 |
Web Hosting by Netfirms | Free Domain Names by Netfirms |
|
|
|
1. Who must meet the IDP requirements in Alabama?
2. How do I begin to establish my Council Record?
4. How much does it cost to establish an IDP Council Record?
5. How long will it take to complete my internship under IDP?
6. When can I start my IDP Council Record?
7. Does my summer experience count?
9. Do I have to work in an architectural firm?
10. Does work in a foreign country get credit?
12. Who is going to verify that I actually did what I said I did?
13. Who else is involved in my internship?
16. Does the CSI specifications education course qualify for supplementary education?
20. How do I keep the record of my experience?
21. Does my previous experience count?
22. Can I be licensed in Alabama if I am not a U.S. Citizen?
1. Who must meet the IDP requirements in Alabama?
All candidates for licensure.
2. How do I begin to establish my Council Record?
You can get the application packet free from NCARB in Washington, by calling (202) 879-0500, by writing NCARB at Suite 700, 1735 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20006, or through NCARB's web site at www.ncarb.org .
3. What type of an academic degree must I obtain to be eligible to take the Architectural Registration Examination in Alabama?
You must have a professional NAAB-accredited degree in architecture -- B. Arch. or M. Arch. Without NCARB certification, it may be more difficult or impossible to become licensed in another state by reciprocity.
4. How much does it cost to establish an IDP Council Record?
There are three possible cost scenarios:
1. $265.00 one time up-front fee paid to NCARB now to establish your IDP Council Record, and maintain it for three years, plus $35.00 per year for time beyond the three year prepaid period for maintaining your Record.
2. If you are a current student or have graduated within the past 6 months, pay $50.00 to NCARB now, with the remainder ($215.00) paid at the time you ask NCARB to send your Record to the state licensing board to be eligible to sit for the Architect Registration Examination. The cost of the remainder of the fee, however, will likely be increased by NCARB periodically, so you may end up paying more than the first scenario.
3. $565.00 flat fee if you submit your Council Record application within one year before you request NCARB to transfer your record to Alabama to take the ARE The additional $300.00 above the standard fee is a called "special service fee" for processing your Council Record in a relatively short time frame.
5. How long will it take to complete my internship under IDP?
In Alabama, the IDP internship should take approximately 140 weeks, or a little over 2 1/2 years. If you hold an NAAB-accredited B. Arch. or M. Arch. first professional degree, 700 Training Units (TUs) are required. Each TU is worth 8 hours. Since there is no distinction between overtime hours spent to accumulate TUs and regular hours, the actual duration of training could be somewhat shortened by working overtime. The AIA supplementary education resources that are recognized by NCARB, could also be done after hours or on weekends to apply toward some of the required TUs. In reality, due to the diversity of experiences you will need to acquire in the IDP, most candidates take about the same time as the former system.
It should also be noted that the Alabama Board For Registration of Architects requires a minimum IDP duration file, initiation to completion, of 2 years. This is in conjunction with and in addition to the completion of all NCARB IDP requirements.
6. When can I start my IDP Council Record?
You can start counting time in your Council Record after successful completion of your Junior year (96 semester hours or 144 quarter hours including 32 semester hours or 48 quarter hours in architectural courses) as an undergraduate in a NAAB-accredited B. Arch. program or in a pre-professional architectural program that is approved by the Registration Board, or after the first year in a Masters of Architecture program when your undergraduate degree was not a pre-professional architectural degree.
You are encouraged to initiate your council record just prior to or within 30 days of the time you can start counting your time.
7. Does my summer experience count?
Yes, if you work at least 10 consecutive weeks working for an architect, engineer, interior designer, planner, landscape architect, or contractor, and at least 35 hours per week.
Yes, if you work at least 20 hours a week for 6 consecutive months working for an architect, engineer, interior designer, planner, landscape architect, or contractor. If you are a student and your schedule does not permit you to work a minimum of 20 hours each week, you may work more hours during winter break to make up for a shortage during the semester. However, all of your part-time work must be for the same firm during this 6 month minimum time period. If you find yourself in a situation where you are unable to work 20 hours a week due to final exams or heavy assignments in school, you may want to call NCARB directly and ask to speak to someone in the Intern Services Department to discuss whether or how you could get credit for your part time work.
