Licensing setback... advice?

Licensing setback... advice?

Postby HopefullyArchitect » Wed Mar 22, 2017 5:53 am

Hi everyone
I'm based in NY.

Recently I completed all seven exams and logged four years of experience at a government agency related to the practice of architecture. When I submitted my documentation for first license and registration my application was rejected. I was told that my work at my job was not versatile enough specifically in regards to construction documents. While at my job I review Redline and make edits, I do not directly produced drawings for the most part. as such only one of my four years was accepted. This seems ridiculous as my job was a mix of planning, code research, construction administration and project management, design support, and more.

The board does not list clearly anywhere the definition of Diversified experience and to the best of my understanding and to my supervisors understanding we were fulfilling the requirements of the board.

So my questions is are... what next?
1. is there any appeal process to get more of my time approved? I've already asked. But losing 3/4 of my experiene seems ridiculous
2. I have to change jobs but I was considering moving into planning or Urban Design AKA peripheral Fields but not architecture. it would take 2 years in another job not aligned with this to get my license. What is your advice? Is it worth it at this point?
3. I could apply for licensure in another state that I hold residency in but I don't see how this helps me or--if and why another state would accept my experience if New York would not.

Alternatively I know I can get another job or transfer to another division to fulfill my experience requirement. But again, spending 2 years doing something that doesn't feel aligned with my future interests to get my license seems ridculous.

I'm so frustrated right now.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby Coach » Wed Mar 22, 2017 6:35 am

Did you complete IDP/AXP? I thought every state accepted that as de facto diversity of experience.

Your experience wasn't rejected by the board, it was rejected by a staffer. I would definitely appeal to the board.

Now, to the root of the problem...

I suspect that, in an effort to look important, the way your experience forms were filled out screwed you.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby HopefullyArchitect » Wed Mar 22, 2017 9:01 am

Coach wrote:Did you complete IDP/AXP? I thought every state accepted that as de facto diversity of experience.

Your experience wasn't rejected by the board, it was rejected by a staffer. I would definitely appeal to the board.

Now, to the root of the problem...

I suspect that, in an effort to look important, the way your experience forms were filled out screwed you.


Yes, I asked how to formally appeal, and am waiting.

I did call the board and talk to someone who reviewed my file, and they said that because my role was more supervisory in nature that my experience wasn't diversified enough. In all my projects I acted as support to the teams, reviewing/marking uo drawings, doing research for code, proposing solutions, providing presentstions, writing and negotiating contracts, and tons of constructure project management. Had I realized I need to be the actual on in cad more often, I would have pursued another job

I have completed IDP with 4.1 years logged.

Not sure what else to do.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby Coach » Wed Mar 22, 2017 10:41 am

Again, it's not the job, it's you.
You were more concerned about looking like a big shot than satisfying the board.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby nickedemus » Wed Mar 22, 2017 12:39 pm

HopefullyArchitect wrote:Yes, I asked how to formally appeal, and am waiting.

I did call the board and talk to someone who reviewed my file, and they said that because my role was more supervisory in nature that my experience wasn't diversified enough. In all my projects I acted as support to the teams, reviewing/marking uo drawings, doing research for code, proposing solutions, providing presentstions, writing and negotiating contracts, and tons of constructure project management. Had I realized I need to be the actual on in cad more often, I would have pursued another job

I have completed IDP with 4.1 years logged.

Not sure what else to do.


When did you complete IDP/AXP, and did you do so before you started testing? The version of IDP that I submitted under required me to log minimum hours in each category, so I'm trying to understand how they could say that you don't have enough hours somewhere.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby sb84 » Wed Mar 22, 2017 3:42 pm

I'm sorry, and I don't mean to sound negative, but from what you wrote I don't disagree with the board. What you are describing is not preparing construction documents under the supervision of a licensed architect. What you have discribed as your job is reviewing someone else's construction documents. Reviewing and preparing are 2 very different things. Regardless of my interpretation I wish you good luck and congrats on finishing all exams
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby corbismyhomeboy » Thu Mar 23, 2017 1:59 pm

I'm in NY as well.

