NCARB Customer Service is available to answer questions Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, excluding holidays.

You may contact NCARB Customer Service via e-mail at customerservice@ncarb.org or by telephone at 202-879-0520, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Letters may be addressed to NCARB Customer Service at 1801 K Street, NW, Suite 700K, Washington, DC 20006.

In May 1919, during an American Institute of Architects (AIA) convention in Nashville, TN, 15 architects from 13 states came together to form an organization that would become the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB). For more information, please read The History of NCARB.

Fees associated with NCARB programs and services can be found here.

The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) is the sole agency authorized to accredit professional degree programs in architecture in the United States.

The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB)'s website has a list of all NAAB-accredited programs and programs that are candidates for NAAB accreditation. Your school should also be able to confirm if it has a program that is accredited by the NAAB or a candidate for NAAB accreditation.

Persons interested in registration without a professional degree from a NAAB- or CACB-accredited degree program may need an EESA evaluation. Please contact your state board for more information regarding their education requirements.

The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) is the sole agency authorized to accredit professional degree programs in architecture in the United States. For more information on the accreditation process and to see if your program is accredited, visit the NAAB website at www.naab.org.

If you are an intern, the application fee for an NCARB Record covers the first three years of renewals. After this three-year period, you must pay the annual renewal fee to keep an active Record.

In order for NCARB to receive a transcript from your educational institution, you will need to download, complete, and send the transcript form to your school. Many schools will allow you to request your transcripts online without the transcript form. Please be sure to reference your NCARB Record number on your request.

 

If your education is from an institution within the United States or Canada, have your transcript mailed to NCARB directly from your college or university. NCARB cannot accept student-issued transcripts.

 

If you were educated outside the United States or Canada and do not have a NAAB-or CAAB-accredited degree, you must get your post-secondary education evaluated by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). Do not use the transcript form and do not have your transcript(s) sent to NCARB. Contact NAAB.

Yes, many jurisdictions have procedures for considering a foreign education.

Most jurisdictions require that:

1. You hold a professional degree in architecture which is evaluated by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) as satisfying the NCARB Education Standard.
2. You satisfy the experience requirements of the Intern Development Program (IDP) and
3. You complete the Architect Registration Examination (ARE).

You may review the different jurisdictional requirements by visiting our registration board requirements section.

NAAB administers the Education Evaluation Services for Architects (EESA-NCARB) program, which evaluates non-NAAB accredited degrees and the credentials of foreign educated applicants against the NCARB Education Standard.

No, as long as your Master of Architecture program is accredited by NAAB. If your Master of Architecture program is not accredited by NAAB, you may be required to have an EESA-NCARB evaluation.

The Intern Development Program (IDP) is a comprehensive program that identifies the areas of architectural practice that interns must gain experience in prior to the independent practice of architecture.

No. Only those degrees listed on the post-professional degree list can be submitted for IDP credit.

In order for experience to qualify under “Construction Work,” it must be performed for at least 15 hours per week for at least eight consecutive weeks, even when in the volunteer capacity of a nonprofit organization. This stipulation was created to ensure that the scenario reaches a breadth and depth of experience to truly offer a skilled training opportunity. Should the experience not meet the minimum number of hours and weeks, the experience may be reported as “Leadership and Service,” which does not mandate any time minimums.

No, “Construction Work” must be approved by an IDP supervisor who is experienced in the activity and maintains direct supervision over the work of the intern.

Interns will be able to begin reporting construction work in the online reporting system on November 15. Interns may begin reporting experience in line with reporting requirements.

Academic internship programs need not be pre-approved by NCARB, and therefore a list of approved academic internships no longer exists.

Any hours previously submitted and identified as an academic internship still exist within the online reporting system and can be found under the experience setting in which they were reported under.

The only limitations are those imposed by the specific experience settings of IDP.

The online reporting system no longer distinguishes between employments that are part of academic internships and those that are not. Therefore, any experience reporting can be maintained continuously throughout the employment.

If you have already reported 930 hours through the academic internships option, you will be able to report any additional hours you have gained since the opportunity became available in April.

Construction work is reserved primarily for activities directly involving the building trades (i.e. framing, roofing, masonry, drywall work, flooring, plumbing, site preparation, etc.) and earns elective credit only. “Design or Construction Related Employment” includes a variety of scenarios, the most construction related of which focuses on the management of building construction activities (e.g. foreman, site superintendent, project manager, etc.) and earns core credit.

Volunteer hours may be placed under “Leadership and Service” if you’d like them to be applied to the “Leadership and Service” core hour requirement. Otherwise, they may be placed under “Construction Work” and earn elective hours. Please note, “Construction Work” requires a minimum of 15 hours per week for a minimum of eight consecutive weeks, whereas “Leadership and Service” does not.

Please see the “Construction Work” portion of the IDP Guidelines for examples of general employment scenarios and types of construction work that qualify for credit under this opportunity.

In the architecture profession, an “intern” is any person who by means of their education or experience has qualified to participate in the Intern Development Program.

The first step is to establish an NCARB Record.

You will receive e-mail instructions on how to proceed. For more information about the IDP, download the IDP Guidelines.

You can start the IDP once you have established an NCARB Record and met the requirements of an IDP elgibility date. All of the requirements for starting the program are outlined in the IDP Guidelines and the Getting Started section.

An IDP eligibility date is the date on or after which you are able to earn IDP experience. It is determined based on your education or experience.

For experience earned on or after 1 October 2010, you must satisfy one of the current IDP eligibility dates outlined in the IDP Guidelines.

Please refer to Appendix A of the IDP Guidelines to learn how to establish an IDP eligibility date that is prior to 1 October 2010.

You only need to establish your IDP eligibility date once.

 

An IDP eligibility date is determined based on your education or experience. To establish an IDP eligibility date, you must document one of the following:

1. Enrollment in a NAAB/CACB-accredited degree program
2. Enrollment in a pre-professional architecture degree program at a school that offers a NAAB/CACB-accredited degree program
3. Employment in experience setting A after obtaining a U.S. high school diploma, General Education Degree (GED) equivalent, or comparable foreign degree

You may document your IDP eligibility date using one of the IDP eligibility date forms available on page six of the IDP Guidelines.

You only need to establish your IDP eligibility date once.

You may submit your experience to your supervisor or NCARB through My NCARB without establishing an IDP eligibility date. However, once your IDP eligibility date is established, any experience you have submitted that was earned prior to your eligibility date will not be accepted.

No. Once your IDP eligibility date has been established, it is set for all experience earned on or after that date.

Yes. When you are reporting experience in My NCARB and you do not have an IDP eligibility date, you will see the warning, “Your IDP eligibility date has not been established.” This warning will not prevent you from reporting. However, once your IDP eligibility date is established, any experience you have submitted that was earned prior to your eligibility date will not be accepted.

If you have already documented your IDP eligibility date and are seeing this warning, please contact NCARB Customer Service.

Your IDP eligibility date is determined based on your education or experience.  

For experience earned on after 1 October 2010, you may document your IDP eligibility date using one of the IDP eligibility date forms available in the IDP Guidelines or on the Getting Started page.

You only need to establish your IDP eligibility date once.

There is an application fee to establish your NCARB Record. You must have established your NCARB Record to document your IDP experience. For the current intern application fee, please refer to the How much does IDP cost? page.

The online application charges the application fee based on your graduation date. If you are currently in school or are within six months of graduation, you have a choice of paying the partial student application fee or the full fee. If you chose the partial application fee, the balance will be due before your Record is transmitted to a jurisdiction in support of your application for the ARE. Please check your graduation date and select the payment option you prefer within the online application.

Interns must acquire 5,600 hours to satisfy the IDP experience requirement. One experience hour equals one hour of acceptable experience. A complete outline of the IDP requirements is available in the IDP Guidelines.

Yes. You earn IDP experience when you are employed in a recognized experience settings. The acceptable IDP experience settings are outlined in the IDP Guidelines.

You report your experience through the NCARB website with the online reporting system available in My NCARB.

Core hours are experience earned in IDP experience categories and areas. Core minimum hours are the minimum number of hours you must earn in a given category or area.

In general, you can receive up to one year of credit for foreign employment that occurred under the direct supervision of an architect registered in that country. If your direct supervisor was registered in a U.S. jurisdiction, you can usually receive unlimited credit.

Yes. You may earn IDP credit through supplemental experience, much of which can be earned whether or not you are employed.

All of the opportunities available through supplemental experience are explained in the IDP Guidelines.

The best ways to maximize your experience are to familiarize yourself with the rules of the program as outlined in the IDP Guidelines and to meet frequently with your IDP supervisor and mentor to review your progress.

Many IDP supervisors may not have been through the IDP, but the IDP Guidelines contains a section specifically dedicated to helping IDP supervisors understand their role in the program. This document can help both you and your supervisor plan a course of action for your internship.

Completion of the IDP is one of the requirements for NCARB certification. To learn more about the NCARB certification process and the benefits of becoming NCARB certified see the Certification & Reciprocity section.

Even if your current jurisdiction does not require IDP, many jurisdictions will require completion of IDP as a requirement to achieve reciprocity. You may review the different jurisdictional requirements on the State Board Licensing Requirements section.

 

It is also a requirement to earn an NCARB Certificate.

The lowest denomination of hours the system will accept is .25 hours.