9. Do I have to work in an architectural firm?
No, you may satisfy the Training Unit requirements in non-architectural firms that provide "in-house" architectural services (not to the general public), such as governmental bodies that have architectural departments (park districts, school districts, or municipal governments) or corporations (like Amoco), as long as you are performing architectural duties under the direct supervision of a licensed architect.
You may earn up to 465 Training Units in firms which provide some but not necessarily a full range of architectural services, as long as you are performing architectural duties under the direct supervision and control of a licensed architect.
"Direct supervision" means normal daily contact with your supervisor who also is in the same firm. If the company you work for does not have an architect or engineer on its full time staff, but simply hires a consulting architect or engineer to provide them with professional services, the time you spend working in that situation will not count. Be aware of the fact that outside consulting architects who come into the firm to review your work and apply their license seal to drawings that you have prepared are practicing illegally in Alabama and most other states, and are subject to suspension or termination of their license.
You can earn up to 235 Training Units working under the direct supervision of a licensed structural, civil, mechanical, or electrical engineer.
You can earn up to 235 Training Units working under the direct supervision of a registered (or licensed) landscape architect.
You can earn up to 117 Training Units working in interior design firms, space planning firms, contracting firms, construction management firms, or planning firms, under the direction of a person experienced in those activities.
Note that under the IDP training guidelines, you will be required to have a wide variety of training experiences. You may not be able to acquire all of those training experiences in some types of non-traditional firms, but you could possibly earn Training Units in some of these training areas using the NCARB-approved supplementary educational materials.
10. Does work in a foreign country get credit?
Yes, you can earn up to 235 Training Units for all work performed in a foreign country, as long as you work under the direct supervision and control of an architect who is registered in that country under their laws, or whose registration is recognized by that country as being equivalent to their own (for instance, you may work under the supervision of a British-registered architect in India or Singapore).
11. I started my IDP Council Record in Georgia and recently moved to Alabama. How do I transfer my Council Record to Alabama?
There is no need to do any transfer. You will get full credit for your IDP training earned in Georgia (or any other state, for that matter), as long as it is acceptable to NCARB. That is one of the great advantages of IDP - it is "portable." You only need to let NCARB know you moved so they will be able to send your future forms and record of your experience to your new address.
12. Who is going to verify that I actually did what I said I did?
Your Employer. Under IDP rules, you must have a Employer, who is a person who supervises your work on a daily basis and who periodically certifies your record of training and supplementary education. Employers do not always have to be architects (for example, in the case where you are working for an engineer or interior design firm). If an architect is your Employer, he or she must be a licensed architect in Alabama. Obviously, your Employer could change from time to time, as you are assigned other duties in a firm, move to different cities, or simply change jobs.
Note that if you falsify your training information (such as exaggerating time earned or mis-reporting the training category), NCARB will not give you any credit for the four month period covered by the falsified training, and they will also deny any training credit for the entire year following that reporting date. After that year of "lock-out" NCARB will then internally review the incident and make a determination whether or not to reactivate your record. The strong message is to be truthful in the information you submit to NCARB.
13. Who else is involved in my internship?
You must select a Mentor. A Mentor is an architect licensed in any state who meets with you periodically to review your training progress and discuss your career goals. Your Mentor serves as a traditional "mentor." For example, Frank Lloyd Wright's "Mentor" was Louis Sullivan, who Wright called his "Lieber Meister." He or she may ask before you meet that you write down and update your short and long-range goals for yourself. You may want to ask a friend, a former professor, or another architect in your firm to serve as your Mentor. The local AIA office may have a list of individuals who have agreed to serve in this important role. You may also have your Employer serve as your Mentor, if you feel it is appropriate.
14. I heard that I can defer repayment of my student loans if I enroll in the IDP program. Is that true?
Yes, but only if the federally insured student loan was granted prior to July 1, 1993. There is a form that you can get from your loan company which requires two signatures to verify that you are enrolled in an official apprenticeship program. The first signature is the "Program Official," which is your Employer. The second signature is the Administrator of the Board For Registration Of Architects. Call Cindy Gainey, in Montgomery, telephone (334) 242-4179, to obtain this second signature.
