Report shows high cost of US registration
From Building Design May 16, 2003
By Damian Arnold

UK architects spend over 10 times as much getting registered in the US as American architects do to be registered in the UK, a new study claims this week.

The study, by Boston-based British architect Stephen Stenson, shows that a UK architect has to spend $14,453 (£9,000) to become registered in the States, while their US counterpart spends a mere $1,385 (£860) in registering in Britain.

"To register in the UK, a US architect only needs to gain one-years work experience, sit a one-day exam and pay about $1,400," says the report.

"They can practise in 16 countries of the European Union. For the better architecturally educated UK architect, registration in the US requires a long process of education evaluation, two years, work experience, nine exams and over $14,000."

The paper adds weight to growing complaints by expatriate architects that it becoming nearly impossible to become a practising architect in the US.

According to expat architects who spoke to BD recently, as the profession suffers an economic slowdown practices in the US are increasingly demanding that expat architects wishing to work in the US are registered with the US National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (News April 4).

The main drain on UK architects' time and money, cited in the report, is that the US does not recognise British architects' "general education" standards and therefore insists applicants gain "general education" qualifications at a US college, which can include English, maths, social studies, biology and zoology, and take up to five years.

In comparison the ARB does recognise the general education standards in the US, making it cheaper and quicker for them to become registered in the UK.

The report shows that UK and other EU applicants start by paying an initial $230 to make an application to become registered. An evaluation of that application costs a further $805. The potential costs of taking 40 hours of a "general education" course is $11,000. Add to this exam preparation fees of $1,440 and final exam fees of $978 and the final figure is $14,453 (£9,000).

The US architect registering in the UK is in for an easier ride, it says. There is no application fee while evaluation of the application costs £348. The exam preparation fee is £186 while the final exam fee is £326, adding up to £861 ($1,385).

For further details e-mail: . The full report can be seen at http://www.stephenstenson.com/practice/reciprocity_overview/reciprocity_print.htm

The frustrations of British expats over US demands on registration
From Building Design April 11, 2003
By Karen Glaser

Despite attempts to open trade between US and European architects, American Firms re choosing US professionals over Brits, who they demand spend up to five years becoming registered. Karen Glaser talks to some of the 700 frustrated British architects

Tim Clark, from Clark & Kanner Architects, is RIBA-USA president and chair of the California chapter.
"To be honest it feels like friendly fire - we often feel like shouting out "hey, were not the enemy, you know". It's an odd situation. On the one hand, British-trained architects are really valued in the US for their professionalism and robust flexibility - I think it is no exaggeration to say that every practice would love to have one - but at the same time there is this mistrust of the foreigner.

Post-September 11, things have got tighter. One guy even set up a website saying that if there was a reciprocity agreement between UK and the US, it would entitle architects from all of Britain's former colonies to work in the States. It was just naked protectionism, and alarmist protectionism.

"I am not US registered, but I am lucky in that I came over here with a job and then gradually assimilated into the system. I wouldn't like to be starting afresh.

Stephen Stenson is a project director at Jung Brannen Associates, Boston, and joint chair of the RIBA-USA's New England chapter.
"I have been working here for five years and I am still not US registered. It's the number one issue for Brits here, who call it the 'R' word. It's a very painstaking process that in effect demands much more of foreign-educated architects than US ones. Asking a qualified UK-registered architect with 20 years experience to complete a year and a half of "general education" in subjects they may have studied at A-level is rather frustrating."

Simon Harris recently qualified in Britain. He is trying to set up as a sole practitioner in Chicago.
"I have only been here for six months and I am thinking of going home again. I am a qualified architect and cannot get a job in this country. Many ads now ask for architects who studied at US-accredited schools, but that takes time and money I don't have. It's fair to say that I am feeling pretty vulnerable. If you are partnered with an American firm you're OK because a US registered architect can sign off work, but if you are on your own, like me, you really are on your own."

Mark Freeman is an associate at Perry Dean Rogers & Partners, Boston
"I came to work in America five years ago when registering was never really an issue. There was a lot of work and a great need for architects. Work is slowing down now and only last week the issue of my registration was brought up in an internal review. It's good for the practice if we can say that all the architects are registered in the States. But I am not quite ready to down that road yet. It's a very long one."

Debbie Bentley is joint chair of the New England chapter and a sole practitioner.
"Things are tightening up here: school building programmes are being cancelled, money is being poured into 'homeland security' and firms are generally happier employing American architects. In difficult times you turn to your own. I have heard French and German architects say they are desperately trying to lose thier accents, and the expression 'Old Europe' has almost become a term of abuse. But the problem is that it is not easy to become 'American'. There is just one person in the entire country who reviews the registration applications, and if there is any kind of omission you need to go back and start the process again. That process includes a test to prove you can read, write and talk in English. When I asked if my diploma thesis exempted me from that requirement, I was told no.

Wendi Zhang works for Lico Contracting, a New York design & build firm. "An architect without a licence in America is like a bird without wings. I began my architectural education in China, but qualified in Britain. I came to America with a job in 1988 and things have been downhill for me ever since. I passed the written part of the entrance exam to become US-registered, but failed the oral part and since then have only been able to find rather routine interior design work. I would like to try the exam again, but I am not prepared to do the written work again and I would have to."

Michael Cassidy is an architect with Phillip Johnson & Alan Ritchie Architects, New York "I don't exist as an architect here. I work as one, but if I wanted to set up on my own or just do some private commissions, I couldn't. The irony is that when American architects come to work in Britain, they get the red carpet treatment. The National Council of Architectural Registration Board is a narrow-minded body for whom the RIBA and ARB are basically invisible.

UK expat architects hit by US slowdown
From Building Design April 04, 2003
By Damian Arnold

British architects are finding it harder to work in the US as the economic slowdown forces practices to employ US architects only, or to demand that expatriates become US registered.

Designers already working at US practices are feeling "vulnerable" and more and more of those trying to gain employment are being asked to become registered - a laborious process which can take up to five years.

"Practices are becoming more selective about who they employ" a British architect working in the US told BD. "I've recently seen adverts that only want architects who studied at US-accredited schools. There is active discrimination against any foreign architect, and people are angry and fed up.

The change in atmosphere comes despite a renewal of attempts to open trade between European and US architects.

"There is a concern that we are not going to be promoted without being registered first or that we won't be allowed to become associates. Some people are running large projects but can't get the credit on their CV."

The RIBA's New England chapter is fighting back. Co-chair Debbie Bentley has set up the Alien Architects Group to coach expats through the daunting task of becoming US registered.

This is being backed up by a database that gives details of foreign architects attempting to get registered in the States . The chapter hopes that architects of similar backgrounds canuse the database to help each other through the difficult process.

Up until now, many expat architects have been able to practice without being registered in the US, so long as a registered architect signed off their work. But with most practices now demanding registration, expats face an onerous journey of extra and costly education in their own time, said Bentley.

In order to qualify for the entrance exam to become US registered, UK architects have to complete a year and a half of "general education", since this is part of the American architecture degrees. This could include subjects that they have already studied at A level.

The RIBA's New England chapter has begun negotiating with the Massachusetts state architecture board to drop the general education requirement, which it considers unfair.

The next initiative will see the chapter turning to the internet with a site aimed at British architects and firms wanting to get business in the States and looking for a US firm to partner up with. "It's a way of brokering the arrangement to put two companies together while at the same time giving the UK practice a degree of anonymity at the beginning," Bentley said.