Some jurisdictional laws and regulations may still reference training units. Although My NCARB systems are denominated in experience hours from the intern and supervisor’s perspective, some of NCARB’s "behind-the-scenes" systems will continue to reflect training units, and your jurisdiction will still be corresponding with NCARB in terms of training units. To avoid confusion, please be aware if you are referencing experience hours or training units when corresponding with NCARB or your jurisdiction. One training unit equals eight experience hours.

Reporting requirements require interns to submit their experience hours in reporting periods of no longer than six months and within two months of completion of each reporting period. These reporting requirements went into effect for all interns 1 July 2010.

The reporting requirements are tools to help interns, together with their supervisors, identify and target deficient training areas sooner rather than later so that they can request exposure to such experience promptly.

Short-term employment must be reported within a reporting period of no longer than six months and within two months of completion of the reporting period. See Example 3 in the Six-Month Rule Examples section for more information.

Once an intern enters qualified hours into the online reporting system, they will not be penalized by losing hours for delays in processing caused by their supervisor or NCARB. NCARB will electronically notify the intern’s supervisor that they have submitted a report for their review and discussion with their intern. In other words, once an intern submits hours by entering them into their Record online, those hours are “protected” from the reporting requirements while any loose ends are tied up. An intern can only lose the submitted hours if they are deemed invalid by the supervisor, or they are not earned in accordance with the rules of the IDP. See Example 2 in the Reporting Requirement Examples section for more information.

Yes. The reporting requirements provides for a reasonable extension of the reporting period where it is prevented by the birth or adoption of a child, by a serious medical condition, by active duty in military service, or by other like causes. See Examples 5-7 in the Reporting Requirements Examples section and the Reporting Requirements Extensions section for more information. Click here for the extension form.

At the Annual Meeting in June 2008, NCARB’s Member Boards voted 49-1 in favor of implementing Resolution 2008-07, which established the reporting requirements.

All interns must comply with the reporting requirements when submitting work experience or supplemental experience. If you are unemployed, you do not have any work experience to report, and therefore do not need to submit a work experience report. However, if you take advantage of the supplemental experience opportunities that are available for IDP credit while unemployed, then you will need to submit that experience in compliance with the reporting requirements.

NCARB Record holders are able to document their experience reports online through My NCARB. Each time you submit an experience report online, your supervisor receives an e-mail notification with a link to their report. Once the supervisor has created a profile in the system, they can review and approve all your experience reports online.

Your Record is updated immediately, and you can log in to My NCARB at any time to view your progress.

You can submit experience reports online through My NCARB by clicking the orange button on the right side of NCARB's home page, www.ncarb.org. In "NCARB Record," a link is available entitled "Report Experience (online reporting system)."

"Saved" experience reports are hours you have entered for a specific reporting period, but have not yet submitted to your IDP supervisor for approval. You may make changes to your "saved" experience any time until you submit your report

"Submitted" experience reports are hours you have submitted to your supervisor, but have not yet been approved. You may not make changes to an experience report once you have submitted it to your IDP supervisor for approval and certification of the accuracy.

"Approved" experience reports are hours your supervisor has verified and are now included in your IDP  hour totals.

If you need to make adjustments to an experience report you have submitted to your IDP supervisor for approval, you must have your supervisor select the "Return for Edits" option. This action will cause the experience report to be returned to you so that you can correct it and resubmit it.

NOTE: Your supervisor has a third option to permanently reject your report. This is only intended to be used if they do not agree that you performed any of the work noted on your submission or that your professional conduct or technical competence were unsatisfactory. If your supervisor rejects your submission, you will need to discuss this with them directly to see if a resolution is available. If this needs to be changed, the supervisor would need to contact NCARB directly.

 

 

 

 

Yes, all previously submitted and accepted hours are included in the IDP summary you see in My NCARB.

When adding a new employer or experience report, you are asked to identify your direct supervisor and enter their e-mail address. (Note: please review the IDP Guidelines for information about identifying your direct supervisor). When you have finished entering the information for the experience report, click "submit" and an e-mail is sent to your IDP supervisor asking them to log in as a supervisor and review your submission. If your IDP supervisor approves the submission, the report is added to your NCARB Record and the hours are added to your totals; if they select the "Return for Edits" option, the submission is returned to you for revision and resubmission.

Hours from approved experience reports are immediately viewable in your IDP hour totals. You may need to log out of your NCARB Record and log back in for the update(s) to appear.

Paper forms are no longer accepted. All experience reports must be submitted online.

A yellow "Warning" at the top of your report alerts you to the potential for a mistake that could lead to rejection by your supervisor or NCARB. You may proceed with your submission despite a warning message.  

A red "Error" at the top of your report alerts you to a mistake that must be corrected before you can submit your experience report. Error messages are most often problems such as overlapping reporting periods or submitting too many training hours for the reporting period. You may not submit an experience report until all "Error" messages have been addressed and no longer appear.

Yes, the online reporting system will accept the two employments while providing you a warning regarding overlapping experience reports. You will need to accept the warning message prior to submittal. NCARB may require additional documentation from your employers.

Once your Record indicates that you have completed the requirements for the IDP, your Record will automatically be placed in the queue for a final evaluation. After this evaluation, you will be updated by NCARB staff regarding your status and the next steps you'll need to take.

Select "New Experience Report," your experience setting, and your company/organization, and then select your supervisor from the drop-down menu.

Select the "New Experience Report" button on thehome page in the online reporting system to begin adding a new IDP experience report. 

The "Experience Reports" tab of the online reporting system will allow you to select and view your "saved" infromation. Select the report you would like to modify. The experience is saved automatically until you either "Submit" or "Delete" the report. Until then, you can make changes as often as you like, including updating the experience hours daily to reflect work completed that same day. However, once you submit the report to your supervisor you will not be able to edit it unless your supervisor returns the report for edits. Please make sure you are satisfied with the completeness and accuracy of the report before submitting it for verification.

You can only delete experience reports listed as "Saved." All other reports listed cannot be online. To delete submissions other than those listed as "Saved," please contact customer service at customerservice@ncarb.org and request the deletion by indicating both the employer and reporting period.

No. Weekly reporting allows you to enter hours for each day of the week similar to a timesheet. You can include several weeks in a weekly report. You should discuss with your supervisor how often you should submit an experience report.

For the best user experience, you should update whatever browser you use to the latest version. The weekly reporting and widget work best with Internet Explorer 10 or higher.

On a week that has hours, click the “duplicate” button under the calendar and all the experience areas with hours will be repeated on the following week. Please note: if there are experience areas without hours on the week you are duplicating, they will not appear on the following week.

Yes. You can view a summary of your weekly report under the summary tab.

Weekly formatted reports have a “work” and “summary” tabs. The “work” tab shows the hours by week, and the “summary” tab shows all hours by experience area.

Bulk reports only have one view under the “work” tab, which shows all hours by experience area.

Hours entered into reports are automatically saved without any action required.

To submit a report you have been editing using the widget, click on the “view experience” button. This will take you directly to the report where you can submit it for approval by your supervisor.

No. You must click on “view experience” and then the “summary” tab to view all of the hours in a weekly report at once.

No, you cannot change the format of a report once you have started.

Yes. Your supervisor can view weekly reports in either weekly or bulk view. On the supervisor’s side of the online reporting system, the bulk view can be found under the “summary” tab.

To edit the date range of either a weekly or bulk report, you should click “edit” on the top employer section. You can then edit the start or end date of the report.

Yes. You can view a “bulk” version of the weekly report under the “summary” tab.

IDP 2.0 updated the Intern Development Program (IDP) requirements to more closely align with the practice of architecture today. The changes, which were rolled out in phases, help ensure that interns acquire the comprehensive experience that is essential for competent practice. The changes also offer many benefits to interns by allowing them to complete some of the IDP experience requirements whether or not employed, expanding the definition of “direct supervision,” and simplifying the reporting process.

NCARB invited over 50,000 architects from across the United States and Canada to participate in the 2007 Practice Analysis of Architecture. A record 9,835 practicing architects completed this extensive electronic survey to identify the tasks, knowledge, and skills that recently licensed architects, practicing independently, need to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. The results of this study were used as a basis for IDP 2.0, the most significant update of IDP since its inception over 30 years ago.

The final phase of IDP 2.0 was implemented in April 2012. At noon EDT 3 April 2012, the e-EVR was shut down to implement the final phase of IDP 2.0. All experience submitted or approved by noon EDT on 3 April 2012 was rolled over as per the rollover rules. Details on the rollover rules are available in the Rollover section.

The core minimum hours in IDP 2.0 were derived from the Practice Analysis. Through the Practice Analysis, each experience area was weighted to how important it is for the independent practice of architecture. As a result of this analysis, interns must meet new minimum core hour requirements in 17 experience areas. The new core minimum hours incorporate the previous elective hour requirement per category. In IDP 2.0 there is an overall elective hour requirement of 1,860.

The total number of hours to complete IDP 2.0 is still 5,600.

Yes, all approved hours earned over an experience area's core minimum hour requirement will be credited toward the elective requirement of 1,860 elective hours.

In IDP 2.0, if you are in experience settings A or O, you can earn hours in all experience areas. Certain opportunities to earn core hours within experience setting S also allow you to earn experience in all areas.

Yes. In IDP 2.0, the definition of experience setting A and opportunities within O require that the IDP supervisor be licensed in a U.S. or Canadian jurisdiction, not necessarily where they are located.

Yes. The old work setting A required that the organization be engaged in the comprehensive practice of architecture. Experience setting A does not require the comprehensive practice of architecture, but does require that the organization be engaged in the “lawful” practice of architecture. Each jurisdiction determines what is the “lawful” practice of architecture in their jurisdiction. There may be situations where experience did not qualify as work setting A, but may qualify for experience setting A.

