A tool to assist architects in transitioning from the current licensing exam to the new version debuting in late 2016 has been unveiled by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB). NCARB released a Transition Calculator tool for the Architect Registration Examination (ARE) that will help licensure candidates transition from ARE 4.0 to ARE 5.0. A version of the nationally used exam, ARE 5.0, will launch in late 2016 and run concurrently with ARE 4.0 until June 2018 to allow candidates to select the transition plan that works best.
The ARE is a multi-division test developed by NCARB and taken by all candidates seeking architectural registration in the United States. The release of ARE 5.0 will be the latest update to the exam.
When determining how to transition candidates to ARE 5.0, NCARB developed options that will help candidates when making a plan:
Dual Delivery. ARE 4.0 will continue to be available after ARE 5.0 launches in late 2016. Candidates will be able to transition anytime during the period of dual delivery up until ARE 4.0 is retired on June 30, 2018.
Self-Transition. ARE candidates who began the testing process in ARE 4.0 will have the option to “self-transition” to ARE 5.0 as soon as it launches—or at any time before ARE 4.0 is retired. This will allow candidates to continue testing in the version that is most convenient for them. Once a candidate begins to test in ARE 5.0, however, they may not transition back to ARE 4.0.
Tools and Resources. NCARB is introducing more interactive tools and resources as the launch of ARE 5.0 approaches. NCARB representatives are available to help candidates determine the best strategy for the transition. In addition, the ARE 5.0 Transition Calculator has been created to assist licensure candidates immediately.
ARE 5.0 Transition Calculator
NCARB has designed the ARE 5.0 Transition Calculator to help candidates develop a personalized testing strategy. Candidates can log in through their My NCARB account to import their current testing status to the calculator.
The calculator will help candidates develop a personalized testing plan. It also shows how the test divisions used in ARE 4.0 will evolve in the ARE 5.0 test structure, to help any candidate plan for successfully completing their test taking. For candidates who have already begun testing, the calculator will help track exam expiration dates for individual divisions so that they can complete the ARE within five years.
The calculator is used in conjunction with NCARB’s Credit Model to determine which plan works best for each individual.
Practicing architects, who volunteer to serve on NCARB’s Examination Committee, partner with a test development consultant to review the content covered in each of the divisions of ARE 4.0 and ARE 5.0 to find a reasonable level of alignment. As a result, candidates have the opportunity to receive credit for ARE 5.0 divisions based on ARE 4.0 divisions passed.
For more information on the ARE 5.0 Calculator visit here. For the ARE 5.0, visit here<.
Related Stories
| Nov 16, 2010
Brazil Olympics spurring green construction
Brazil's green building industry will expand in the coming years, spurred by construction of low-impact venues being built for the 2016 Olympics. The International Olympic Committee requires arenas built for the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro meet international standards for low-carbon emissions and energy efficiency. This has boosted local interest in developing real estate with lower environmental impact than existing buildings. The timing couldn’t be better: the Brazilian government is just beginning its long-term infrastructure expansion program.
| Nov 16, 2010
Green building market grows 50% in two years; Green Outlook 2011 report
The U.S. green building market is up 50% from 2008 to 2010—from $42 billion to $55 billion-$71 billion, according to McGraw-Hill Construction's Green Outlook 2011: Green Trends Driving Growth report. Today, a third of all new nonresidential construction is green; in five years, nonresidential green building activity is expected to triple, representing $120 billion to $145 billion in new construction.
| Nov 16, 2010
Calculating office building performance? Yep, there’s an app for that
123 Zero build is a free tool for calculating the performance of a market-ready carbon-neutral office building design. The app estimates the discounted payback for constructing a zero emissions office building in any U.S. location, including the investment needed for photovoltaics to offset annual carbon emissions, payback calculations, estimated first costs for a highly energy efficient building, photovoltaic costs, discount rates, and user-specified fuel escalation rates.
| Nov 16, 2010
CityCenter’s new Harmon Hotel targeted for demolition
MGM Resorts officials want to demolish the unopened 27-story Harmon Hotel—one of the main components of its brand new $8.5 billion CityCenter development in Las Vegas. In 2008, inspectors found structural work on the Harmon didn’t match building plans submitted to the county, with construction issues focused on improperly placed steel reinforcing bar. In January 2009, MGM scrapped the building’s 200 condo units on the upper floors and stopped the tower at 27 stories, focusing on the Harmon having just 400 hotel rooms. With the Lord Norman Foster-designed building mired in litigation, construction has since been halted on the interior, and the blue-glass tower is essentially a 27-story empty shell.
| Nov 16, 2010
Where can your firm beat the recession? Try any of these 10 places
Wondering where condos and rental apartments will be needed? Where companies are looking to rent office space? Where people will need hotel rooms, retail stores, and restaurants? Newsweek compiled a list of the 10 American cities best situated for economic recovery. The cities fall into three basic groups: Texas, the New Silicon Valleys, and the Heartland Honeys. Welcome to the recovery.
| Nov 16, 2010
Landscape architecture challenges Andrés Duany’s Congress for New Urbanism
Andrés Duany, founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism, adopted the ideas, vision, and values of the early 20th Century landscape architects/planners John Nolen and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., to launch a movement that led to more than 300 new towns, regional plans, and community revitalization project commissions for his firm. However, now that there’s a societal buyer’s remorse about New Urbanism, Duany is coming up against a movement that sees landscape architecture—not architecture—as the design medium more capable of organizing the city and enhancing the urban experience.
| Nov 16, 2010
Just for fun: Words that architects use
If you regularly use such words as juxtaposition, folly, truncated, and articulation, you may be an architect. Architects tend to use words rarely uttered during normal conversations. In fact, 62% of all the words that come out of an architects mouth could be replaced by a simpler and more widely known word, according to this “report.” Review this list of designer words, and once you manage to work them into daily conversation, you’re on your way to becoming a bonafide architect.
| Nov 16, 2010
NFRC approves technical procedures for attachment product ratings
The NFRC Board of Directors has approved technical procedures for the development of U-factor, solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC), and visible transmittance (VT) ratings for co-planar interior and exterior attachment products. The new procedures, approved by unanimous voice vote last week at NFRC’s Fall Membership Meeting in San Francisco, will add co-planar attachments such as blinds and shades to the group’s existing portfolio of windows, doors, skylights, curtain walls, and window film.
| Nov 15, 2010
Gilbane to acquire W.G. Mills, Inc.
Rhode Island-based Gilbane Building Company announced plans to acquire W.G. Mills, Inc., a construction management firm with operations based in Florida. The acquisition will dramatically strengthen Gilbane’s position in Florida’s growing market and complement its already established presence in the southeast.
