An architect and architectural designer are both working to design buildings, they also have many similar skills and can offer common services. So when judging from the skills and types of services offered, the difference between the two can be quite unclear. However, there’s one thing that can differentiate these two professions, someone can legally become an architect only if he/she has an architectural education degree and also registered with the governing architecture body in the territory.

Architect

An architect is a person who graduated from a university after studying the art and science of building design. Usually it takes 5 years of college education for someone to become an architect, the education includes technical design, contract law, architectural history, and other building design related education. Before you can be registered as an architect, usually you should spend a certain amount of years working under a registered architect.

An architect will be responsible in a construction project from designing the building, choosing materials and making sure that the builder and subcontractors are executing their jobs properly according to the design.

Architectural Designer

Much like an architect, an architectural designer is a person who specializes in building design construction. Their services include making building design, contract documentation, as well as contract administration, which is making sure that the contractor and subcontractors are carrying out the project as planned.

The different is, architectural designers are not registered architects, that’s why they cannot call themselves architects. However, they can offer pretty much the same services offered by registered architects. They may or may not have formal architectural education, but architectural designers usually have years of experience working with registered architects.

Usually these people started working in the industry as a draftsman, or people who responsible with the drawings, but then overtime they learn various aspects of building design and construction and after they have had enough experience they decided to run their own businesses.

Architect vs Architectural Designers

As explained earlier, basically an architect and an architectural designer are capable of doing the same thing, the most obvious difference is in the label. But since most people are more familiar with architects, also because they are registered experts, usually architect services are more expensive compared with architectural designers. Therefore by choosing an architectural designer instead of an architect to handle your project you can actually save money.

Architects maybe well educated in building design, but education without real experience is pretty much useless. In many places, people can become architects as soon as they graduate from the university, while in other places it only takes one or two years working experience to be registered as an architect. While you can only become an architectural designer if you have many years of experience working in the industry. So when you hire an architectural designer you will be spending your money for an expert with real experience, because it’s impossible to become an architectural designer without lots of experience.

So, it’s ultimately up to you, but here you have the pro’s and con ‘s of each.

This article was written by Tim Tav with the support of Craymanor, a builiding and design company. – Find out more here –  craymanor.co.uk