License: Landscape Architects

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation APELSCIDLA Board

3600 West Broad Street

Richmond, VA 23230-4917

(804) 367-8506

Requirements for licensure. The education or experience, or both, and examination requirements for licensure as a landscape architect are as follows: 1. An applicant who has graduated from an accredited landscape architecture curriculum approved by the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB) must meet the following requirements for licensure as a landscape architect: a. Passed a CLARB-prepared examination; and b. Obtained 36 months of experience/training with a minimum of 12 months under the direct control and personal supervision of a landscape architect and the other 24 months under the direct control and personal supervision of a landscape architect, architect, professional engineer, or land surveyor, in accordance with the experience credits portion of the Landscape Architect Equivalency Table. An applicant who has graduated from an accredited landscape architecture curriculum approved by the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board shall be admitted to a CLARB-prepared examination prior to completing the 36-month experience requirement, if the applicant is otherwise qualified. 2. An applicant who has obtained eight years of combined education and experience, evaluated in accordance with the Landscape Architect Equivalency Table, shall be admitted to a CLARB-prepared examination or equivalent approved by the board. Upon passing such examination, the applicant shall be licensed as a landscape architect, if otherwise qualified. Experience standard. Qualifying landscape architectural training and experience shall be progressive in complexity and based on knowledge of natural, physical and mathematical sciences, and the principles and methodology of landscape architecture. Examination. A. All applicants for original licensure in Virginia are required to pass the CLARB prepared examination. B. The Virginia board is a member of the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards (CLARB) and as such is authorized to administer the CLARB examinations. C. The CLARB-prepared examination will be offered at least once per year at a time designated by the board. D. Grading of the examination shall be in accordance with the national grading procedures established by CLARB. The board shall adopt the scoring procedures recommended by CLARB. E. Unless otherwise stated, applicants approved to sit for an examination shall register and submit the required examination fee to be received in the board, or by the board's designee, at a time designated by the board. Applicants not properly registered will not be allowed into the examination site. F. Examinees will be advised only of their passing or failing score and the CLARB minimum passing or failing score. Only the board and its staff shall have access to examination papers, scores, and answer sheets. G. Upon written request to the board within 30 days of receiving examination results, examinees will be permitted to view the performance problems contained within the section that they failed. Examination appeals are permitted in accordance with the CLARB score verification process. H. Should an applicant not pass an examination within three years after being approved, the applicant must reapply and meet all current entry requirements. If the applicant has not been taking the examination on a continuous basis during the three-year eligibility period, or fails to reapply within six months after the end of the three-year eligibility period, or both, then the applicant shall meet the entry requirements current at the time of reapplication. Licensure by comity. A person holding a current license to engage in the practice of landscape architecture, issued to the applicant by other states, the District of Columbia, or any territory or possession of the United States based on requirements that do not conflict with and are at least as rigorous as these regulations and supporting statutes of this board that were in effect at the time of original licensure, may be licensed without further examination. No person shall be so licensed, however, who has not passed an examination in another jurisdiction that was substantially equivalent to that approved by the board at that time. If the applicant does not meet the requirements for licensure in Virginia that were in effect at the time of original licensure, the applicant shall be required to meet the entry requirements current at the time the completed application for comity is received in the board's office or shall hold a CLARB certificate.