This section of the NZRAB website provides the information and resources required to apply to become a Registered Architect.
You can access:
- latest notices about what's happening here
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a description of the procedures required for registration, there being eight different pathways for this, depending on the applicant’s individual situation
, here
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the Minimum Standards for Registration as a Registered Architect
here
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the Code of Minimum Standards of Ethical Conduct for Registered Architects
here
But before you look at these things, there are some broader issues that you should consider.
Are you ready?
The most fundamental question you should be asking is “Am I ready for registration yet?”
Currently around a third of registration applications are declined. Many of these involve applications that have little chance of success and should not have been submitted. The Registered Architects Board urges you, before applying, to consider carefully whether you are ready. If you are unsure, get objective advice.
What is the Board looking for?
Fundamentally, the assessors who scrutinise each applicant ask the question “Is this person ready to operate as a stand-alone, sole-trader Architect – is the applicant ready to put up his or her shingle?” A Registered Architect has to understand and have experience of all the procedures and judgements required to run an architectural practice and provide a full range of architectural services. He or she must be able to do this without the safety net of being in a practice with other more experienced architects. You are not ready for registration if you still rely on colleagues to “fill in the gaps”.
Why are applications declined?
It is very rare for an application to be declined because the applicant lacks design skill or flair. The issues almost always involve a lack of experience or understanding of the practicalities of operating an architectural business and managing a building project from beginning to end in the New Zealand environment. Here are some common reasons why applicants get into difficulty:
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a lack of familiarity with setting fees, tendering procedures, and establishing and administering contracts
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an inadequate understanding of the Resource Management Act, District Plans, the Building Act, the Building Code and Compliance Documents, Code Compliance Certificates, and the consent process
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a poor understanding of the New Zealand context, including responses to the New Zealand climate and seismic design
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poor understanding of the legislative framework for conducting business in New Zealand
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a poor understanding of the Code of Minimum Standards of Ethical Conduct for Registered Architects
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limited breadth of experience and excessive specialisation in work done so far
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poor communications skills.
Applicants
may be given a free repeat assessment with new Assessors, if the first panel is in doubt about whether or not the applicant has met the minimum standards for registration. Repeat assessments in this context are expected to be very rare.
Experience required
Applicants often face the difficulty that their employers have not been able to involve them in all aspects of managing building projects. If this is an issue for you, well before applying, talk to your employer and request a wider range of duties to gain the required experience.
A memo to employers of architectural graduates
click here
From overseas?
Some applicants who have been Registered Architects in other countries have struggled because they have not built up enough knowledge and experience of the New Zealand context. As noted earlier, almost invariably when applications are rejected, it is not because of a lack of architectural skills. Much more commonly, it is because the applicant lacks knowledge and experience in terms of the practicalities in the New Zealand context. Again, get objective advice.
You are your advocate
In terms of the assessment itself, remember that the case studies that you will present are intended to be talking points which you use to demonstrate that you have the required knowledge and experience of the architectural process. It is up to you to select appropriate projects to make up case studies and make your presentation to the assessors on that basis. The assessors must judge whether you are ready for registration on the basis of what you say and the material that you present. The face-to-face assessment is not an exam – it is a professional conversation, in which, in effect, you are making a case for registration. You need to persuade the assessors of your competence and you should prepare on that basis.
The implications of registration
Also, give some thought to the implications of registration.
As a Registered Architect, you will need to pay an annual fee for your Annual Certificate of Registration, currently $551.25 (GST included). You will need to undertake professional development activities and demonstrate that you have maintained your competency for continued registration. Also, you will be accountable to the Board for your performance, should a client or member of the public lay a complaint.
If you want to think about this further, you can look at the information that we provide to newly-registered architects about what registration means
here
and in text form
here
.
More advice
If you would like to talk about your particular situation with an experienced practitioner you can contact any one of the following three Assessor Convenors, each of whom leads the assessment team in their region. Some of the common subjects raised with Convenors are the projects people have in
mind for their case study, whether a project seems to meet the
definition of a complex building or putting together a case study that
is adequate. They won’t be able to tell you definitively whether you are ready for registration, but they can give you a sense of whether you are within striking distance.
Tony Orgias – 09 481 0630
Callum McKenzie – 04 384 8192
Alec McDonald – 03 366 3524.
If you want to discuss the registration procedures, call the Board’s Executive Officer, Andrew Symonds, at 04 471 1336.
And, finally, the best of luck. To be a Registered Architect is a wonderful thing,
when you are ready!