NCARB

So I got the NCARB (National Council of Architectural Registration Board) newsletter yesterday and wow is it irritating.  Before I go into all that I'll give a brief summary of what NCARB is.  To get a architecture license in nearly every state one must create a record with NCARB and starting in July any experience not reported in 6 months will not be counted.  Before being allowed to take the registration exams  3 years worth of experience must be logged and accepted.  Fees have to be paid to create and maintain the record, fees must be paid to take the exams, this ranges in the thousands of dollars.

Now the newsletter.  The cover has picture of a compass pointing towards the word Integrity, below is the title "Defining Your Moral Compass".  I'm paying loads of fees someone can tell me to be ethical... great.  Inside it discusses the importance for participants in IDP (Internship Development Program) to "demonstrate their moral maturity by adhering to rules established for education, internship and examination."   Do I really need someone telling me that its wrong to break the rules, that I could be punished for breaking the rules.  Can an organization really make someone "morally mature"?

Next it goes on to discuss the importance of maintaining the integrity of the ARE (Architectural Registration Exam).  How most people are following the rules but others compromising the exam be talking about it in online chat rooms!  Okay the rules of the exam state not to do this, but seriously is this problem really going to cause unqualified people to get a license?  Think about the extent of lies people would have to get away with to sneak into the profession of architecture:

-They would have to cheat their way through a minimum of 5 years of architecture school including a review to get into a masters program and then again to be awarded a degree.

-They would have to falsify a minimum of 3 years of working experience

This would probably put them at about 26 years old.  

-If they had not been caught at this point they would have to pass a review of their falsified experience and education.

-The review would take a few months to complete, and lets say a year till they cheat their way through all of the exams (some 12 exams that require people to solve actual problems and do actual designs, I'd image no amount of cheat sheets would help with that)

They are now 27, and have completed IDP and the ARE, but they are not done yet.  They must complete any additional requirements the state has and pass a review by the state licensing board.  By this time they are about 28, they would have spent a decade cheating.  Cheating without getting caught.

I'm sure its more probable that people cheat a little bit here a little bit there.  I'm sure much more of it is people not paying accurate attention to their hours.  An example of cheating: I spent about a week doing specs, and another 4 weeks on construction documents this month.  What is actually required: On the 1st I spend 3o minutes doing specifications, on the 2nd I spend 45 minutes on construction documents, etc.  Everyone must do this daily for at least 3 years.

Now what am I getting at.  It is extremely unlikely that particularly unqualified people are getting a license and causing a risk to public safety.  Yet the rules keep getting more stringent, the process has become increasingly more expensive and complicated, and I'm getting newsletters trying to convince me what a problem it is.  Its irritating.