15. My firm has a continuing education program. How can I get credit for attendance at their seminars?
If your firm can establish that their continuing education seminars are "experience-based," that is, they will significantly involve actual observing or participating in producing architectural services, you will be able to claim all the time you spend in that program, just as if you were actually working and getting those experiences. If, however, your firm's continuing education program is of an academic nature (lectures, reading materials, tests, etc.), it must be pre-approved by the AIA.
16. Does the CSI specifications education course qualify for supplementary education?
No, it is not pre-approved by the AIA at this time.
17 Is it possible to get Training Unit credit for attending AIA-sponsored or CSI-sponsored educational seminars?
Yes, as long as the seminars and workshops are sponsored by an AIA Certified Continuing Education provider, and they will award "Learning Unit" credit to licensed architects. You need to have completed 96 semester hours or 144 quarter hours including 32 semester hours or 48 quarter hours in architectural courses in an undergraduate program, or finished the 1st year of a 3-year Master of Architecture program before you can begin earning credits through this system. Keep in mind, however, that "supplementary education" will not count for the minimum required number of Training Units in each category.
Formula for translation from AIA "Learning Units" (LU) to your IDP "Training Units" (TU):
Quality Level 1: 1 LU/hour = 0.10 TU/hour
Quality Level 2: 1 LU/hour = 0.15 TU/hour
Quality Level 3: 1 LU/hour = 0.20 TU/hour
18. I received a FIDER-accredited degree in Interior Design 3 years ago. After graduating, I worked two years for an architect, doing architectural drawings. Now I am enrolled in graduate school, working on a Masters Degree in Architecture. Does my experience prior to enrolling in graduate school count toward my required IDP training?
No. If your undergraduate degree was not in an NAAB-accredited architectural program, only experience gained after your first year in the graduate school architectural program will count toward your training requirements. However, if your undergraduate degree is approved, allowing you to enter a 2-year graduate program, then you could earn credit for work done after your Junior year.
19. I have a degree in Interior Design and plan on doing free-lance interiors work. Does that work earn Training Units?
No. To earn Training Units, you must be employed and work under the direct and daily supervision and control of a qualified interior designer.
20. How do I keep the record of my experience?
You keep the record of hours you worked on an "Employment Verification Form" provided to you by NCARB. You will fill it out at least every four months, checking off what kind of work you have done and what category it falls under, and how many hours you worked in each category. You then have your Employer verify and sign the form. Have your Mentor sign it also. In a situation where you have not yet been able to secure a Mentor, NCARB will accept your Employer's signature in place of your Mentor's signature on the form. If you have any questions about which category your work should be applied to, talk to your state IDP coordinator. You send this form to NCARB in Washington approximately on January 1, May 1, and September 1 of each year. NCARB will then review your record, check your category assignments, and send you a "Periodic Assessment Report."
21. Does my previous experience count?
Yes, all experience gained after your third year in an NAAB-accredited degree program or in a pre-professional architectural degree program which is approved by the Alabama Architecture Licensing Board, or all experience gained after your first year in a 3-year graduate program in architecture, can count. You just need to fill out an NCARB Employment Verification form for that time and get your former employer to sign it
22. Can I be licensed in Alabama if I am not a U.S. Citizen?
Yes.
23. I have had a dispute with my boss and he fired me. I need him to sign my IDP verification of employment to get credit for the work I did at his office, and have sent the forms to him but he refused to sign them. Can I force him to sign?
There is no legal risk or cost involved to your former boss by his signing your employment verification form. This has been a requirement of the Registration Board nearly since its creation. As a future practicing professional, you should always strive to maintain good relations with all members of the construction industry. Your employment and business reputation are built on good references from past employers. However, if an architect refuses to sign your IDP forms, your first recourse could be to have your IDP coordinator call your former employer to officially request their cooperation. If that does not get the job done, you may contact the Registration Board to speak with your former employer, to inform them that your request is reasonable, that they have responsibility to sign, and that their signature on the form will have no legal or financial impact on their business. This will normally get you what you need. In a very difficult case, you may have to take legal action as a last resort.
