Follow-Up to title "Architect"

The topic of the title "Architect" came up at the AIA Indianapolis Board meeting this morning. The message I reference in an earlier post was brought up and our Board member who is also on the Registration Board noted that the title "Intern" alone is ideal for the "Graduate Architect," but "Architectural Intern" would also be OK, though not as clear. That was nothing new to me.

Now the interesting part, someone holding a title with "Architect" in it (i.e. Staff Architect, Graduate Architect, Software Architect...) is personally liable for their misrepresentation of qualifications. While the decision of what title unlicensed individuals have is typically dictated by the company you work for, if the Attorney General decided to start prosecuting the violators, only the individual is breaking the law, not the company.

So if you hold a variation on the title "______ Architect" without a license, you're breaking the law in Indiana. I can't wait for NCARB or the AIA to issue a recommendation on titling of unlicensed people.