Thank you soooo much. I needed to hear this. From an outsiders perspective this field can seem draining. I've been in school for some time and was always thinking I needed to be licensed to really apply for the jobs I wanted. This was very helpful.
I think it's important to differentiate what type of design projects require a licensed architect, For instance in most cities you can design a New home, renovation or addition without a architect license as long as the city where you are submitting to allows it. In the Dallas fort worth metro area the majority of cities do not require residential plans to be stamped. Virtually anyone can submit a plan however the designer must be competent and know how to adhere to codes. (or your plans with most likely not get approved) or worse actually built wrong. Having a License definitely can broaden your design possibilities, but doesn't mean you can't work on your own legally.
I am working for 5 years now (I own my own design company), helping clients to visualize their ideas or they let me bring their ideas with the power of rendering. All of them have to do with garden design, landscapes or some extra small houses in their lands. I have no Architectural degree but I studied for 2 years AutoCAD long time ago. Since then I learned Rhino, Grasshopper, Vray, Kshot, Lumion, almost all the Adobe suite and many more. Today I am facing first time in my life to build a house outside of Stockholm. I am excited and slightly afraid at the same time. The client knows that I am not an architect, but he rather chose me over others because of my work. I didn't like history in school and I thought I will never become architect because I didn't read everything to get there... But now I feel that's not necessary!
I wanna thank you for your comment because it made me feel relieved, I studied civil engineering and architecture is my passion but I was so afraid it wouldn't work without a degree
There is also a Certified Professional Building Designer. It is more of a residential cert with limitations on commercial but you do get your own stamp.
I've been a professionally employed designer for 15 years and have owned my own residential design business for the last 10 years. It's definitely doable if you know how to navigate the industry.
Hey! I’m going to be getting my pre-professional degree in Architecture this fall, meaning I’d have to go to graduate school afterward if i wanted to b able to get my license. is it possible to get good paying jobs with just my pre professional degree?
Please keep this stuff up! I’m coming out of studying civil engineering for two years to instead go into architecture. I’ve found your content super informative, and this particular video the perfect answer to a lot of the questions I’ve been getting about why I decided to make the switch to architecture even though it’s a very competitive field let alone a very competitive major/masters degree. There are a lot of misconceptions about what you’re able to do before even becoming a licensed architect, professional engineer, etc. I think you often hit the nail on the head with a lot of important questions about the industry. It’s content creators like yourself that I really appreciate on the platform! Thank you Drew!
Great content Drew! I’d like to chime in and help those with questions. I worked with a couple gentlemen who graduated with architecture degrees about 25 years ago, of course they had much higher responsibilities, having been working in the industry for decades, than someone who just graduated; but as Drew pointed out they couldn’t stamp the drawings or be the lead architect, that of course meant that they reacheda ceiling as to where they go from there within the company. If you don’t have your license you can still work on all the stages of design and give your input on the design, but if you are licensed you can climb the ladder faster and to a higher degree such as principal of a firm. That leads to more responsibilities and higher wages too. Hope this helps! Keep it up man!
I am trying to understand as a consumer. Why do all US States except Nevada (they are called residential designers) are okay with unlicensed individuals designing single family homes that are no less than 2 stories with a basement?
That’s a good question. As I understand it, there are a few different factors. If you’re building your own home, you are basically only putting yourself and your family at risk. But if you’re designing public buildings, now you’re putting others at risk. It’s always been my understanding that the intent behind the law is to allow personal freedom to build your own home, and the way the law is written doesn’t prevent a contractor from just designing and building a bunch of single-family homes and selling them. I also think there is an advantage in making it a little easier to provide more housing. The building codes for residential are also somewhat less complex. And probably most importantly, the structures required to support a building of that size can be designed with typical wood framing.
To be an architect.. It is my dream.. But due to certain conditions I m doing btech electronics.. I felt sad first after knowing that my life is ruined but this is my 2nd year of btech and I m doing study of architecture and today I feel good to have such knowledge without any degree but I need doors to open up for my carreer of architecture design... Thank u for ur vedio. Can u advice me something..? I m from India.. And wants to study and work for my dream in abroad for further
You should persuite your dream to become true, but be aware - architects die mostly because of heartattacks! :)))) Do you know the difference between God and an architect? .... Architects work also on sundays! :P
Sometimes I think older architects can't bother and screw arround with CAD /programs/tools like doing archviz, v-ray rendering, using photoshop, texturing ,modeling in 3dsmax for example....and because of that, there should be a room for people who likes to do archviz. What do you think?
what about hand drawing skills ? i am pretty much good using autocad,3dsmax,vray,sketchup, now learning revit but i dont know to hand draw. Would this be a problem if i want to work in an architectural firm to pursue this as my career ?