Many schools have programs where interns work in firms as a part of their education. Any internship that is integrated into your academic program whether as a requirement or as an elective is considered an academic internship.

In IDP 2.0 interns may earn up to 930 hours of experience through qualifying academic internships that meet the durational requirements and are in experience setting A or O. [more]

If you are at a school that offers an academic internship, please have the IDP educator coordinator contact idp@ncarb.org for further information.

If you are not sure who your IDP educator coordinator is, you can look up your contact [here].

In order for an academic internship to qualify for IDP, the institution sponsoring the program must document their understanding of and compliance with the requirements to NCARB annually.

However, as long as the internship meets the requirements for an acceptable academic internship, including the reporting requirements, you will be able to submit it for IDP hours through our online reporting system.

If you are at a school that offers an academic internship, please have the IDP educator coordinator contact idp@ncarb.org for further information. 

There are opportunities through supplemental experience to earn hours outside of a traditional employment setting. Please review the IDP Guidelines for more information on the options available through supplemental experience.

The opportunities to earn hours through supplemental experience are split into two types–supplemental experience for core hours, and supplemental experience for elective hours.

Through supplemental experience for core hours, you may earn core hours in specific IDP categories and areas. Each opportunity for core hours has limitations in terms of maximum allowable hours.

A maximum of 1,860 elective hours can be earned through supplemental experience for elective hours.

Forty elective hours may be earned by passing the LEED AP exam. A copy of your LEED AP certificate must accompany your experience report. Please review the IDP Guidelines for more information.

No. Participating in the IDP requires only that you qualify for an IDP eligibility date. For information on how to qualify for an IDP eligibility date, please review the IDP Guidelines.

NCARB's Member Boards passed a rule requiring interns to submit their experience in reporting periods of no longer than six months and within two months of completion of each reporting period. In order to document your experience most effectively, it must be done continuously throughout your time as an intern.

The Emerging Professional’s Companion (EPC) is a online resource developed by the AIA and NCARB primarily for use by interns in gaining IDP credit. A maximum of 1,800 hours may be earned through the EPC in any combination of core and elective hours. The EPC can also be used by educators, young architects, AIA components, and firms in a variety of ways to enhance or create new learning opportunities. See the IDP Guidelines and www.epcompanion.org for more information.

NCARB monographs—except the Professional Conduct monograph—and mini-monographs are reported in the same way as other AIA-approved learning units. In order to receive credit for these submissions, they must be indicated on an official AIA transcript and submitted online.

Examples of acceptable activities for each experience area are available in the IDP Guidelines. Professional and Community Service does not have to be limited to architecture-related activities.

Review your experience hour details in the experience summary section of the online reporting system. Verify that you have met the minimum requirements in each area and that you have met the overall 5,600 total hours. If you are not able to rectify the difference in these hour totals, please contact NCARB Customer Service.

No. You do not need to wait for NCARB to receive your transcript or eligibility form before submitting experience reports.

First, please have your supervisor check his or her junk or spam filter. If the e-mail is still missing, please contact NCARB Customer Service.

The was e-EVR shut down on 3 April 2011, and replaced with the online reporting system. You can learn more about the new system here.

If the experience you earned through existing work settings exceeds the maximum allowable hours that can be earned in the corresponding IDP 2.0 experience setting, you may be granted a one-time waiver to the maximum allowable hours. If you are granted a one-time waiver, you will keep all hours earned; however, you will not be allowed to earn any additional hours in the new experience setting after the rollover.

To be considered for a one-time waiver, experience must be in the “submitted” or “approved” status in the e-EVR by noon EDT 3 April 2012. Experience must be subsequently validated and approved by NCARB to finalize a waiver.

If you have earned the required core minimum hours in an existing training area or category prior to the implementation of the final phase of IDP 2.0, you may be exempt from having to satisfy the new core minimum hours requirements in the corresponding experience area or category for IDP 2.0—even if the new experience area minimum has increased.

Even if you are exempt from a category or area minimum, you must earn a total of 3,740 core minimum hours.

To be considered for an exemption, experience must be in the “submitted” or “approved” status in the e-EVR by noon EDT 3 April 2012. Experience must be subsequently validated and approved by NCARB to finalize an exemption.

Architects documenting IDP for the purposes of seeking an NCARB Certificate are required to document IDP 2.0 after 5 April 2012. If your application was in process, any submitted or approved experience was roll over to the new system as identified in the [Intern’s IDP 2.0 Rollover Guide]. Registered architects are also able to satisfy the experience requirement through an alternative to the IDP. Please review the [Handbook for Interns and Architects] or contact NCARB customer service for more detail on this alternative.

Once you have received your Authorization to Test form, you can begin scheduling appointments for the exams listed on your letter. Visit Prometric’s web site www.prometric.com/NCARB or call the Prometric Candidate Services Call Center at 800/479-6215 between the hours of 8:00 a.m.- 8:00 p.m. EST (Monday-Friday) to find a test center near you and schedule your appointment.

You need to present one form of identification. The primary form of identification, current and non-expired, must bear your signature and a recent photograph of you. The name on the identification must be exactly the same as the name on the Authorization to Test (ATT). If your ID does not match your ATT, you will not be allowed to test. For further details, please refer to the ARE 4.0 Guidelines.

Please refer to the ARE 4.0 Guidelines for the policy and fees associated with rescheduling existing appointments. Cancellation of an appointment is not permitted. If you cancel an exam, regardless of the reason, your testing fee is non-transferrable and non-refundable.

If you attempt to schedule an exam and find that your eligibility is not in the system, you need to contact your board of architecture (or NCARB if your jurisdiction participates in Direct Eligibility or Direct Registration). Each individual board of architecture is responsible for transmitting your testing eligibility information to the ARE Helpdesk at Prometric.

It may be possible to extend or change your eligibility to take an exam. Your board of architecture is responsible for establishing eligibility periods. You must call your board for any changes.

When your board of architecture transmits your eligibility to the ARE Helpdesk, an Authorization to Test is automatically generated. If you feel that you should have received it already, please call the ARE Helpdesk at 800/896-2272.

If you need to change your name and/or address, you must first call your board of architecture. It is imperative that this be done so that your Authorization to Test matches the identification you will provide at the testing center. Additionally, you must notify NCARB of this change to ensure that you receive all important updates related to the ARE.

 

(NOTE: If you have made your appointment prior to changing your name and/or address, your new information will not appear on the check-in screen at the test center.)

If you have any comments or questions concerning your examination, direct your comments in writing to the following address within 10 days following your test administration:

ARE Helpdesk
1501 South Clinton Street
Baltimore, MD 21224
609/895-5022 FAX

A copy of this letter should be forwarded to your board of architecture. You will receive a reply from NCARB, Prometric, or your board of architecture as appropriate.

If you have any type of problem or a concern regarding your ARE testing experience, please contact the ARE Helpdesk (800/896-2272) to report your concerns immediately. DO NOT wait to receive your test results before expressing your concerns. NCARB policy does not allow for response to complaints received more than 10 days following your test date and does not allow for response to complaints sent to any other address than that of the ARE Helpdesk. The filing of a report by the test center administrator does NOT satisfy the requirements of notifying the ARE Helpdesk directly.

On behalf of its Member Boards, NCARB develops and maintains the ARE and owns all copyrights to the exam and its content. The content of the exam is developed, tested, and administered at great expense to the Council. The Confidentiality Agreement is in place to protect that investment and to ensure the ARE remains a valid and reliable process by which NCARB and jurisdictional boards ensure that those who practice architecture are qualified to do so. There are serious consequences that can result from disclosing exam content. Those consequences may include cancellation of test scores, suspension of test taking privileges, exposure to civil damages in a court of law, and additional disciplinary action by your board of architecture. For more information about the Confidentiality Agreement, please visit the exam security section of our web site.

Processing time varies from four to six weeks. After processing, your score is forwarded directly to your board of architecture. Your board then completes any additional processing and forwards the score report to you. Test results are not available at the test center and are not available through NCARB. If your board of architecture participates in the Direct Registration program, NCARB will process your score report and forward it directly to you.

The vignettes are scored by computer scoring engines, which have been programmed to objectively evaluate each solution for compliance to the specific vignette’s requirement.

No. The computer-delivered vignettes are developed to allow for more than one correct solution. With the exception of very specific criteria such as site setbacks in the Site Zoning vignette, there is no one right answer. The vignette scoring procedures allow for errors to occur without automatically assigning a failing score. The scoring engines evaluate the solutions to the vignettes in a holistic manner where minor errors are compensated for by overall compliance with the programmatic, code, and technical aspects of each vignette. Committees of volunteer practicing architects have determined the objective grading criteria.

This rule was established for two reasons. First, NCARB has a library of test questions and vignettes, but the library is not of sufficient size to offer each division of the exam more than once every six months to any given candidate. Second, it is important to spend the time between test administrations gaining additional knowledge and experience in the particular areas being tested.

No. If you wish to become certified by NCARB, you must apply for the NCARB Certificate after you have received your initial license. Your jurisdictional board will not notify NCARB. For more information on the certification process, contact NCARB’s Records Department at 202/879-0520. You can also get more information or request an application by visiting the Certification & Reciprocity section of the NCARB’s web site.

