SENATE BILL REPORT

                           ESB 5545

                AS PASSED SENATE, MARCH 9, 1993

Brief Description:  Modifying qualifications for registered architects.

SPONSORS: Senators Williams, Bluechel and Moore

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LABOR & COMMERCE

Majority Report:  Do pass as amended. 

     Signed by Senators Moore, Chairman; Prentice, Vice Chairman; Barr, Cantu, Fraser, McAuliffe, Newhouse, Pelz, Prince, and Sutherland.

Staff:  Traci Ratzliff (785‑7452)

Hearing Dates: February 18, 1993; February 19, 1993

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE & LABOR

BACKGROUND:

Under current law, 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 or have eight years of practical architectural work experience approved by the Board of Registration.  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 such individuals applied before July 25, 1989.

SUMMARY:

     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; have an accredited architectural degree and have been designing buildings as a principal activity for six years; or have eight years of practical architectural work experience approved by the Board of Registration.

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.

Appropriation:  none

Revenue:  none

Fiscal Note:  none requested

TESTIMONY FOR:

The principal rationale behind professional licensing is to provide protection for the health, safety and welfare of the public.  One of the dangers of professional licensing requirements is that the profession can set standards that assure the protection of the industry from the entrance of qualified practitioners and have nothing to do with protecting the public's safety and health.  The proposed bill and proposed amendment are needed to allow those individuals who are qualified as building designers to take the architect's examination.

TESTIMONY AGAINST:

An examination should not be the sole determination of whether someone is qualified to practice as an architect.  Work experience that occurs under the supervision of a licensed architect gives an individual the broad skills necessary to work as an architect.

TESTIFIED:  Senator Williams, prime sponsor (pro); Senator Niemi (pro); Peter Steinbrueck (pro); Kenneth McInnes (pro); Jim Kuppler (pro); Julian Prosser (pro); Gary Chandler, President, Washington Council of the American Institute of Architects (con)

HOUSE AMENDMENT(S):

The provision allowing a person to sit for the architect's examination if he or she has an accredited architectural degree and has been designing buildings as a principal activity for six years is stricken.

Language in current law is modified to allow an applicant to sit for the architect's examination if the applicant has an architectural degree and three years' architectural work experience which may include designing buildings as a principal activity.

The requirement that two years of the work experience must be "under the direct supervision of an architect" is replaced with a requirement that two years of the experience must be "supervised by an architect with detailed professional knowledge of the work of the applicant."

The language allowing individuals who have been designing buildings as a principal activity for eight years or who have an equivalent combination of education and experience to take the examination if they apply for the examination before July 28, 1996, is stricken as of July 29, 2001.