To get a Minnesota architect license, you need an accredited architecture degree, 3,740 hours of supervised experience through the Architectural Experience Program, and a passing score on all six divisions of the Architect Registration Examination. The Minnesota architect license requirements are set by the state Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience, and Interior Design (AELSLAGID), and the license costs $75 to apply for and $120 to renew every two years.1Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 326.02 – Licensure or Certification2Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 326.105 – Fees
Who Must Be Licensed
Minnesota law is broad on this point. You need a license to practice architecture, offer architectural services, or use any title that suggests you’re an architect.1Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 326.02 – Licensure or Certification That covers sole practitioners, partners in a firm, and anyone acting as another person’s agent.
Retired professionals can keep using the title, but only if they add “retired” in front of it and held an active Minnesota license when they stopped practicing.
Education
Minnesota Rule 1800.1000 recognizes three ways to satisfy the education requirement.3Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Rule 1800.1000 – Education and Experience The most common is a degree from a program accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), typically a five-year Bachelor of Architecture or a Master of Architecture that follows a pre-professional undergraduate degree.
The board also accepts degrees accredited by the Canadian Architectural Certification Board. If your degree carries neither accreditation, you’ll need an evaluation report from the Education Evaluation Services for Architects showing your education is equivalent to a NAAB-accredited degree. That report goes in with your initial application.
Experience Hours
Before you can sit for the exam, you have to complete the Architectural Experience Program (AXP), run by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. AXP requires 3,740 documented hours split across six areas:4National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. Architectural Experience Program Guidelines
- Project Development and Documentation: 1,520 hours
- Project Planning and Design: 1,080 hours
- Project Management: 360 hours
- Construction and Evaluation: 360 hours
- Programming and Analysis: 260 hours
- Practice Management: 160 hours
Hours have to be earned under the supervision of a licensed architect who can verify them, and you log everything through your NCARB record. Most candidates finish AXP in two to three years of full-time work, though the pace depends on how well your firm’s projects line up with the required categories.
The Architect Registration Examination
The exam is the Architect Registration Examination (ARE), required under Minnesota Rule 1800.1200.5Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Rule 1800.1200 – Examination ARE 5.0 has six divisions: programming and analysis, project planning and design, project development and documentation, project management, construction evaluation, and practice management. You must pass all six.
Fail a division and you can retake it after a 60-day wait, with a limit of three attempts on the same division in any 12-month window.6NCARB – National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. Receiving Your Score Candidates who eventually pass all six divisions take about two and a half years on average from first sitting to final pass.
One helpful change: NCARB retired the five-year rolling clock in April 2023. Passed divisions no longer expire.7NCARB – National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. NCARB Retired the Rolling Clock Policy
Applying for the License
Applications go through the online portal on the AELSLAGID website.8Minnesota Board of AELSLAGID. Architecture You create an account, complete the form, and pay the $75 application fee by credit card. The fee is non-refundable regardless of the outcome.2Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 326.105 – Fees
You’ll also arrange for supporting documents. Your school sends official transcripts directly to the board, and you request that NCARB transmit your Council Record, which contains your verified experience hours and exam scores. Make sure your name matches exactly across every document. Name mismatches are one of the most common reasons applications stall.
The board reviews completed files at its meetings, so timing depends on when your file becomes complete relative to the next scheduled session. Expect several weeks. Once approved, you receive a license number and certificate authorizing you to practice and use the protected title.
If You’re Already Licensed in Another State
Minnesota offers a comity pathway under Minnesota Statutes Section 326.10.9Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 326.10 – Reciprocity You must hold a current license from a jurisdiction whose requirements were substantially equivalent to Minnesota’s when you were originally licensed, and your home state must extend reciprocal privileges to Minnesota licensees.
Minnesota Rule 1800.0800 sets out how to prove your qualifications.10Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Rule 1800.0800 – Proof of Qualification to Practice For architects, submitting an NCARB Certificate is the simplest option because it’s a verified summary of your education, experience, and exam history that NCARB transmits directly to the board. Without one, expect an individualized review of your credentials. Either way, you file the state application, pay the $75 fee, and document your current license status.
Renewal and Continuing Education
Every Minnesota architecture license expires on June 30 of each even-numbered year, no matter when you were first licensed.11Minnesota Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience and Interior Design. 2026-2028 Renewals Are Now Open The current renewal deadline is June 30, 2026. There is no grace period. Miss the date and your license lapses. The biennial renewal fee is $120.2Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 326.105 – Fees
Renewal requires 24 Professional Development Hours (PDH) during the two-year cycle. All 24 must relate to health, safety, and welfare topics, and at least 2 must specifically cover professional ethics.12Minnesota Board of AELSLAGID. Continuing Education On-demand courses are allowed for all 24 hours.
Earn more than 24 hours in a cycle and you can carry up to 12 excess hours into the next biennium as general PDH. Carried-over hours won’t satisfy the ethics requirement for the new cycle, even if the original coursework was ethics-focused. Ethics hours have to be earned fresh in the biennium they’re applied to. Licensees in their first renewal period are generally exempt from continuing education, and hours earned during that exempt period can’t be carried forward either.
Using Your Seal
Once licensed, you can obtain a professional seal bearing your name and the designation “Licensed Architect.”13Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Rule 1800.4300 You may stamp plans, specifications, reports, and other professional documents as long as your license is active and in good standing. Using the seal after the license has expired, been revoked, or been suspended is illegal. Stamping a document doesn’t replace the separate signed-and-dated certification required by the rules.
Projects That Don’t Require an Architect
Not every project needs an architect’s certification. Under Minnesota Rule 1800.5900, certain small buildings are exempt.14Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Rule 1800.5900 – Exempt Buildings The exemption depends on occupancy type, footprint, and stories, and it covers categories like small business and mercantile buildings, low-hazard one-story factory and storage buildings, small assembly spaces, and residential buildings up to three units along with single-family homes, townhomes, and small congregate residences.
Remodeling and renovation work can also skip architect certification if the project doesn’t change structural loads, electrical or mechanical design loads, occupancy, or access and exit patterns. Exempt projects still have to comply with the Minnesota State Building Code. If you’re not sure a project fits the exemption, check Rule 1800.5900 against the specifics before starting design work.