Thanks Paul! well explained. Also, will it be illegal if I start building 2d/3d models or maps of homes/shops for business in my town. I am not gonna work on any major project.
Hello just a question about architecture degrees how much are you expected to know before starting the degree this would really help I'm starting the course in september (sorry it's not related to the video) however love the vids :)
I feel like you are paying money to learn architecture from professors. Why would you pay money to professors to teach you if you already knew everything? Now with that being said, the more you learn ahead of time, the more of an advantage you will have. I always recommend Frank Ching’s book FORM, SPACE, AND ORDER as the perfect intro book to architecture. It covers architecture the way you will think about it in school (and the way you SHOULD think about it in the profession). amzn.to/2uiQNc9 (affiliate link). It's not that you are expected to know it all already, but if you want to make your first semester a lot easer, that book will help. You will spend a lot of time your first year analyzing buildings. Ching's book shows you ways that you can interpret and think about architecture, using drawings of great buildings. In school, you will be expected to analyze buildings on your campus or around your city. You will have limited options, and the buildings around you will not be as good as the all-time greats. You can learn the lessons from the all-time greats through his book and then look for those lessons in the buildings around you when you have to do your projects.
The stuff you would do as a BIM manager would only satisfy a small portion of the required AXP hours. You wouldn’t be able to complete the requirements if you only worked as a BIM manager.
Thank you sir such a great video . Most knowledge able video for me . Sir I got diploma architecture degree . How can I. Perform now can I open my own office. How can I make my career only by this . And wat opportunity can I hav from this . Plz tell me sir. Kindly waiting for the answer
Great video thanks. What is the limit of freelancing you can do without being fully licensed? Can you help people annotate their drawings or even create drawings that fit their model? I am working towards getting licensed with work experience and at the same time doing some freelance by helping people to create better-looking drawings. Can I mention or make it known to the client that I am not an architect and if I do any work, it has to be approved by a qualified and accredited structural engineer/architect? Will mentioning this keep me out of trouble?
Yeah. I think it would be good to be clear to them that they will need to get building permits. Because if they start building without one they will likely get a stop work order. The whole process can be streamlined if you just go through the proper channels. And it’s also important (MORE important) to protect the health safety and welfare of the public. There’s building codes even for houses. A lot of people don’t realize that they need building permits. They think that it’s their land and that they can do whatever they want on it. So you have to explain it to them. A building has to go through the proper inspections. If an electrical sub contractor messes up some wireing, for example, that could be all it takes for the whole building to go up in flames. There’s a lot of things that can go wrong and the stakes are too high. ...if you could just be familiar with the building permit process, know why it’s important, and guide them into that process, I think they would get the picture about the scope of your work and you would have represented yourself legally.
..not everything is teamwork...the star architect or project architect or studio head or desig ndirector passes his sketches on to the team....so there will be a guy that does these sketches and wild drawings..somebody makes these sketches but not you! call yourself architect or not..in the office you start as a junior architect..for a reason...come back in 10 years and talk about it..
Can you design a building without license? Like you are asked to design a friend’s house, is it okay to design the house without your license? Im currently a student and a lot of people was asking me to design their house. Im not doing it because i know im not licensed. And what do i tell them. Thank you.
It varies, but typically, you need a licensed architect to sign and seal drawings for building permits, with the exception of residential single-family (sometimes two-family) residential buildings less than 3 stories and a certain square footage. So you could probably design a house, as long as it’s not too big ...and if you know what you’re doing ;)
depends on the type of building, commercial buildings almost always require a licensed architect or engineer, Residential projects usually can be done by anyone.
That’s how the law is weaponized to limit the production of real assets. By the basic definition of the word, the person designing the building is an architect. It’s like saying the guy playing soccer can’t be called a soccer player without license. While true, it is unjust.