I know someone who used to work with me who appealed the education requirements for an M.Arch - they said his Masters was "related" enough to architecture so he provided syllabi to show that the curriculum at his school included intense hands-on experience, actually much more than you would get in a typical M.Arch program. And they gave him the credits. So the appeal process in NYS can work. I'm not sure about the overturning their opinion on work experience. They can only judge based on what you write in the box on the form, and their experience reviewing other people's forms that do the same/similar job.

Do you get a second opportunity to put in your experience forms? I had to submit the first time to be qualified to start testing, and the second time will be to show I have enough experience to fulfill the state's requirements. Can you prove your experience on the second round of forms?

Why are you looking to get a license if you don't really want to be a practicing architect? I mean, I know if I didn't have to go through all of this headache to do the job I wanted, I would NOT be doing it. But you've already come this far!
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby nickedemus » Fri Mar 24, 2017 8:58 am

corbismyhomeboy, did you submit your experience through the online system? I'm suddenly paranoid that the minimums that NCARB sets for each category are somehow not enough...
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby corbismyhomeboy » Fri Mar 24, 2017 9:18 am

nickedemus wrote:corbismyhomeboy, did you submit your experience through the online system? I'm suddenly paranoid that the minimums that NCARB sets for each category are somehow not enough...


In NY, they have an additional experience requirement in addition to NCARB's IDP requirement. So you have to finish IDP, but then NY has a paper form that you and your employer fill out together and both sign that describes the kind of work you do, that you've been working with them a certain amount of time, etc., NY experience requirements don't include specific categories like IDP; it's just if you've been working in a setting they deem appropriate and for a certain amount of time, which is dependent on your education level.

For example, I have a BSArch, but no MArch, so I have to work 5 years under an architect to get my license in addition to completing IDP and ARE exams. But about 2 years of the 5 year requirement was completing IDP so it's really only a few years extra, and it doesn't bother me personally because I'd be working in a firm anyway. I had to work for 3 years before NY would let me sit for exams. In order to prove that I had worked for 3 years, I had to send in the paper form for them to approve me to start testing, and I'll have to send it in again when I've completed my 5 years of experience to actually get my license.

All of this to say, if you're not sure, you should contact your state board.

I personally like that in NY you can get a license without an MArch. I was able to get a masters in a related field, which now helps with my job, where taking 4 more studios+all of the academic BS would not have helped me, and probably would've driven me to quit the profession.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby nickedemus » Fri Mar 24, 2017 10:22 am

Oh wow, I didn't realize that. For some reason, I just thought NY candidates could test before completing IDP. For that reason, I considered pursuing a NY license first instead of NJ (I am in NJ, but frequently participate on projects throughout Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, & LI). Ultimately, NJ seemed like less of a hassle. And cheaper. I felt this way even without comprehending that there were additional requirements!
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby corbismyhomeboy » Fri Mar 24, 2017 11:05 am

nickedemus wrote:Oh wow, I didn't realize that. For some reason, I just thought NY candidates could test before completing IDP. For that reason, I considered pursuing a NY license first instead of NJ (I am in NJ, but frequently participate on projects throughout Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, & LI). Ultimately, NJ seemed like less of a hassle. And cheaper. I felt this way even without comprehending that there were additional requirements!


In NYS, you can test without completing IDP... if you have the right education/experience combination. Without an MArch, you need experience first to start AREs, not necessarily IDP. (It just so happened in my situation that I completed IDP before the 3 required years of experience.) With an MArch, you're fine to start testing right away without IDP completed with no experience. I actually know a few people that have finished all AREs and had to wait to get their license because they had not kept up with their IDP reporting. The general experience requirement is kind of a third checkbox that NYS makes you complete in addition to IDP/ARE stuff, but if you sync it up right, IDP can take 3 years or less so you get both IDP and experience "checked off" at the same time. Someone seriously needs to make a chart or something!

