was needed in Washington, including:
- Overly restrictive policies slow building a diverse profession reflective of population
- NCARB data showed disproportionate impacts on women and people of racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds
- Unfairly penalizes dedicated licensure candidates by forcing full exam retakes despite no change in content knowledge
- Facing work/life challenges beyond one’s control should not end licensure dreams
- Creates obstacles to expanding Washington’s architect workforce
- Almost 100 Washington candidates have already lost exam section credits
- 40 more will lose credits by the end of 2024 if policy is not changed
Due to this change, Davidson said that in time, LSW will have access to a more diverse and greater number of architects to choose from as they build their team, which is all part of building a more equitable future. He said a more diverse pool of talent at any architectural firm will bring with it a broader set of experiences, and the quality of the decision solutions will increase, as the knowledge of how to shape the built environment, and for who, in the best possible way, is sharpened.
“LSW will end up with more licensed architects in the office,” he said. “There are a number of folks at LSW whose licensure was delayed, or are not yet licensed, but are now pursuing licensure, because the pathway has been made more accessible. This means that we’ll end up with more knowledgeable employees, as individuals who might not have been able to complete licensure will now be able to complete their exams.”
Davidson asked around at LSW to see if anyone would share personal stories of how the rolling five-year timeline affected them. One response he got stated: “My wife started taking the exams, but got behind due to kids and life. But once the tests she had passed started dropping off she decided to quit the process. So, she’s not licensed.”
“While there are exceptions, most of my colleagues who went to architecture school want to become licensed; it’s a point of pride to be able to call yourself an architect, which makes sense considering all the effort needed to get there,” Davidson said. “I could see this change leading to higher morale at LSW, as more employees are going to be able to pursue their dream of becoming a licensed architect.”
