PROPOSED RULEMAKING
STATE ARCHITECTS LICENSURE BOARD
[49 PA. CODE CH. 9]
Requirements for Examination Eligibility
[37 Pa.B. 4625]
[Saturday, August 25, 2007]The State Architects Licensure Board (Board) proposes to amend §§ 9.27, 9.41a, 9.46, 9.50 and 9.52 to read as set forth in Annex A.
A. Effective Date
The proposed rulemaking will be effective upon final-form publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
B. Statutory Authority
The proposed rulemaking is authorized under section 6(a) and (d) of the Architects Licensure Law (63 P. S. § 34.6(a) and (d)).
C. Background and Need For Amendments
Currently, § 9.46(b) (relating to requirements for examination eligibility) states that ''[a]n architectural degree candidate applying for first time licensure is required to pass the entire professional licensure examination of the Board within 5 years of the date of eligibility to take the examination.'' Passing the entire examination requires that each candidate must pass all nine divisions of the examination within 5 years of the date of eligibility to take the examination. Under this provision, if a candidate passes eight divisions within the 5-year period, but still has one more division to complete and the eligibility period ends, that candidate would lose all eight divisions of the examination that had been passed and would be required to take the entire examination all over again.
However, on January 1, 2006, the National Council of Architecture Registration Boards (NCARB) implemented a National ''rolling clock'' standard for examination eligibility. Prior to this time, NCARB had no standard time limit for completion of the exam, instead leaving that determination to individual State boards. NCARB's Committee on Procedures and Documents, in a statement of support prior to NCARB's 2004 annual meeting, explained that ''[r]equiring that all divisions be passed within a reasonable period will better assure that the ARE [Architecture Registration Exam] remains a valid measure of the level of competency necessary to independently practice architecture. While some changes may occur within any 5 year period, there is a lower likelihood that applicants will be tested under different forms of administration and methodologies than is the case currently with applicants having unlimited time in which to pass all divisions.''
According to NCARB's rolling clock guidelines, exam candidates who have passed all divisions of the Architecture Registration Exam (ARE) by January 1, 2006, regardless of the time taken, will have passed the ARE. Exam candidates who have passed one or more but not all divisions of the ARE by January 1, 2006, will have 5 years to pass all remaining divisions. A passing grade for a remaining division will be valid for 5 years, after which time the division must be retaken if the remaining divisions have not been passed. NCARB's guidelines further specify that divisions taken before January 1, 2006, will not have to be retaken.
The Board proposes to adopt NCARB's guidelines with respect to the ''rolling clock'' with one exception. The Board's proposed rulemaking differs from NCARB's guidelines in that candidates who had passed at least one division of the ARE by January 1, 2006, and are, therefore, already in the system, will have a total of 5 years to complete the entire examination. If the candidate does not complete the entire examination within 5 years, a division that the candidate has passed that is older than 5 years will drop off and the candidate will be required to retake the ''stale'' division of the examination. Thus, the candidate will not lose the entire examination, as the current regulation requires, only those divisions that are older than 5 years.
D. Description of Amendments
The Board proposes to amend § 9.27 (relating to inactive records) by deleting language pertaining to an examination candidate completing the entire examination within 5 years.
The Board further proposes to amend § 9.41a(b) (relating to adoption of National Board Examinations) by adding language specifying that examination candidates shall comply with NCARB's examination procedures, conduct standards and standards pertaining to eligibility and passing of the ARE, unless otherwise stated in the Board's regulations.
In § 9.46(b), the Board proposes to delete the requirement that examination candidates complete the entire examination within 5 years of the date of eligibility to take the examination. Instead, the Board proposes new language that specifies that the Board will consider only divisions of the examination passed within the 5-year period since the first passed division was administered. If a division is more than 5 years old, the candidate will be required to retake that division of the examination and will automatically be given a new 5-year period beginning from the date of the administration of the next oldest passed division without the need to reapply. This would implement the new ''rolling clock'' standard for the Board.
The Board proposes to amend § 9.50 (relating to reapplications) to delete the cross-reference to § 9.46(3) because reapplication will no longer be necessary under the rolling clock requirement. The Board also proposes to add a cross reference to § 9.41a(b). The Board further proposes to amend § 9.52 (relating to grading compilation) to add cross-references to §§ 9.41a(b) and 9.46(b) with regard to the opportunity to retake portions of the examination which were failed or which expired under the 5-year rolling clock.
