Believe it or not, it is illegal for someone to call themselves an ‘architect’ if they are not registered on an Architects Registration Board of that country. If someone claims to be an architect, you can ask them “Where are you registered?”
Each country usually has a professional registration board. Like doctors and lawyers, architects are professionals that go through lengthy and rigorous education, training, experience and interviews to qualify and register.
Professional requirements and quality can vary from country to country. An ‘architect’ must have a registration number on a registration board, which usually can be found on a website such as ARB (Architects Registration Board) in UK. Where is your architect registered? It will reflect on where they were likely educated and registered to practice architecture.
So what about IT architects or Landscape architects etc? Well that’s fine because its obvious they are not an architect relating to a building. It’s the title ‘architect’ on its own that is protected by law in the UK and many other countries around the world.