I could be wrong, but I believe that no matter if you have an MArch or not, you still have to send in your paper form describing your experience in order to sit for ARE testing, just when you send it in and how many times varies per your situation.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby nickedemus » Sat Mar 25, 2017 4:09 am

corbismyhomeboy wrote:
nickedemus wrote:With an MArch, you're fine to start testing right away without IDP completed with no experience.


Ok, glad I wasn't crazy. I have the M.Arch. Still didn't realize about the additional experience requirement, though. That's what I get for relying on other people and not doing my own research!

corbismyhomeboy wrote:
nickedemus wrote:Someone seriously needs to make a chart or something!


Agreed. NCARB is horrible at organizing information. That website and those resources are in need of a severe edit. Talk about overdesigning!
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby charmedserenity3 » Mon Mar 27, 2017 12:19 pm

I'm in NY and I have a NAAB accredited Bachelor's in Architecture (It's a 5 year degree). I could apply to test for the ARE while completing my IDP as soon as I graduated. I finished up my ARE's already and have met the 3 year experience requirement but I have to wait a few more months until I finish my IDP. The wait is torture, but I had to move to a firm that would give me the project management experience I needed to finish IDP. Counting down the days to my license.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby bigyellowtruck » Mon Mar 27, 2017 12:52 pm

Doesn't sound like you need a license for work.
transfer your IDP record to get registered in a state without so much red tape.
It may cost you an extra $400 to NCARB, but it will give you a license.
For instance Washington DC criteria is pretty cut and dried.
or quit your job and go work for a full service architecture firm for two years.
NYS board of architecture interprets the experience requirements very narrowly, but consistently.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby Quigaboo » Wed Mar 29, 2017 7:23 am

sb84 wrote:I'm sorry, and I don't mean to sound negative, but from what you wrote I don't disagree with the board. What you are describing is not preparing construction documents under the supervision of a licensed architect. What you have discribed as your job is reviewing someone else's construction documents. Reviewing and preparing are 2 very different things. Regardless of my interpretation I wish you good luck and congrats on finishing all exams



I have to say I personally agree with the SB44 on this. Simply reviewing plans and making redlines while doing some code an zoning research really does not fulfill the requirements to become an architect in my opinion. In preparing for the exam it becomes obvious that a lot of what is on the exam can be directly related to what we do in this profession. Of course there is a lot of fluff but I found that a lot of my practical experience really helped me pass the exams. I am friendly with a high seated plans examiner at a local municipality and he tried the same approach to become an Architect and his request was denied on multiple occasions as NCARB felt that what his job entailed does not truly encompass all facets of what we do. He was told that in order to fulfill his requirements he would have need to obtain the specific experience elsewhere which would have resulted in him changing jobs which was not an option. He gave up his battle after 2 years. Construction documents is not referring to drawings, it is referring to a lot more which I am sure you learned when preparing the exams which you likely do not get experience in based on how you describe your current position. It seems you job me be more project management/construction administration related than architectural.

Either way it is just my opinion. Good Luck moving forward.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby nickedemus » Fri Mar 31, 2017 10:16 am

HopefullyArchitect wrote:I was told that my work at my job was not versatile enough specifically in regards to construction documents. While at my job I review Redline and make edits, I do not directly produced drawings for the most part. as such only one of my four years was accepted. This seems ridiculous as my job was a mix of planning, code research, construction administration and project management, design support, and more.


What I don't understand is how "producing drawings" can be such a hang up. I think about one of the architecture departments in my company, which is effectively a department of people who drop details into place for pre-designed retail establishments and who do very limited repair/renovation projects on larger facilities. Any one of them could truthfully say that they produce drawings. But there's not a whole lot of critical thinking going on, and it seems like a very pigeon-holed type of existence. On the other hand, if you move on to handle construction administration or project planning/management, you at least get the bird's eye perspective of physical, economic, and budget constraints, you learn to juggle your consultants, and you interact with the stakeholders involved. Drawing is important, but you can't get something built with only a drawing. And producing drawings doesn't mean that you comprehend the whole enchilada. You can make nice art, though.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby ekelsey15 » Fri Mar 31, 2017 10:47 am

