Housing and Community Development

An amendment (to PL 1227 No. 281) in 1998 under section 15 Permitted practices it reads "(4) The preparation of any drawings or other design documents [by an individual for a single-family residence of any size or cost which is to be used by such individual as his or her home.] for detached one family or two-family dwellings not more than three stories in height and their accessory structures."  See http://bit.ly/iYAzvU

This was an amendment made back in 1998 when the AIA lobbied with the home builders associations over some other issue. The AIA wanted to make this change to require an architect's seal on everything, but they used this item to barter for something else (that I can't remember right now). I should look up the history of that again, but it would probably upset me like it did back then. Regardless, we had our chance and it was the AIA that lost it for us. If the ICC required this, my guess is the PA Uniform Construction Code board would likely amend it back to PA law again.  Maybe someone else from Pennsylvania can shed light on this better.

An amendment (to PL 1227 No. 281) in 1998 under section 15 Permitted practices it reads "(4) The preparation of any drawings or other design documents [by an individual for a single-family residence of any size or cost which is to be used by such individual as his or her home.] for detached one family or two-family dwellings not more than three stories in height and their accessory structures."  See http://bit.ly/iYAzvU

This was an amendment made back in 1998 when the AIA lobbied with the home builders associations over some other issue. The AIA wanted to make this change to require an architect's seal on everything, but they used this item to barter for something else (that I can't remember right now). I should look up the history of that again, but it would probably upset me like it did back then. Regardless, we had our chance and it was the AIA that lost it for us. If the ICC required this, my guess is the PA Uniform Construction Code board would likely amend it back to PA law again.  Maybe someone else from Pennsylvania can shed light on this better.

An amendment (to PL 1227 No. 281) in 1998 under section 15 Permitted practices it reads "(4) The preparation of any drawings or other design documents [by an individual for a single-family residence of any size or cost which is to be used by such individual as his or her home.] for detached one family or two-family dwellings not more than three stories in height and their accessory structures."  See http://bit.ly/iYAzvU

This was an amendment made back in 1998 when the AIA lobbied with the home builders associations over some other issue. The AIA wanted to make this change to require an architect's seal on everything, but they used this item to barter for something else (that I can't remember right now). I should look up the history of that again, but it would probably upset me like it did back then. Regardless, we had our chance and it was the AIA that lost it for us. If the ICC required this, my guess is the PA Uniform Construction Code board would likely amend it back to PA law again.  Maybe someone else from Pennsylvania can shed light on this better.

So the issue seems to be whether there should be sort of a "junior architect" category for residential work. My own take on this is that residential work can be MORE complex than other types of work which require an architect.

I believe the medical model is analogous. Although an MD and passing some medical boards are sort of a base standard for entrée into the entire field, just as I would not go a family practitioner for heart surgery nor a proctologist for a brain tumor, I don't think a newly minted architect is any more qualified at doing residential than doing 100-story office towers, and both require some specialized experience to be competent in each area.

Where architects often get criticized in residential work (especially remodelings and additions), is that there is a common (mis)perception that it's "easier" than other types of architecture, and is therefore suitable as a way to start off your practice, fill in between the "real jobs", or is just at the bottom of the architectural feeding chain. This may be fueled by the lack of need for licensure, which implies that residential design is "easy."

What happens, though, is that architects (often rightly) get criticized for not understanding fundamental requirements of residential work, like furniture placement, window treatment requirements, lighting, good kitchen design, finish selections, etc. Architects often take the position that this will be worked out by the client and the contractor, or other specialists, who are not perceived as highly relevant to the spatial design, anyway - what they were taught in school. Thus, architects misperceive residential architecture as being mostly about structure and space, and then others rush in with their "expertise" to fill in the blanks, usually criticizing the fundamental shortsightedness of the architects along the way. (And BTW, often getting paid -- sometimes very well -- to provide what the architects just assumed the client was not willing to pay for.)

I have discussed this with my colleagues at AIA meetings. Truly, most are not interested in the interior design details which the clients care deeply about, not because they don't have an opinion, but because they really don't want to deal with coordinating that level of detail; they are, frankly, psychically worn out with just the shell and basic planning issues. Well, guess what? Residential architecture IS that level of detail, and if folks can't stand the heat, they should get out of the kitchen. But they shouldn't be surprised when others rush in to take their place.

I have seen a fundamental shift in the complexity of residential architecture over the decades, too. Whereas years ago the code book was a single small manual, and it didn't take too much to put a permittable plan set together, now it is a multi-volume set of codes, with local "greenpoint" requirements, construction pollution/dewatering requirements, FEMA requirements, separate planning reviews with neighborhood input, multi-department plan reviews, and on and on.  I guess there are still jurisdictions in this country where you can get a house built with a page or two of drawings, but I don't live in one of them. I find residential architecture in today's environment, even with all of the training and experience I have (over 30 years now), to be hugely challenging and getting more so. So I have to come out on the side that maybe there should be an INCREASED requirement for residential architects with respect to licensure. Certainly not less.