There are a total of seven divisions in ARE 4.0. Six of the divisions include both multiple-choice questions AND graphic vignettes. These divisions are: Programming, Planning & Practice, Site Planning & Design, Building Design & Construction Systems, Structural Systems, Building Systems, and Construction Documents & Services. One division, Schematic Design, includes only graphic vignettes. For further information, please refer to the ARE 4.0 Guidelines.

The Site Grading vignette and the Mechanical & Electrical Plan vignette have slightly different content than ARE 3.1. The updated Site Grading vignette requires candidates to re-grade the site and create a level pad on which a given object must be placed. There are new lighting requirements in the revised Mechanical & Electrical Plan vignette. Additionally, the test specification used for multiple-choice items has been updated to contain content noted in the 2001 Practice Analysis of Architecture.

The software used to solve the vignettes is proprietary to the examination and is not commercially available. NCARB did this for two reasons. First, it ensures that the exam does not unfairly advantage one group of candidates. Second, the software NCARB developed is specifically designed for testing, not for development of construction documents.

The software includes tutorials on how to use the various tools, plus one sample of each vignette to practice. The practice programs can be downloaded free of charge, and will run on an IBM PC or compatible computer running Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows NT or Windows Vista 32-bit.

Additionally, because the practice programs are designed to run on 32-bit machines, NCARB offers a cloud-based, subscription service that allows those with 64-bit Windows operating systems and Macs to access the programs. For just $10 per year, My NCARB account holders can subscribe to the new service by logging into My NCARB and clicking the "Add" button for the ARE practice programs service.

All divisions include an on-screen scientific calculator for your use.

The vignette calculator tool is included in the downloadable practice software. The calculator used in the multiple-choice sections of each exam is very similar to the Windows scientific calculator.

Yes. You are able to stop working on one vignette, move to a second or third vignette, come back to the first, etc., within each section of vignettes. However, once you choose to exit that section of vignettes, you cannot return to them. You do not need to save your work, as it is automatically saved approximately every minute. Each time you leave a vignette to move to another vignette your work also is saved.

You must be as accurate as possible when creating your solutions since more accurate information will result in more accurate scoring. Use the “zoom” tool and the “full-screen cursor” to make it easier to create more accurate solutions. A “check” tool is provided in several vignettes to help you identify problem areas such as overlapping elements. Tolerances are built into each scoring program that allow for slight inaccuracies. These tolerances vary from vignette to vignette based on the importance of the feature being evaluated.

No, you are not able to print out your work. In order to offer the ARE six days a week, year-round, NCARB has developed a library of equivalent vignettes. These vignettes must remain secure, thus printouts are not allowed.

The ARE Guidelines provide an outline of exam content for each division. The exam guides for each division also list many of the reference books used in development of that particular examination.

The ARE is developed by NCARB and is a high-stakes licensing examination in which you are required to demonstrate your knowledge, skills, and ability. The ARE is not a teaching tool to prepare one for licensure. As such, the materials produced by NCARB serve a different purpose than those provided for college classes or admissions exams. NCARB provides exam information to candidates for the sole purpose of allowing them to become familiar with the format of multiple-choice and vignette items.

A brief tutorial is delivered before each division to explain how to move from one question to the next. Each multiple-choice section consists of a fixed number of questions delivered within a maximum time limit. Within each multiple-choice section, some questions are being pretested and do not affect your actual test score. These pretest questions are being evaluated and may be included as scored items in future editions of the test.

You will only see one question at a time; however, you can go back to review and/or change answers. It is possible to look at each question, answer it, and move on without going back. It is also possible to answer a question and mark it for later review. Additionally, you will have the option to skip a question and come back to it later.

Yes, all unanswered questions are counted wrong.

A “regular” multiple-choice question has four options from which you may select your answer. AIT questions include both “Check-All-That-Apply” and “Quantitative-Fill-in-the-Blank” items. In the new “Check-All-That-Apply” items, the question will have six options to choose from and the candidate must select all that are correct. In each item, it is noted how many options you need to select. In the “Quantitative-Fill-in-the-Blank” questions, a candidate must input the correct numeric answer and no options are given. Sample “Check-All-That-Apply” and “Quantitative-Fill-in-the-Blank” questions may be reviewed here.

Approximately 10-15 percent of each division will be AIT questions.

The maximum time allowed for each division includes adequate time to answer these questions.

No, all questions are scored equally.

No partial credit is given.

Contact the registration board in the jurisdiction in which you wish to become licensed in to apply to take the exam. Your board will provide you with all application requirements. Although NCARB develops the ARE, it does not register candidates to take the exam. For jurisdictions that participate in the Direct Registration or Direct Eligibility programs, NCARB does process candidate exam eligibilities based upon their jurisdiction’s requirements.

At the Annual Meeting in June 2007, NCARB registration board voted to allow interns to sit for the ARE while participating in IDP. It is up to each registration board to determine if their jurisdiction will adopt this new rule. The approved resolution also requires all candidates to establish an NCARB Record prior to being made eligible for the exam (regardless of allowing the ARE during the IDP). Contact your state board to determine the status of this eligibility rule for your jurisdiction.

You have the opportunity to test in any order at any time you choose once you have been approved to take the exam. Test centers are open Monday through Saturday, but hours may vary from test center to test center. Contact the test center of your choice to determine their hours of operation. Visit Prometric's web site to find a test center near you.

The ARE is administered at approximately 300 standardized test centers across the United States and Canada. Visit Prometric’s web site www.prometric.com/NCARB to locate a test site or schedule a test. You may also call Prometric’s Candidate Services contact center at 800/479-6215 to schedule an examination. For Teletyper, call 800/529-3590.

No. NCARB’s computer-based format removes geographical barriers. For instance, a candidate who started taking the exam in Texas, and now lives in New York, will be able to take the exam at any conveniently located test center, rather than having to return to Texas. Scores will be forwarded to the initial jurisdiction where you are seeking registration.

The development of the ARE is a lengthy process that involves thousands of hours of work by hundreds of volunteer architects from all over the United States and Canada. Several times a year, the various exam committees meet to write questions, evaluate scoring engines, and make recommendations related to the long-term future of the ARE.

NCARB's exam committees research the proposed changes and make recommendations to NCARB's Board of Directors. All changes to the ARE are approved by the NCARB Board of Directors.

Architecture is a continuously evolving profession and the practice of architecture has changed considerably since NCARB launched the first registration exam in 1965. Exam content and format goes through deliberate, studied, and controlled evaluation on a regular basis. Content is updated to reflect current architectural practices and technological changes are incorporated to more accurately assess the abilities of today’s candidate. Throughout all versions of the ARE and its predecessors, the goal of the exam has remained the same: to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public by providing a psychometrically justifiable and legally defensible examination that measures the level of competency necessary to practice architecture independently.

No, the opposite is actually true. The ARE is heavily subsidized by NCARB. The income generated by the administration of the ARE covers only a portion of the expenses related to the development and administration of the examination. The remainder of the expenses is covered by income generated by other programs operated by the Council.

Before a vignette or multiple-choice item is added to the exam it must be written, reviewed, edited, and thoroughly pretested. Prometric, NCARB’s test consultant, evaluates the psychometric data on each pretested item to determine if it meets established requirements to be included on the exam. Any item—multiple-choice question or vignette—that isn’t performing as expected is revised or thrown out. The rewritten items go back for another round of pretesting. Only items that perform acceptably during pretesting are included as a scored item in an actual exam. This process takes a minimum of two years from concept to becoming a scored item.

Prior to taking any division of the ARE and seeing any questions on the exam, candidates are required to agree to the terms of the Confidentiality Agreement. NCARB’s efforts to inform candidates of the consequences of breaking this agreement have included postcards, e-mails, a podcast, and articles in the ARE e-news and Direct Connection. NCARB staff members have spoken at many student and intern events, and warning messages have been posted on the internet. In addition, NCARB is in the process of hiring two full-time staff members to monitor and investigate exam disclosures and copyright violations.

Fees associated with NCARB programs and services can be found here.

Once you schedule an appointment, your test fee cannot be refunded or transferred to another division of the ARE. As outlined in the ARE Guidelines, you can reschedule an existing appointment by calling Prometric’s Candidate Services Contact Center at 800/479-6215. At the time of your call, you must reschedule the appointment for a later date. A rescheduling fee will be charged to your credit card.

For more information about rescheduling an appointment, please refer to the ARE Guidelines, which can be downloaded from the NCARB website.

The candidates who expose exam content are sanctioned by having exam scores canceled and testing privileges suspended. While further action against candidates who violate the Confidentiality Agreement to recover a portion of the financial losses is an option, the high cost of pursuing legal action would likely negate any amount that could be recovered from an exam candidate. In the meantime, NCARB has a responsibility to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public by providing a psychometrically justifiable and legally defensible examination that measures the level of competence necessary to practice architecture independently.

The Direct Eligibility Program is a program for NCARB Member Boards. For participating boards, NCARB creates the testing eligibilities for an ARE candidate and then sends the Record to the jurisdiction. The jurisdiction then manages the eligibilities and score reports for that candidate. Click here for more information.

The Direct Registration Program is a program for NCARB Member Boards. For participating boards, NCARB creates the testing eligibilities for an ARE candidate and sends score reports to candidates. Once testing is complete, the Council sends the entire NCARB Record to the jurisdiction in support of licensure. Click here for more information.

The passing standard (i.e., the number of questions you have to get right) is the same for every registration board. It is not affected by the number of candidates who pass or fail each examination. There is no fixed percentage of candidates who pass or fail the ARE.