What I don't understand is how "producing drawings" can be such a hang up. I think about one of the architecture departments in my company, which is effectively a department of people who drop details into place for pre-designed retail establishments and who do very limited repair/renovation projects on larger facilities. Any one of them could truthfully say that they produce drawings. But there's not a whole lot of critical thinking going on, and it seems like a very pigeon-holed type of existence. On the other hand, if you move on to handle construction administration or project planning/management, you at least get the bird's eye perspective of physical, economic, and budget constraints, you learn to juggle your consultants, and you interact with the stakeholders involved. Drawing is important, but you can't get something built with only a drawing. And producing drawings doesn't mean that you comprehend the whole enchilada. You can make nice art, though.


I will say that the NCARB guidelines do say that an hour of doing work doesn't necessarily mean an hour of experience. In that case of the details, I wouldn't consider that experience that can be counted. That being said, I'm sure not everyone is as strict about their own experience as they would be about someone else.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby corbismyhomeboy » Fri Mar 31, 2017 10:57 am

nickedemus wrote:
HopefullyArchitect wrote:I was told that my work at my job was not versatile enough specifically in regards to construction documents. While at my job I review Redline and make edits, I do not directly produced drawings for the most part. as such only one of my four years was accepted. This seems ridiculous as my job was a mix of planning, code research, construction administration and project management, design support, and more.


What I don't understand is how "producing drawings" can be such a hang up. I think about one of the architecture departments in my company, which is effectively a department of people who drop details into place for pre-designed retail establishments and who do very limited repair/renovation projects on larger facilities. Any one of them could truthfully say that they produce drawings. But there's not a whole lot of critical thinking going on, and it seems like a very pigeon-holed type of existence. On the other hand, if you move on to handle construction administration or project planning/management, you at least get the bird's eye perspective of physical, economic, and budget constraints, you learn to juggle your consultants, and you interact with the stakeholders involved. Drawing is important, but you can't get something built with only a drawing. And producing drawings doesn't mean that you comprehend the whole enchilada. You can make nice art, though.


While you may not be able to get something built with only a drawing, it's also very unlikely that you get anything built with a sufficient standard of life safety without a drawing either. Personally, I think it's important to remember that the whole licensing process prepares you to be only minimally qualified to build a building without killing anyone or bankrupting yourself. They're not going to let you have a license if you can't prove you have enough experience to know how to fulfill the contractual duties of an Architect (producing drawings is one of those things) as outlined in the AIA docs.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby nickedemus » Fri Mar 31, 2017 11:37 am

corbismyhomeboy wrote:While you may not be able to get something built with only a drawing, it's also very unlikely that you get anything built with a sufficient standard of life safety without a drawing either. Personally, I think it's important to remember that the whole licensing process prepares you to be only minimally qualified to build a building without killing anyone or bankrupting yourself. They're not going to let you have a license if you can't prove you have enough experience to know how to fulfill the contractual duties of an Architect (producing drawings is one of those things) as outlined in the AIA docs.


I'm not contesting that. Drawing is important. What I am saying is that experience varies widely. Some people draw for years without fully addressing egress, ADA, or detail development. Some people just focus on presentations. Some literally compile sets out of pre-drawn X-refs. Some people focus on one part of a building only, over and over again. They turn into specialists. I learned about buildings by measuring them, and then drawing them in Revit as very comprehensive 3D models. Revit doesn't let you fudge anything, and I am grateful for that because it gave me a holistic understanding of building in general. Even something as seemingly innocuous as varying ceiling heights can tell you something about an addition. I can see the lack of understanding in drafters who have not wrestled with the 3D problem physically or digitally. To me, drawing is a very important part of understanding any problem. But as a measure, I am surprised that they are stuck on drawing, because it does not guarantee a specific type of understanding any more than any other aspect of architecture.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby nickedemus » Fri Mar 31, 2017 11:39 am

nickedemus wrote:
corbismyhomeboy wrote:While you may not be able to get something built with only a drawing, it's also very unlikely that you get anything built with a sufficient standard of life safety without a drawing either. Personally, I think it's important to remember that the whole licensing process prepares you to be only minimally qualified to build a building without killing anyone or bankrupting yourself. They're not going to let you have a license if you can't prove you have enough experience to know how to fulfill the contractual duties of an Architect (producing drawings is one of those things) as outlined in the AIA docs.