E. Fiscal Impact
The proposed rulemaking should have no fiscal impact on the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions. Likewise, the proposed rulemaking should not necessitate legal, accounting, reporting or other paperwork requirements.
F. Paperwork Requirements
The proposed rulemaking will not create additional paperwork for the Board.
G. Sunset Date
The Board continuously monitors the effectiveness of its regulations. Therefore, no sunset date has been assigned.
H. Regulatory Review
Under section 5(a) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5(a)), on August 15, 2007, the Board submitted a copy of this proposed rulemaking and a copy of a Regulatory Analysis Form to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) and to the Chairpersons of the House Professional Licensure Committee and the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee. A copy of this material is available to the public upon request.
Under section 5(g) of the Regulatory Review Act, IRRC may convey any comments, recommendations or objections to the proposed rulemaking within 30 days of the close of the public comment period. The comments, recommendations or objections must specify the regulatory review criteria which have not been met. The Regulatory Review Act specifies detailed procedures for review, prior to final publication of the rulemaking, by the Board, the General Assembly and the Governor of comments, recommendations or objections raised.
I. Public Comment
Interested persons are invited to submit written comments, recommendations or objections regarding this proposed rulemaking to Penny Walker, Administrator, State Architects Licensure Board, 2601 North Third Street, P. O. Box 2649, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2649, pewalker@ state.pa.us within 30 days following publication of this proposed rulemaking in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. Reference No. 16A-419 (Licensure By Examination) when submitting comments.
DENNIS R. CONNELL, RA,
PresidentFiscal Note: 16A-419. No fiscal impact; (8) recommends adoption.
Annex A
TITLE 49. PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL STANDARDS
PART I. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Subpart A. PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL AFFAIRS
CHAPTER 9. STATE ARCHITECTS LICENSURE BOARD
FUNCTIONS OF THE BOARD § 9.27. Inactive records.
Records of candidates for licensure that are inactive for 5 years will be destroyed. A record will be considered inactive if a candidate does not correct a deficiency in an application[, or pass the entire examination] within 5 years of notice from the Board of the deficiency [or eligibility to take the examination].
LICENSURE BY EXAMINATION § 9.41a. Adoption of National Board Examinations.
* * * * * (b) Candidates shall comply with examination procedures [and], conduct standards, and standards pertaining to eligibility and passing of the ARE as established by the NCARB, unless otherwise stated in this chapter.
§ 9.46. Requirements for examination eligibility.
(a) General requirements. A candidate for the examination shall have:
* * * * * (b) [An architectural degree candidate applying for first time licensure is required to pass the entire professional licensure examination of the Board within 5 years of the date of eligibility to take the examination.] ''Rolling clock'' requirement. An applicant for licensure shall have 5 years from the date that the first passed division of the examination was administered to pass all remaining divisions. If an applicant for licensure fails to pass all remaining divisions within the 5-year period, the applicant will automatically be given a new 5-year period measured from the date of administration of the next oldest passed division (''rolling clock'') to pass all divisions of the examination and this rolling clock period will continue to automatically renew until all divisions of the examination are passed, without the need to reapply to the Board. Applicants will have the benefit of the rolling clock but the Board will only consider the divisions of the examination passed within the 5-year time period immediately preceding the date of the latest administered division passed by the applicant. The Board may waive this requirement upon proof of medical hardship or other extraordinary circumstances.
§ 9.50. Reapplications.
Candidates required to file new applications under §§ 9.27 and [9.46(3)] 9.41a(b) (relating to inactive records; and [requirements for examination eligibility] adoption of National Board Examinations) shall meet the requirements of the act and regulations in effect at the time the new application is filed.
GRADING AND REVIEW § 9.52. Grading compilation.
To qualify for licensure, a candidate shall receive a passing grade on each part or division of the examination. Grades received in individual parts or divisions will not be averaged. A candidate will have opportunities, subject to [§ 9.46(3)] §§ 9.41a(b) and 9.46(b) (relating to adoption of National Board Examinations; and requirements for examination eligibility), to retake those portions of the examination which were failed and those portions which expire under the 5-year rolling clock requirement.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 07-1546. Filed for public inspection August 24, 2007, 9:00 a.m.]
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