NCARB doesn't have a retake quota or profit margin it has to meet. The ARE is heavily subsidized by other NCARB operations. The income generated by candidate fees only covers a portion (about half) of the actual expense necessary to support the development and administration of the exam.

You receive limited diagnostic information for each failed division because the ARE is a licensing examination developed to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public—as such, you are required to demonstrate your knowledge, skill, and ability. The ARE is not intended to be a teaching tool nor is it designed as a placement or certification examination.

As a high stakes licensure exam, the ARE is designed to measure the minimum competence of the knowledge, skills, and abilities that architects must possess in order to safely practice architecture independently. The disclosure of content tested by the ARE diminishes the reliability and defensibility of the exam and ultimately undermines the integrity of the process. If someone passes the ARE because they were exposed to exam content prior to taking the test, they could become licensed even if they are not competent. This could endanger the health, safety, and welfare of the public, which is not good for the public or our profession.

Before you start taking any division of the ARE, you are required to agree to a Confidentiality Agreement. By accepting this agreement, you agree that you will not disclose any content contained in your examination to anyone else.

“Disclosure” means sharing the substance or details of any test questions, vignettes or other graphics and/or alleged answers with anyone via electronic, written, or verbal means. This includes any attempt to reproduce, paraphrase, summarize, or describe any test content from memory after leaving the testing room.

Disclosure includes both the initial disclosure by a test taker and any further dissemination of ARE content by others. These prohibitions on disclosure also apply to forwarding, re-posting, or other distribution of ARE content that others have disclosed.

The biggest difference is that “cheating” occurs during the course of your examination. Disclosure typically occurs after your exam.

Unauthorized access to devices or materials outside the testing room during any scheduled or unscheduled break.

Presence of unauthorized devices (whether on or off) or unauthorized materials in the testing room. Prohibited devices include, but are not limited to, calculators, cell phones, pagers, personal digital assistants, text messaging devices, audio or video recording devices, scanners, language translators, and other devices. Prohibited written materials include, but are not limited to, any notes, books or written material whatsoever, whether or not related to the ARE.

Use of unauthorized devices or materials in the testing room. The use of or reference to any device or any written materials in the testing room is strictly prohibited and will be presumed to be for purposes of assistance on the ARE.

1. A warning letter
2. OR any or all of the following

• Cancellation of score(s) for the division(s) disseminated and any subsequent division(s) taken prior to the end of any period of test authorization suspension.
• Suspension of test taking privileges for all divisions for up to five years, or such longer period as may be warranted in exceptional circumstances.
• Prohibit granting of an NCARB Certificate for up to three years from date of initial registration, or such longer period as may be warranted in exceptional circumstances.

Recently, the NCARB Board acted upon eight different disclosure cases. The consequences for these candidates ranged from one year of testing privileges suspended and two exam scores cancelled to five years of testing privileges suspended.

Disclosure includes “forwarding, re-posting, or other distribution of ARE content that others have disclosed.” Actively seeking exam content or forwarding it once you acquire it is also a violation. While you may not have agreed to this confidentiality Agreement yet, you are still in violation of U.S. copyright protection. Every question and vignette included on the ARE is copyrighted.

After taking an exam, you are welcome to tell people about your experience when scheduling, at the test center, your score report, or how you prepared for the exam. When you are sharing your preparation experience, you may tell others what books, classes, or other resources you used. But do not attempt to paraphrase or describe any of the questions or vignettes on your exam.

If you come back from your test and want to share your experience, but don’t want to go too far, call NCARB and ask to speak to the ARE directorate. Someone there will be able to help you determine what you are and are not allowed to share.

 

It is probably hard for most people to prevent other candidates from exposing exam content. But, as long as you aren’t asking for the information or passing it on once you find it, you are doing as much as you can.

 

Discouraging inappropriate sharing of information by posting comments on known forums is also an option.

NCARB has never asked candidates to report findings, but some have in the past. If you find what you suspect is exam content, please feel free to forward the information to the ARE directorate at are@ncarb.org so we can ask the web site to remove the content.

Listings of general information are usually fine. If someone says “I just got back from my test” or “I had a vignette and I solved it like this” they are likely crossing the line.

Feel free to share with them how you prepared for your exam, but remind them that you agreed to the Confidentiality Agreement and are going to abide by it.

Sometimes. If we learn that you have posted something that may be exam content, we will evaluate it against your actual exam. If we determine that it wasn’t actual exam content, you will likely get a warning letter. We would do this in hopes of preventing you from crossing the line in the future.

If we determine that it does contain exam content, your case will be forwarded to the NCARB Committee on Professional Conduct (PCC) for review and action. If your first post on a web site crosses the line, the first letter will be the notice that your case is being forwarded to PCC.

If we determine that you have disclosed content, we make every effort to notify you as soon as possible. Typically, this will occur within a few weeks of our discovery.

You will have the opportunity to respond in writing to defend your actions. Your response will be provided to the PCC for review when they discuss your case.

Once the PCC reviews a given situation, they will make a recommendation to the NCARB Board of Directors. The Board will then review the case and take final action. Action by the NCARB Board is final.

When candidates disclose information, NCARB works with Prometric to determine the impact on the exam. If NCARB needs to turn exam content off, this impacts all candidates now and in the future. If we find that we need to turn off substantial amounts of content, our ability to continuously deliver the ARE is jeopardized.

• We may be forced to extend the current six-month mandatory waiting period following a failed exam to nine or 12 months.
• Our development cycle takes two years from a vignette or multiple-choice item to become “live” in an exam. This process is considerably expensive. To replace lost content, we will need to modify our development cycle. To do this, we may have to increase exam fees for all candidates in all divisions.

Not at this time, but should we feel that a division has been compromised, we will reconsider this option.

My Examination will offer several benefits to candidates. Through My NCARB, you will:

• Have easier access to their authorization to test/candidate ID number, testing history, and rolling clock information.
• Be able to view, print, and download future score reports directly from My Examination.
• Receive reminders about upcoming rolling clock expirations, test activity requirements, and important messages from NCARB.
• Be able to update their name and address information.

More information about the new portal is coming soon!

No. The content tested in each division will remain the same. The only thing changing from a candidate perspective is the process for scheduling a test, receiving a score report, and accessing to exam history data.

No, the cost of each division will remain the same. However, the cost of rescheduling an exam will be based on the following tiered structure:

• 0-3 days before appointment: Rescheduling not permitted
• 4-15 days before appointment: $80
• 16 or more days before the appointment: $60

Yes. On 1 July 2013, Prometric will turn off all access to its system to grade the final batch of exam divisions taken on or before 30 June 2013, and to begin the data migration process to the new content and candidate management consultant, Alpine Testing Solutions, Inc. During this time, an estimated eight-week blackout from all ARE-related testing systems will be in effect for candidates. During the blackout, candidates will not be able to schedule or take exams, and registration boards will not be able to create eligibilities for candidates.

Late August.

All data—both candidate related and content related—currently stored in Prometric’s system will be securely migrated to NCARB’s new candidate and content management consultant, Alpine Testing Solutions, Inc. This includes name and contact information, candidate number, eligibility history, and all test history, including dates of division administration, scores, form and vignette delivery, and all item responses for all ARE candidates administered since 1997. This equates to candidate and examination data for over 90,000 candidates—including those who have completed the ARE and those still in progress.

Both consultants and the Council will be doing multiple levels of quality control checks to ensure the data is transferred accurately. In addition, a candidate’s history will be linked with his or her NCARB Record when securely verified. Because of the amount of the information being migrated and the sensitive nature of the data, the blackout is estimated to be eight weeks. Our staff and consultant team will make every effort to expedite this process.

While candidates will not be able to schedule or take any divisions of the ARE during the blackout, NCARB expects to have several resources available for candidates to review prior to the launch of the My Examination. Updated guidelines and exam guides will be available for review as well as a webcast introducing the new processes post-blackout.

Candidates are encouraged to continue studying for the exams, as there will be no changes to the content post-blackout.

You will continue to take exams at Prometric test centers; however, scheduling an appointment will now be done through your NCARB Record, but still managed by Prometric.

Yes. You must contact ARE Operations in writing at areoperations@prometric.com. You will be given instructions on how to confirm your cancellation and receive a refund (minus the $35 rescheduling fee). Once the blackout is lifted in August 2013, you may reschedule the appointment, paying the full exam fee.

Exams may be scheduled for on or after 1 July 2013 after the blackout ends.

Yes. NCARB will grant an automatic 12-week extension to the rolling clock, and is working with jurisdictions with their own rolling clock rules to ensure all candidates receive the same extension. If the blackout is shorter than originally estimated, candidates will still receive the full 12-week extension.

No. Candidates who have passed exam divisions prior to 2006 and have not completed the ARE will need to pass all remaining divisions by 1 July 2014 to prevent those divisions from expiring.

The automatic rolling clock extension will be based on your current expiration date. For example, if your current rolling clock is set to expire on 20 July 2013, you will receive a 12-week extension from that date. Your new end date of your rolling clock will then be 12 October 2013.

No. If your rolling clock is set to expire prior to the blackout, the extension does not apply, so it's recommended that you schedule and take your exams before your rolling clock expiration date.

There will be no additional cost to active NCARB Record holders for access to My Examination; it will be included with the current cost of establishing and maintaining a Record.

Post-blackout, inactive Record holders will be required to renew their Record for $75—all other back fees will be waived.

Post-blackout, non-Record holders will need to create an NCARB account and establish access. With their candidate ID, non-Record holders will receive one year of access at no cost. After one year, there will be an annual $75 renewal fee to maintain access.