I'm not contesting that. Drawing is important. What I am saying is that experience varies widely. Some people draw for years without fully addressing egress, ADA, or detail development. Some people just focus on presentations. Some literally compile sets out of pre-drawn X-refs. Some people focus on one part of a building only, over and over again. They turn into specialists. I learned about buildings by measuring them, and then drawing them in Revit as very comprehensive 3D models. Revit doesn't let you fudge anything, and I am grateful for that because it gave me a holistic understanding of building in general. Even something as seemingly innocuous as varying ceiling heights can tell you something about an addition. I can see the lack of understanding in drafters who have not wrestled with the 3D problem physically or digitally. To me, drawing is a very important part of understanding any problem. So is modelling. But as a measure, I am surprised that they are stuck on drawing, because it does not guarantee a specific type of understanding any more than any other aspect of architecture.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby Coach » Fri Mar 31, 2017 12:06 pm

This whole discussion is absurd.

IDP/AXP is a flawed system and should be abandoned and not replaced. No one can tell me that newly-licensed architects today are more qualified than those prior to idp.

If your only work experience is at firms larger than 6 people (or so), your experience is likely completely inadequate and cannot compare to those who have worked at smaller firms. If your experience is entirely from a monster firm whose name we would recognize, I can damned near guarantee that you shouldn't be granted a license with less than 10 years of experience... and even then I'd have my doubts.

Revit has ruined the profession. If you're under 30 you probably can't draw anyway so what difference does it make if a guy has 2000 idp drafting hours or 20?

HopefullyArchitect is basically being fucked by the state of New York because odds are that 75% or more of those they've approved lied on their paperwork. I don't know if he/she is minimally qualified, but I do know that he/she is no less qualified than many I've seen in this forum over the years... And I don't know any more about HopefullyArchitect than what's in this thread.

How do I know? Because they passed the ARE -- just like others who have passed. People who passed without knowing how to calculate a slope, or don't know what "clear" means, or have never been to a planning commission meeting.

We all have different experiences, knowledge, and skills. This is not a one-size-fits-all profession.


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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby nickedemus » Fri Mar 31, 2017 2:56 pm

Coach wrote:IDP/AXP is a flawed system and should be abandoned and not replaced.


I agree.

Coach wrote:Revit has ruined the profession.


The profession is making itself irrelevant independently of Revit. The lack of know-how among licensed architects is both discouraging and motivating. I have experienced this in both small firms and large firms. In small firms, bad decisions are magnified (especially business decisions) but experience is necessarily more well-rounded. In the large firm that I now work for, mistakes are more easily hidden and people can go on sucking for decades. For me, the benefit of working for the large firm is collaborating with the other professions. There are some really smart, competent building professionals out there. Unfortunately, many of them are not architects.
Last edited by nickedemus on Thu Apr 06, 2017 3:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby nickedemus » Fri Mar 31, 2017 3:18 pm

ekelsey15 wrote:I will say that the NCARB guidelines do say that an hour of doing work doesn't necessarily mean an hour of experience. In that case of the details, I wouldn't consider that experience that can be counted.


That's true. Good point.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby corbismyhomeboy » Fri Mar 31, 2017 3:24 pm

I agree also that IDP/AXP is outdated and needs the boot. I'd be ok with a longer general experience requirement either with or without IDP/AXP requirements. It scares me to think about someone being able to be licensed in their early-to-mid 20s. You take on a lot of responsibility by stamping drawings and it is scary to me that someone with little experience, but fulfilled the exam requirements right out of school, can be allowed that responsibility. I would totally understand and agree if the state required a 10 year experience requirement before licensure.

