Building designer[edit]
In many places, building codes and legislation of professions allow persons to design single family residential buildings and in some cases light commercial buildings without an architectural license. As such, "Building designer" is a common designation in the United States, Canada and elsewhere for someone who offers building design services but is not a licensed architect or engineer.
Anyone may use the title of "building designer" in the broadest sense. In many places, a building designer may achieve certification demonstrating a higher level of training. In the U.S., the National Council of Building Designer Certification (NCBDC),[2] an offshoot of the American Institute of Building Design,[3] administers a program leading to the title of Certified Professional Building Designer (CPBD). In most cases, building designers are trained as architectural technologists or draftspersons; they may also be architecture school graduates that have not completed licensing requirements.
Many building designers are known as "residential" or "home designers", since they focus mainly on residential design and remodeling. In the U.S. state of Nevada, "Residential Designer" is a regulated term for those who are registered as such under Nevada State Board of Architecture, Interior Design and Residential Design, and one may not legally represent oneself in a professional capacity without being currently registered.
In Australia where use of the term architect and some derivatives is highly restricted but the architectural design of buildings has very few restrictions in place, the term building designer is used extensively by people or design practices who are not registered by the relevant State Board of Architects. In Queensland the term building design is used in legislation which licences practitioners as part of a broader building industry licensing system. In Victoria there is a registration process for building designers and in other States there is currently no regulation of the profession. A Building Designers Association operates in each state to represent the interests of building designers.