More information is available here.

Yes. This has been a requirement for all new candidates since May 2008 and will now be a requirement for all candidates.

Yes.

You will need to renew your NCARB Record after the blackout. You will only pay the $75 renewal fee—all back fees will be waived.

If you do not have an NCARB Record, you will have to establish access post-blackout. The application fee will be waived if you enter your Candidate ID number when prompted on the application. You can find this information on your old score reports. After one year, you will need to pay a $75 renewal fee to maintain access to My Examination.

No. NCARB does not make a profit from the exam. Exam costs will continue to be subsidized with fees from other NCARB services

The service is “cloud-based,” which means the ARE practice programs are hosted on a virtual server, accessible via Remote Desktop software. The cloud service is intended to allow customers with 64-bit Windows operating systems and Macs to access the practice programs, which are designed to run on 32-bit Windows systems.

The ARE practice programs remain available on the Preparing for the ARE page for free download and will run on an IBM PC or compatible computer running Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows NT or Windows Vista 32-bit. If you are using a 64-bit Windows system or a Mac, you now have the option to subscribe to the new cloud-based service to access the programs.

PC users should follow these instructions.

On a 64-bit machine running the Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate editions, you should be able to create a virtual machine to install the various practice programs. To do so, go to the Microsoft website to download and install the Windows XP Mode with Virtual PC. After this is done, you will be able launch the XP mode, and install the free NCARB practice programs (available here) inside the XP mode.

The Council offered a free trial of the service from 22 January – 30 April 2013, and in a survey of beta test users, 75 percent strongly agreed or agreed that the service would be a valuable resource. Based on this data and the success of the beta test, the Council decided to launch the cloud-based practice programs service. In addition to the paid service, the practice programs remain available for free download.

NCARB does not make a profit from the ARE, and the cost of the exam to candidates is subsidized by fees collected from other NCARB services (e.g., Record transmittals). Because there is a cost to NCARB for providing the cloud-based practice programs service, it is being offered on a paid, annual subscription basis. At just $10 per year, the new service offers easy, affordable, and unlimited online access to the practice programs.

You can subscribe by logging into My NCARB, clicking the “Add” button for the ARE practice programs, and following the instructions on the next page to purchase the service. Once your payment has been submitted, you’ll be directed to the ARE Practice Programs Access page, which provides login instructions, including your username and password.

If you participated in the free beta trial of the service, your password expired on April 30. You have the option of subscribing to the paid service by following the instructions above.

Yes, Remote Desktop software is necessary for remotely accessing the programs because they are hosted on a virtual server.

Mac Users: go to Finder and search applications for Remote Desktop Connection for Mac.

PC Users: click the Start menu button, click All Programs or Programs, and then click Accessories.

Mac Users: download Remote Desktop Connection for Mac for free.

PC Users: use Remote Desktop Connection version 7 or later. If you have an earlier version, try getting an optional update using Windows Update on your computer. Determine which version of Windows you are running if you’re not sure.

• Windows 7: Remote Desktop Connection version 7 comes built in.
• Windows XP: Manual update for Windows XP, x86-based versions
• Windows Vista: Manual update for Windows Vista, x86-based versions or Manual update for Windows XP, x64-based versions.

Once you've taken the steps to “Add” the service in My NCARB, and submit your subscription payment, you will be directed to the ARE Practice Programs Access page, where instructions and login information are provided. Please note (Windows users only): when using the "copy to clipboard" link to copy your password, please use Ctrl+V to paste it into the password field in Remote Desktop.

No, the virtual server does not offer the option of saving data. You may, however, capture screen shots of your work for offline reference and review.

Mac Users:

• Make sure you have Remote Desktop Connection for Mac installed on your machine. If not, follow the instructions above under “Using this Service” to download for free.
• If it still doesn’t work, try opening Remote Desktop separately, enter the computer name desktop.ncarb.org, and click the connect button. When prompted, enter your login information for the practice programs. Make sure the domain name reads are-cloud.

PC Users:

• Make sure you have Remote Desktop Connection installed on your machine. If not, follow the instructions above under “Using this Service” to download for free.
• If it still doesn’t work, try opening Remote Desktop Connection separately. Enter the computer name desktop.ncarb.org, and click the connect button. When prompted, enter your login information for the practice programs. Note: if it’s not there, add the domain name and a back slash in front of the username: are-cloud\your username.

If the remote desktop program tries to launch in Parallels, close out of Parallels, and instead directly open Remote Desktop Connection for Mac. Once open, enter the computer name desktop.ncarb.org, click the connect button, and then enter your login information. The domain name should read are-cloud.

The NCARB Award was created to support new educational initiatives that integrate practice and education, while the NCARB Prize was designed to showcase and reward current diverse programs and activities that integrate practice and education in an academic setting.

 NCARB does not have plans to reinstate the NCARB Prize Program. NCARB has launced the NCARB Award and will continue to support the academy through this program.

In addition to criteria such as integration of non-faculty architect practitioners, creation of innovative concepts and methods to integrate practice and education, and effectiveness in responding to relevant issues identified in the 2007 Practice Analysis of Architecture and "The Boyer Report," several new criteria have been added. These include the proposal's effectiveness in raising awareness of the architect's responsibility for the public health, safety, and welfare and its effectiveness in raising awareness about issues central to practice. Please refer to the NCARB Award Proposal Review Criteria.

The NCARB Award and its objectives support architecture schools' efforts to create academic initiatives that will have a long-term, ongoing impact on architecture students, faculty, and the curriculum by integrating practice and education. The NCARB Award criteria includes two specific issues: raising student awareness about issues central to practice and the architect's responsibility for the public health, safety, and welfare. These and other objectives are aligned with the NAAB 2009 Conditions for Accreditation that "define minimum standards that professional degree programs in architecture are expected to meet in order to ensure that students are prepared to move to the next steps in their careers including internship and licensure."

The "Boyer Report," the informal name for Building Community: A New Future for Architecture, Education, and Practice, was a study of architecture education and practice undertaken by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The report is referred to as "The Boyer Report" in recognition of Dr. Ernest Boyer, a noted educator, former U.S. Commissioner of Education, and co-author. The report identified a "sense of disconnection... between the two separate worlds of architecture education and practice." The 30-month study examined architecture programs and architecture firms and surveyed students, faculty, administration, alumni, interns, and architects. The study was significant because it drew attention to "the gulf dividing architecture schools and the practice world [that] has grown perilously wide."

Although the Boyer Report is out of print, architecture libraries may have a copy. NCARB undertook a review of the report to evaluate issues and recommendations that the report raised. These are summarized in the Report of the NCARB Carnegie/Boyer Review Task Force, which is available on the NCARB website here.

The 2007 Practice Analysis of Architecture is one of several periodic studies that NCARB regularly undertakes to determine the tasks and knowledge/skills that are important to the competent performance of recently licensed architects. The results of the 2007 Practice Analysis of Architecture provide a psychometrically valid foundation of empirically derived data upon which the Architect Registration Examination^® (ARE^®) and the Intern Development Program (IDP) are based.

The NCARB Award was created to support creation of educational initiatives that integrate practice and education in the academy. Both documents outline a variety of issues that are central to the integration of practice and education in the academy that faculty members may want to reference. Within the larger objective of integrating of practice and education, the NCARB Award allows faculty members to develop proposals that respond to these criteria in relation to their institution's specific context and needs.

Following are some pointers that may be beneficial:

• It may be easier to compose proposal items in another program that has more features such as spell/grammar check and cut and paste the final text into the form
• Request letters of commitment, registration verification from non-faculty architect practitioners, and letters of commitment from school administration as soon as possible
• Double check to make sure that registration information is accurate and meets eligibility requirements for the proposal duration
• Double check that all required information and documents have been provided, including details such as the order of PDF documents, bookmarking, and word counts. Make sure all required documents are included on one file (including the Excel budget spreadsheet).

Yes, the NCARB Award is an annual program. Each grant is for a one-year term time period; projects must begin in January and be offered no later than the following fall term.

All applications for the NCARB Award must be received by 2 October 2012, 5 p.m. EDT. Winners will be announced after the jury reviews submissions in November.

The NCARB Award Jury will meet in November 2012 to review all eligible proposals and announce the recipients shortly thereafter.

Members of the NCARB Award Jury are volunteers from NCARB Member Boards (the 54 U.S. architect registration boards). All committee members are architects.

No, due to the number of proposals, the jury is not able to provide feedback on individual proposals.

Projects are required to begin development in January and the class/seminar/studio should be offered no later than the following fall term.

Yes, NCARB Award recipients will receive a copy of the 2012 NCARB Award conditions that specify the terms and conditions of the NCARB Award and requirements for interim and final reports.

No, proposals are required to meet all format and submission requirements and include all required information and documents. Incomplete proposals and proposals that do not meet format and submission requirements will not be accepted. For example, if a proposal does not include one of the required documents, it will be disqualified. If a proposal is not submitted in PDF format and bookmarked, it will be disqualified.

Yes, you can submit projects with other faculty members from other departments or other institutions. Please note that joint projects between faculty members in different academic departments may be submitted as long as one of the faculty members is a member of the architecture school with a NAAB-accredited program or the program that is a candidate for NAAB accreditation. Faculty members may submit a joint proposal with faculty members from other academic institutions as long as at least one of the project directors from each institution is a faculty member in each institution's architecture school with a NAAB-accredited program or the program that is a candidate for NAAB accreditation.