I work in an office of around 20 people; my office doesn't really use Revit much unless the client specifically requests it. The type of work I do doesn't work well with Revit (yet) so we are late adopters. Everything is in CAD or in CA, we often hand sketch. Yes we lose the ability to automatically coordinate documents, and sometimes that bites us, but it makes you take a really close look and consider the constructibility of what you're drawing. A lot of our work is very custom so where do we use Revit, we end up spending more time trying to trick the program to do what we want instead of actually designing.

I've worked in an office as small as 3 (me, my boss, and an intern) which is fun - and you do learn to do pretty much everything from redlining, budgeting your fee, managing an intern, coordinating with consultants directly, AND how to change the plotter paper. :)
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby chrisschumm » Wed Apr 05, 2017 8:11 pm

I feel experience in the architecture firms is essential specifically small firms where tasking is not compartmentalized- But then again I'm biased as I didn't go to college & have 11 years of experience lol!
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby architect23 » Sun Apr 09, 2017 9:41 am

Can someone explain the 5 years of experience needed by New York state board as mentioned above? I too work at a government municipality and would like to hear someone's experience on the paperwork required after exams are completed. Switching jobs would be absurd.

I also want to add to my post- I just logged into my NCARB record and it now includes state specific jurisdiction requirements. Even though I've documented the previous 5000 hours of experience, it states I have just over 2.5 years of experience for my state. How is this calculated?
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby Coach » Sun Apr 09, 2017 3:04 pm

architect23 wrote:Even though I've documented the previous 5000 hours of experience, it states I have just over 2.5 years of experience for my state. How is this calculated?

A full-time year is 2000 hours. (assumes a 2-week vacation)
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby corbismyhomeboy » Sun Apr 09, 2017 5:41 pm

Architect23, the experience requirements for NYS are determined by your education and other qualifications. Go check the NYS Office of Professions website. They have a point system you have to follow. If you have further questions, the state board is actually very responsive and helpful if you email or call.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby architect23 » Mon Apr 10, 2017 3:48 am

Thanks I will call and reach out. I guess I'm wondering if my state jurisdiction bar on axp which does not show the full three years completed, but shows my Idp hours completed, needs to be completed to show the full three hours or so I wait until I finish testing and see whether ny needs more of my experience documented? In other words should I log more IDP or wait to hear from NY..
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby corbismyhomeboy » Mon Apr 10, 2017 6:12 am

architect23 wrote:Thanks I will call and reach out. I guess I'm wondering if my state jurisdiction bar on axp which does not show the full three years completed, but shows my Idp hours completed, needs to be completed to show the full three hours or so I wait until I finish testing and see whether ny needs more of my experience documented? In other words should I log more IDP or wait to hear from NY..


Call them. I'm pretty sure IDP/AXP and your experience are two different things. They won't give you an official review until you send paperwork in but they'll answer your questions.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby nickedemus » Thu Apr 13, 2017 10:14 am

architect23 wrote:I guess I'm wondering if my state jurisdiction bar on axp which does not show the full three years completed, but shows my Idp hours completed, needs to be completed to show the full three hours or so I wait until I finish testing and see whether ny needs more of my experience documented? In other words should I log more IDP or wait to hear from NY..


I believe the state measures by the hours you log in IDP (AXP).

A similar thing happened to me, though in NJ.

When I completed IDP (and received a letter confirming it), I still wasn't authorized to test because my experience summary said that I only had 2.987 years of experience.

This was frustrating because I'd been working for about five years at that point (eight if you count the years I worked while in school). I just didn't submit all those hours for IDP.

I contacted NCARB and their response was, "Your submitted full time hours are verified by the hours you submit for the timeframe (sic) that you're reporting. If the system has calculated your years of experience as 2.987, then you need to document additional work experience. Once you've met New Jersey years of experience requirement contact the Council to switch your jurisdiction."

So, I kept logging hours through IDP until I reached the "full" three years.

architect23 wrote:Even though I've documented the previous 5000 hours of experience, it states I have just over 2.5 years of experience for my state. How is this calculated?


