Summary: Can you call yourself an architect when submitting project proposals in a state where you are not licensed, as long as you are licensed in another state? Whether this is permitted by the architectural licensing board in the state where you are seeking work depends on the law of that state. Many licensing boards consider such “fishing” by out-of-state architects to be an ongoing problem. The question also raises an ethical issue under the AIA’s Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.

The AIA’s National Ethics Council considered this question in this latest addition to a series of redacted decisions available to AIA members and the public. To view that decision, click here. (The Rules cited in this decision have subsequently been incorporated into Rule 2.101 and Rule 4.201.)

The AIA’s Code of Ethics applies to the professional activities of all classes of members. For more information on the Code and the National Ethics Council, click here. To see other redacted decisions of the National Ethics Council, click here.