24. I have been working for a small architectural firm for the past year, and have put in many hours of overtime for which I was paid at my regular hourly rate. I have heard that I should have been paid at "time-and-a-half" rate. What is the law on this?
"Professional" employees are exempt from the federal wage and labor laws and therefore are not required to be paid at the "time-and-a-half" rate for overtime. However, "interns" are not classified as professionals under this law, since they are pursuing architectural licensing, they cannot seal drawings for construction, and they must work under the supervision and control of a qualified professional. In order to be classified as a professional under the federal labor law, the employee must make be able to do all of the following:
1. Make independent judgements about her or his work.
2. Act without the approval of her or his supervisor.
3. Affect the essential operations of the enterprise without supervisory approval.
Interns are typically not given that kind of role in their work, and are therefore non-exempt from the wage and labor laws. Courts have determined that non-exempt workers must be paid at the "time-and-a-half" hourly wage rate after working 40 hours in one week. The size of the firm does not matter. I have received a number of questions from interns about this issue asking for specific information regarding court cases. At this point, I have only the information from reading the labor law itself in the Code of Federal Regulations which can be found in any public library at 29 CFR Part 541. Particularly applicable is the discussion of nonexempt work in paragraph.
See section 541.308: http://www.dol.gov/dol/esa/public/regs/cfr/29cfr/toc_Part500-899/0541_toc.htm for more information. You should be aware, however, that a few very large architectural firms have established agreements with the U.S. Department of Labor to classify some of their interns as exempt from the wage and hour laws based on their assignment to tasks in the office which requires the consistent exercise of discretion and judgement in the performance of their work. If you want to pursue the issue with your firm, you should seek counsel of an attorney specializing in labor law.
25. I am classified as a senior at my school, but I have not yet completed my junior year design courses. Can I get training unit credit for work under the IDP guidelines?
In order to be able to enroll in IDP and get Training Unit credit you must have accumulated 96 semester hours (144 quarter hours) of credit toward the professional or pre-professional degree, of which at least 32 semester hours (48 quarter hours) of credit are in architectural courses. Architectural courses are those that are required to be taken as part of your curriculum in architecture and usually have the prefix of "ARCH" or "ARC."
26. I have a pre-professional B.S. degree in architecture, and am currently enrolled in a 3 year M.Arch. degree program. I took a year off between graduating and enrolling in the Masters degree program. Does that year's experience count?
No. The reason is that you are enrolled in the 3 year M. Arch. program which is designed for students with no architectural background. In that school setting, you must wait until after your first year in graduate school to begin accumulating Training Units. However, if you had enrolled in a 2 year M. Arch. program, or if you had been granted "advanced standing" in the 3 year program as a result of your pre-professional degree, the time you spent after your undergraduate degree would have counted.
27. I work full time (37 2 hours per week) for one architectural firm and also work part time (20 hours per week ) for another firm. Does the part time work count toward my Training Unit requirements?
Yes. However, if you had worked less than 20 hours per week, the second job would not count. In addition, for part time work to count, you must work for that same firm for a minimum of 6 consecutive months. In addition, if you worked 35 or more hours per week for the second firm, instead of 20 hours per week (don't laugh -- it has happened) it would also count. NCARB classifies full time work as 35 hours per week or more. Part time work is between 20 and 35 hours per week.
28. I am volunteering for Habitat for Humanity about 8 hours per month as a construction worker, and would like to get credit for that time. Can I do that?
Yes. You can credit the full amount of your volunteer time in the "Related Activities" Category, under the "Professional and Community Service" area. Your Employer (that is, your boss at your full time job) will sign off on those hours. He or she may wish to verify with your volunteer organization that you have actually put in the number of hours you have claimed. You cannot claim any volunteer work under the Professional and Community Service area unless you either have a part time (20 hours per week or more) or full time (35 hours per week or more) job in an acceptable employment setting (in an architectural office or related occupation).
29. I am working in a design-build firm where my supervisor is a licensed engineer. I am doing document checking and coordination (Category A) work and construction observation (Category B) work. In which category do I record my experience?