I ended up with 3.077 years of experience (according to IDP), which equated to 5689 hours total, or ~1849 hours per year.

NCARB will tell you for sure. Somewhere in that miasma of information.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby corbismyhomeboy » Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:36 pm

Nickedemus,

Your post scared me. I emailed NYS board who gave me a very vague/slightly cheeky response, but I don't think the "Years of Experience" bar counts for much for NYS. I asked "How is the experience requirement measured? Is it based on the amount of time working as confirmed by the Form 4 filled out by my employer? Or is it the time on my IDP as "Experience Requirements - Years of Experience" shown on my NCARB record?" The response I received was "You will need 3 years of approved experience to be eligible for licensure." Then goes on to talk about the ARE/IDP process. UGH. This does not help me! I say that it may not count for much because I finished IDP at 2.211 years of experience, and quit logging hours. But NYS approved me to start testing based on the 3+ years shown on my Form 4.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby architect23 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 2:25 pm

Corb, you must mean the form 1 is what you filled out? That's what I completed to initially request eligibility for testing.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby nickedemus » Thu Apr 13, 2017 3:07 pm

corbismyhomeboy wrote:Nickedemus,

Your post scared me. I emailed NYS board who gave me a very vague/slightly cheeky response, but I don't think the "Years of Experience" bar counts for much for NYS. I asked "How is the experience requirement measured? Is it based on the amount of time working as confirmed by the Form 4 filled out by my employer? Or is it the time on my IDP as "Experience Requirements - Years of Experience" shown on my NCARB record?" The response I received was "You will need 3 years of approved experience to be eligible for licensure." Then goes on to talk about the ARE/IDP process. UGH. This does not help me! I say that it may not count for much because I finished IDP at 2.211 years of experience, and quit logging hours. But NYS approved me to start testing based on the 3+ years shown on my Form 4.


I don't mean to scare you, but that was the response I received from NCARB (about submitting through IDP). Maybe this Form 4 overrides that requirement. But maybe not, because the bolded sentence doesn't really clarify anything.

Don't forget, I also finished my IDP prior (just prior) to the three years, AND received a letter from NCARB stating that I'd completed IDP. Yet NJ would not let me test until I officially logged that last .013 of a year!

I think NY will let you test before you totally complete your time requirement--that's what made me consider NY when I was about to start testing. But if you don't log those last 6 months through AXP, I think you could hit a wall when you are done testing and go to get your license.

But I think you will be ok, because you can log that last half-year's worth of hours now, while you are testing.

Have you tried contacting NCARB? They are the ones who gave me the best information about that little technicality. The state was not very helpful.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby corbismyhomeboy » Fri Apr 14, 2017 6:32 am

Thanks Nickedemus. I'll have to check with NCARB. I'm not super worried about it because even if I pass SS this month, I'll have to log another 1.5 years of work experience to fill the NYS requirement whether that's through IDP or not. I just wish everyone was clearer about what we are supposed to do!!!

Architect23, I had to fill out Form 1 and Form 4 to prove I had enough experience to start testing since I wasn't qualified based solely on my testing. Based on what you've PMed me about your experience, it makes sense that you only had to do the Form 1.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby architect23 » Sat Apr 15, 2017 4:03 pm

Corb, I believe the form 4 will override the state Idp requirement. As long as your regular Idp is complete. This is my understanding of ny requirements after speaking with them. If anyone else can confirm or further clarify for NY requirements, it would be greatly appreciated.
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Re: Licensing setback... advice?

Postby vrcat25 » Sun Apr 16, 2017 11:00 am

It really sounds like you need to get some advice from the state licensing board. If you call NCRAB, they will probably tell you the same since they know little about state licensing. Rather than worry and fret about it, just simply call your state licensing board during normal business hours and they should be able to give you all of your options. When you talk with them, be up front and honest and explain to them what your work experience entails. It can only help and not hurt when you resubmit and/or appeal. It sounds as if Nickdemus is "hot on the tail" of figuring out the requirements. It might take a couple phone calls though. ;)
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