HOUSE BILL REPORT

                 ESB 5545

                       As Passed House

                        April 7, 1993

Title:  An act relating to registration of architects.

Brief Description:  Modifying qualifications for registered architects.

Sponsors:  Senators Williams, Bluechel and Moore.

Brief History:

  Reported by House Committee on:

Commerce & Labor, March 31, 1993, DPA;

Passed House - Amended, April 7, 1993, 98-0.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE & LABOR

Majority Report:  Do pass as amended.  Signed by 9 members:  Representatives Heavey, Chair; G. Cole, Vice Chair; Lisk, Ranking Minority Member; Chandler, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Conway; Horn; King; Springer; and Veloria.

Staff:  Jim Kelley (786-7166).

Background:  Architects must be registered to practice in this state.  An architect must pass an examination to become registered.  To qualify to take the architect's examination, an applicant must be 18 years old, have an accredited architectural degree plus three years of experience approved by the Board of Registration for Architects, at least two years under the direct supervision of an architect, or have eight years of practical architectural work experience approved by the Board of Registration, at least four years under the direct supervision of an architect.  Persons who had designed buildings as a principal activity for at least eight years or had an equivalent combination of education and experience but were not registered as architects prior to July 1985 were also qualified to take the architect's examination if they applied before July 25, 1989.

Summary of Bill:  Revisions are made to the list of qualifications for applicants seeking to take the architect's examination.

To qualify to take the architect's examination, an applicant must be 18 years old and possess any of the following qualifications:  have an accredited architectural degree plus three years of experience approved by the Board of Registration, two years must have been supervised by an architect with detailed professional knowledge of the work of the applicant.  This experience may include designing buildings as a principal activity; or have eight years of practical architectural work experience approved by the Board of Registration, at least four years under direct supervision of an architect.

Individuals who have been designing buildings as a principal activity for eight years or have an equivalent combination of education and experience and were not registered as architects before July 28, 1992, are qualified to take the architect's exam if they apply for the exam before July 28, 1996.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

Effective Date:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  (Engrossed Senate bill):  This bill is about experience.  People with experience should be able to sit for the exam.  The board has interpreted the current law to require that an applicant work as an employee of an architect for two years before taking the exam.  Being an employee has nothing to do with learning from a mentor.  That was not the intention of the Legislature.  The board is consistently trying to set higher standards than the Legislature.  Access to the profession should remain open, as it was for 6,900 years.  The new window of opportunity for building designers is necessary because the original effort to open the window was thwarted by the board.

Testimony Against:  (Engrossed Senate bill):  This bill would set back the cause of uniformity and reciprocity.  Washington would have the weakest architect regulations in the country.  People learn best by doing things under the supervision of others.  We should not eliminate the requirement of supervised training.  The mentoring process has existed throughout history.

Witnesses:  Senator Al Williams, prime sponsor (in favor); Roger Rue, National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (opposed); Janet Donelson and Vaughn Lein, Architect Registration Board (opposed); Chapin K. Kraffft, architect (in favor); Larry Rouch, University of Washington architecture instructor (in favor); Peter Steinbruek, building designer (in favor); Gary Chandler, President, AIA Washington Council (opposed); Jim Donnette, University of Washington, Associate Dean of Architecture (opposed); Ken MacInnes, architect (in favor); Wayne Sorenson, WSABD and AIBD (in favor); Rob Adler, self (in favor); and Mark Bratt, Bratt, Inc. (in favor).