No, proposals may only be submitted by faculty members in an architecture school with a NAAB-accredited program or the program that is a candidate for NAAB accreditation. However, architects can work with faculty members to develop proposals and be involved in the project as a non-faculty architect practitioner.

No, students may not submit a proposal. Students may have ideas for projects and may discuss them with faculty members and non-faculty architect practitioners; however, proposals may only be submitted by faculty members in an architecture school with a NAAB-accredited program or the program that is a candidate for NAAB accreditation.

No, proposals are not pre-reviewed. You are encouraged to review all program information and program requirements prior to submitting proposals.

No, it is the individual project director's responsibility to ensure that all required documents and information are provided and that all documents conform to the format and submission requirements.

No, proposals should not be anonymous; proposals and individual documents of the proposals may contain the names of institutions, project directors, and non-faculty architect practitioners, etc.

There is no limit to the number of proposals that an individual faculty member may submit as long as each proposal is limited to one project or initiative.

Faculty in architecture schools located in one of NCARB's 54 Member Board jurisdictions that have a program that is accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) or a program that is a candidate for NAAB accreditation are eligible. There are no restrictions on appointment levels or designations; full-time, part-time, and adjunct faculty members are eligible to submit proposals. Students and non-faculty architects may not submit proposals, although they can work with faculty members to develop proposals and be involved in the project.

No, only faculty members in schools that have programs that are NAAB-accredited or candidates for NAAB accreditation are eligible.

No, preference will not be given to proposals in which the project director is an architect. Project directors are not required to hold registration as an architect. However, a copy of the project director's resume outlining the education, professional, and academic experience, must be included.

Only architects who are currently registered in a U.S. jurisdiction may serve as a non-faculty architect practitioner. They are not required to be registered in the same jurisdiction in which the architecture school is located and they not required to be in the same location as the school as long as they are involved in significant ways.

Verification of all non-faculty architect practitioners' registration status must be provided with the proposal. Please refer to the proposal submission form for specific information required.

At least one non-faculty architect practitioner must be involved. However, it is important to ensure that the non-faculty architect practitioners are involved in the education of students in significant and meaningful ways.

No, only architects who are currently registered in a U.S. jurisdiction are eligible to serve as a non-faculty architect practitioner. Other professionals can be involved in the project; however, at least one non-faculty architect practitioner must be involved in the project. Verification of the non-faculty architect practitioner's registration must also be included in the proposal.

Non-faculty architect practitioners may not include any adjunct, visiting, part-time, or full-time faculty members. They may be involved in the project; however, they do not fulfill the requirement for non-faculty architect practitioners.

There is no requirement that the non-faculty architect practitioner be located in or even registered in the jurisdiction in which the school is located.

NCARB does not place specific requirements on the amount of or extent of involvement of non-faculty architect practitioners other than to require that the non-faculty architect practitioner be involved in significant and meaningful ways. It is the individual project director's responsibility to define this in relation to the architect, their expertise, the needs of the school, program, project, and students, as well as the individual project goals and objectives.

The non-faculty architect practitioner's registration must remain active during the duration of the project. It is important to ensure that it is active and that the period of registration documented in the registration verification documents is consistent with the project schedule.

Yes, you can involve other non-faculty architect practitioners who were not included in the original proposal. However, you must still include a non-faculty architect practitioner in the proposal form and submit all required documents related to the non-faculty architect practitioner. The possibility to include other non-faculty architect practitioners in the future alone does not fulfill this eligibility requirement.

Yes, you can involve other people in the office of the non-faculty architect practitioner who are not architects; however, they cannot take the place of the non-faculty architect practitioner.

There are no restrictions on the type of project as long as proposals respond to program objectives and criteria and they meet all eligibility requirements. Projects do not have to be studio-based or design-based; they do not have to result in a building project, a design project, or a built project. Non-design and non-studio projects such as classroom-, laboratory-, and seminar-based projects are eligible.

Yes, NCARB Award funds are to be specifically used to support activities and initiatives that result in the integration of practice and education in the academy. NCARB Award funds may be used for the items such as faculty release time to create the program, new equipment and technology, expendable materials, publication related to the project, travel and per diem for non-faculty architect practitioners, students, faculty, and consultants, and honoraria for non-faculty architect practitioners and consultants. Please refer to the detailed description of budget restrictions.

If you are awarded an NCARB Award and do not receive funding that you included in your proposal, you will have an opportunity to submit an updated budget in the interim and final report. Please note that additional funding from the NCARB Award will not be available.

The NCARB Award provides funding for a new course (class/seminar/studio). It does not require completion of previous courses or initiatives. There are no restrictions on the type of project and it is curriculum-focused, not research focused. The NCARB Grant Program is one of the largest sources of funding available to school. These characteristics make it especially valuable to architecture faculty who want to explore new ideas and concepts to create new courses.

No, you cannot make revisions to proposal once it has been submitted. However, you may submit a revised proposal to include revisions and additional documents. Please note that the revised proposal must be submitted in its entirety and must conform to all submission and format requirements. In the event that duplicate proposals and/or resubmission of the same proposals are received, the proposal with the latest proposal will be assumed to be the final proposal. The earlier proposal will be disqualified.

No, you cannot submit additional documents and NCARB will not make any modifications to proposals once they have been received. If you would like to submit additional documents, you may submit a revised proposal to include revisions and additional documents. Please note that the revised proposal must be submitted in its entirety and must conform to all submission and format requirements. In the event that duplicate proposals and/or resubmission of the same proposals are received, the proposal with the latest proposal will be assumed to be the final proposal. The earlier proposal will be disqualified.

No, proposals that are submitted by mail or overnight will not be accepted. Proposals must be submitted by e-mail to NCARBAward@ncarb.org.

No. Project directors are encouraged to plan ahead to avoid unforeseen circumstances that might delay submission and transmission of proposals.

No, due to the large number of proposals received individual notification of receipt will not be provided.

If you have additional questions, please call NCARB at 202/783-6500 or e-mail questions to NCARBAwardQuestions@ncarb.org.

The 2011 NCARB Grant award amount was a total of $75,000 divided among seven awards.

NCARB has historically conducted an analysis of the profession every five to seven years as a basis for the Architect Registration Examination® (ARE®). The 2001 Architecture Practice Analysis Study resulted in the development and release of ARE 4.0 in July 2008. The 2007 Practice Analysis of Architecture  resulted in modifications and updates to the ARE test specification, and, for the first time, formed the foundation for the evolution of the Intern Development Program (IDP) and the development of IDP 2.0, and strengthened NCARB’s response to the National Architectural Accrediting Board’s (NAAB) Accreditation Review Conference (ARC). Data collected from the 2012 NCARB Practice Analysis of Architecture Survey will help: drive the ARE, inform the IDP, and guide NCARB’s response to the 2013 NAAB ARC. The results will also be used to inform the Council’s continuing education policies.

Not immediately, but the results will drive the future development of the ARE, just as it has done in the past. NCARB conducted comprehensive practice analysis studies in 2001 and 2007 that led to improvements to the ARE. These improvements have been rolled out in phases in ARE 3.0, ARE 3.1, and ARE 4.0. The information gathered from these surveys is critical to the work of the ARE subcommittees in developing new questions for the ARE and modifying the format in accordance with the needs of today’s practice. Throughout all versions of the ARE, the goal of the exam has remained the same: to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public by providing a psychometrically justifiable and legally defensible exam that measures the level of competency necessary to practice architecture independently.

A key decision in designing the 2012 NCARB Practice Analysis of Architecture Survey was to broaden the audience of survey recipients from architects to also include interns and educators. With an expanded reach, the data collected will have greater depth and relevance across the profession. The number of architects, interns, and educators that complete the survey directly impacts and improves the quality of the decisions made—a rare example in architecture where more is better. Participating in the survey is an important way to share expertise and give back to the profession.

The 2007 Practice Analysis of Architecture  formed the foundation for the evolution of the IDP and the development of IDP 2.0, which updated program requirements to more closely align with the current practice of architecture. IDP 2.0 will be fully implemented as of April 2012 and offers many benefits to interns, including simplified experience settings, the inclusion of academic internships, and other improvements. NCARB expects the 2012 NCARB Practice Analysis Survey to provide essential insights that will help inform future updates to the IDP, with the goal of ensuring that the program continues to identify the experience needed for the independent practice of architecture.

Design and development of the 2012 NCARB Practice Analysis of Architecture Survey has been underway since August 2010, beginning with the formation of the Practice Analysis Steering Committee (PASC), which was charged with the task of overseeing the design and implementation of the 2012 Practice Analysis Survey. For the first time, the committee included representatives from all of NCARB’s collateral organizations—the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS), the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), and the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). As a result of this collaboration, NCARB has been able to develop a survey that integrates insight and knowledge from across the profession—from senior professionals and educators, to mid-career and young professionals.

The 2007 Practice Analysis of Architecture can be found online in the Publications and Resources area of NCARB’s website, under Special Papers. Once the 2012 NCARB Practice Analysis of Architecture Survey has been conducted, the consultant (PSI) will analyze the data and submit a report with recommendations based on the data collected to the NCARB Board of Directors for acceptance. The findings will be posted as individual reports on the NCARB website when finalized.

Every jurisdiction has its own requirements for licensure. More than half of the U.S. registration boards require the NCARB Certificate for reciprocal registration.

If you are already certified, you can request your NCARB Record be sent to any jurisdiction in the United States or Canada by logging into My NCARB. From My NCARB, proceed to the NCARB Record section, select "Request Transmittal of NCARB Record," and follow the instructions.