You record all of your experience in that employment setting under Category D, Engineering Activities. Note that there is a maximum of 235 TUs applied to your IDP training in this setting.
30. After graduation, I intend to open an architectural firm and hire a licensed architect to work for me. Can I earn TUs in that situation?
No. Alabama rules prevent you from earning IDP credit as a "principal" in a firm. After all, you are supposed to be in training. (Note that NCARB does accept this in those few states that allow Interns to be "principals" as long as they are "supervised"). Furthermore, in order for your architectural firm to legally practice architecture in Alabama, it must be registered with the Board For Registration of Architects. In order to qualify for registration, the person having responsibility for the architectural services must be a General Partner in a Partnership organization or must be a Director of the firm if it is organized as a Corporation, and two thirds of the Partners or Directors must be architects, structural engineers or professional engineers licensed in any state. This would not be the case if you had a business in which there were only one architect and you as owners/partners.
31. I work as an independent contractor for an architect an average of 40 hours per week. Can I receive Training Unit credit for that experience?
No, unless you receive the same type of daily supervision as a full-time employee of the architect. Some employers wrongly believe that classifying an employee as a consultant or independent contractor eliminates the need for paying minimum wage or overtime, or paying their portion of federal social security tax or state unemployment insurance. However, as Carl Sapers, Esq., legal counsel to NCARB said in a speech given to all the IDP coordinators on January 28, 1996, the federal legal definition for consultant or contract employer includes four tests to which the answers must all be no:
1. Is the manner of doing the job controlled by the employer?
2. Does the employee use the employer's tools, space, and equipment?
3. Does the employer establish the time frame for the completion of the project?
4. Is the activity integral to the enterprise?
32. I work for a temporary employment placement agency and am sent to firms to work on a specific project, but I am paid only by the temp agency. Can I receive Training Unit credit for that experience?
Yes, as long as each experience in the architectural offices to which you are assigned is at least 10 weeks in duration. In this situation, your fringe benefits and unemployment insurance are paid for by the temp agency, so you are not an "independent contractor" in the eyes of the Labor Department or IRS. However, the architectural firm in which you are temporarily placed will need to sign your Training Unit form to verify that you have earned Training Units while working in their office. Although the form asks that the firm verify that you have been "employed" by them during the time period for which you are recording your Training Units, the word "employed" in this context will not get them into trouble or hold them responsible for later paying further benefits to you. Your temp agency cannot sign your forms, because they do not know what you are doing for the architectural firm. If your supervisor is hesitant to sign your forms, please have him or her speak with Frank Heitzman at (708) 848-8844, or Robert Rosenfeld at (202) 783-6500.
33. Can I get credit for the public service requirement even though my public service time was not architecturally related?
Yes. You can get credit for time spent doing anything for any legitimate public service organization, or church-related organization, as long as it is for the betterment of the community. It does not have to have anything to do with architecture.
34. I have a degree in architecture from a foreign country. Can I earn TUs towards my required diversified training requirements and become eligible to take the Architecture Registration Examination?
You may be able to do this if your degree is shown to be the equivalent of a pre-professional degree in this country. To find out whether it is or not you must complete an "Educational Evaluation Service for Architects (EESA) NCARB Evaluation Report." Submit your request for this to Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc., P.O. Box 92970, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202-0970, telephone: (414) 289-3400, fax: (414) 289-3411. It takes about 2 months to complete and costs $825.00.
35. I am enrolled in an architectural program which requires me to spend a year working in an architectural firm prior to my senior year in college. I am getting college credit for this internship. Can I also get Training Unit credit for the time spent working?
Yes, but only if the college credit you earn for the internship exceeds the total required credit hours (both "core" and elective) for graduation.
36. I work for an architectural firm which has put me on "temporary loan" to another firm for a period of several weeks. Who will verify my employment and sign for the training unit credit for the firm in which I am temporarily placed?
In this situation, the supervisor in the firm in which you are temporarily working becomes your "employer" and will verify that you were working in their offices on the NCARB employment verification form. The firm which pays you and which lent you out does not have to do anything during this period, since they are not supervising you.