If you are not NCARB certified, go to the Certification and Reciprocity section of the NCARB website to learn the requirements and steps to become certified.

Questions? Contact customer service at 202/879-0520 or customerservice@ncarb.org.

A requirement to maintaining an NCARB Certificate is the possession of an active architectural registration. As long as one of your registrations remains active, the status of your NCARB Certificate will not be affected.

Please refer to the Alternate Paths to Certification section that explains the requirements for the Broadly Experienced Foreign Architect (BEFA) Program. Please note that the requirements for the licensure of an architect vary on state-by-state basis. For state licensure requirements, please see our Registration Board Licensing Requirements.

There is no national license for architects in the United States. Architects are individually licensed in each individual jurisdiction of the United States. Architects are licensed separately under different laws, and must apply for a license in each jurisdiction. In some jurisdictions it is required that firms also have authorizations to practice.

After an architect has achieved an architectural license, that architect may be eligible for NCARB certification, a tool for achieving reciprocal licensure in multiple jurisdictions.

Please visit the Certification and Reciprocity section of the NCARB website to learn the requirements and steps to become certified.

Please visit the Certification and Reciprocity section of the NCARB website to learn the requirements and steps to become certified.

No, when seeking reciprocity, there are some jurisdictions that may not accept an EESA-NCARB Evaluation. You may review the different jurisdictional requirements by visiting our registration board requirements section.

You begin by establishing an NCARB Record. You will be notified by NCARB regarding the EESA-NCARB evaluation and what steps to take next. An EESA-NCARB evaluation will not be required if your degree program is accredited by either NAAB or the Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB).

The NCARB Certificate is an individual credential. By obtaining and maintaining an NCARB Certificate, an individual has demonstrated that they have met the established standards for certification. An architect who has obtained an NCARB Certificate may use the letters "NCARB" after their name. The NCARB logo is reserved solely for use by NCARB. At this time there is no accepted means of using the NCARB logo or designation in association with a firm.

This resolution recommends one continuing education requirement for all of NCARB's 54 member jurisdictions. The benefits are:    

• Consistency among jurisdictions
• Less confusion for architects registered in multiple jurisdictions
• A simpler process for architects and jurisdictional boards when renewing

Currently an architect registered in five jurisdictions may have five different CE requirements to keep all of his or her licenses active. Differences in the number of hours required, timeframe for earning hours, and types of hours (HSW, SD, ADA, etc.) accepted are variables that an architect may encounter. Twelve continuing education hours in health, safety, and welfare subjects each calendar is simpler for the architect and jurisdictions to process.

No, NCARB is recommending that jurisdictions with continuing education requirements adopt 12 HSW CEH per year. Over 30 of the jurisdictions that currently require continuing education require 12 hours.

No, NCARB does not keep an individual's record of CEHs. Continuing education hours are a requirement for 46 of NCARB's 54 member jurisdictions for licensure renewal. You will continue to document hours as each jurisdiction requires.

No. The major change in this recommendation relates to having an architect complete continuing education each calendar year rather than each renewal cycle. However, an architect would still report their continuing education when renewing their license. For example: If you renew your license in April, you would document hours earned between January and December of the previous year rather than from the previous April.

It will depend on whether your jurisdiction chooses to adopt this recommendation. The timetable will vary greatly.

No. If your jurisdiction doesn't currently require continuing education, this resolution does not make them require it. However, if your jurisdiction decides to require continuing education in the future, this is NCARB's recommendation—as voted upon by its 54 Member Boards.

No.

No.

This issue developed at the grassroots level among NCARB's Member Boards. The boards asked the Council to examine the complex problem to see if there was a way to create a simplified CE standard that is less confusing for both architects and the boards.

The quiz is included with the purchase of the monograph.

NCARB does not keep a record of continuing education hours. Current AIA members may be able to track their hours by contacting AIA.

CEHs are Continuing Education Hours that equal 1 contact hour. CEHs are also sometimes referred to as PDUs, LUs, CEUs, or CUs.

Yes.

HSW is the abbreviation for required health, safety, and welfare requirements as defined and mandated by the AIA (http://info.aia.org/aia/cesfaq_default.cfm) and state licensing boards. It is anything that relates to the structural integrity, soundness of a building, or building site. All NCARB monographs meet HSW requirements.

SD is the abbreviation for sustainable design as defined by the AIA (http://info.aia.org/aia/cesfaq_default.cfm). All NCARB monographs meet SD requirements.

All registered architects can receive credit for completed and passed monograph quizzes.

No, each person has to pay a separate fee to receive credit for a monograph quiz. Monograph orders are name and number coded for the person that ordered the monograph.

NCARB does not have a continuing education requirement to renew an NCARB Record. Continuing education may be required by an architect’s state board to renew an architectural license. Check the most current continuing education requirement with your jurisdiction.

To receive the discounted pricing, you must have an active NCARB Record number.

Visit the NCARB web site here.

Currently there are three ways an architect can submit a quiz for grading; 1) use a password to submit the quiz online, 2) fax the quiz sheet to 202/783-0290, or 3) or you can mail the quiz sheet to the NCARB office.

You can find your access code on the confirmation e-mail for your monograph order.

Architects are given two chances to take the monograph quiz. If you fail a quiz twice you must call NCARB Customer Service at 202/879-0520 or e-mail customerservice@ncarb.org to submit a retest request. The cost for each retest is $25.

Upon failing a monograph quiz title twice, the fee for each subsequent retest is $25 until you pass the quiz. Contact NCARB Customer Service at 202/879-0520 or e-mail to customerservice@ncarb.org to submit a request to retest.

Please contact NCARB Customer Service at customerservice@ncarb.org or 202/879-0520.

NCARB is upgrading its systems in order to streamline our services under one login. This upgrade will immediately provide additional security to each account. In the future, it will allow us to create personalized web pages for each user and the ability to add more tools to make interacting with us even easier.

The first time you try to log into one of our secure sections, you will be asked to update all accounts you may have with us. This will combine services under one new username, password, and security question.

There are three types of accounts.

My NCARB Record: You have access to this section if you have an NCARB Record or an NCARB Certificate.

IDP Supervisors and Mentors: You have access to this section if you are an IDP supervisor or mentor who approves experience through the electronic Experience Verification Reporting (e-EVR) system.

Member Registration Boards: You have access to this section if you are currently serving on or work for one of the 54 U.S. architectural registration boards or are a volunteer on one of NCARB's committees.

A major component of this system upgrade is adding additional security to each account. For data security purposes, each individual must update his or her own accounts.

You may easily update your accounts online.

1. Click “Login” on NCARB’s homepage.
2. Select “Update Accounts.”
3. Check the accounts that you currently have with NCARB, and enter your current username and password for each account. You must do this even if you only have one account.
4. Click “Continue.”
5. Enter your new account information (a new username, password, and security question), and click “Update.”
6. Check your e-mail to verify your new account information.
7. Once your new account information is verified, log in with your new username and password information.

For additional assistance, please watch "How to update existing accounts."

Once you have updated one of your accounts, you will have the opportunity to update or add other accounts through the My NCARB homepage as needed.

No, you must update your account(s) and select a new username, password, and security question before you may access any of your accounts with NCARB. You will no longer be able to log in with your e-mail address or Record number. Click here to update your account(s).

If you have an e-mail address on file with us, you may still update your account. Select “Forgot Password” under the My NCARB Record option, and then enter your e-mail or Record number. You will receive an e-mail with credentials to update your account and gain access. If you do not have an e-mail address on file, please e-mail NCARB Customer Service or call us at 202/879-0520.

You may only select one supervisor or mentor account through the update process. To update the additional supervisor/mentor accounts, you must contact NCARB Customer Service. DO NOT update your additional accounts separately.

To start a new account:

1. Click “Establish Record” on the login page.
2. Skip the combine existing accounts page.
3. Fill out the “create a new account” information.
4. Verify your e-mail address, and log in with your new account information.
5. Once logged in, select the service you would like to access. You can either establish an NCARB Record or, if you are an IDP supervisor or mentor, you can access the e-EVR to review and approve IDP experience reports.

For additional assistance, watch "How to create a new account."

To recover your saved application:

1. Click “Establish Record” on the login page.
2. Skip the combine existing accounts page.
3. Fill out the “create a new account” information. Make sure you use the same e-mail address you entered on your previously started application.
4. Under “NCARB Record,” click “Add.” If you have used the same e-mail, you will be linked to the section you left off on in your application.
   
   

NCARB’s only members are the 54 U.S. architectural registration boards. Those that receive access to Registration Board section will require additional verification.

The monograph ordering section of the website will remain a separate entity and will not be included in this upgrade. Therefore, your username and password for this section only will not change. If you have questions about the NCARB monograph series, please contact NCARB Customer Service.

Interns and architects can establish an NCARB Record here.

An account is a set of login credentials that allow you to access a secure section of NCARB’s website.

You must update your account even if you currently only have access to one of our secure sections. The upgrade to our system includes additional security for each account, which is why every user of our system must update their username, password, and security question—even if you only have one account.

Fees associated with all NCARB programs and services can be found here.

No.  NCARB will not extend the expiration date on an NCARB Record if you are enrolled full time in a NAAB-accredited master's degree program.

An intern's NCARB Record expires after three years from the date of initial application. After that, you must renew your Record every year to keep it active.

If you have established access to your online records then you may update through My NCARB.

If you have not yet established access to your online Record, contact customer service at 202/879-0520..