Any citizen of the Republic of China who passes the architect licensure examination is qualified to be an architect.

Any person who meets one of the following conditions may take a special examination instead.
1.Examinee is a graduate of a state or duly accredited private junior college or higher private educational institution, or a foreign junior college or higher foreign educational institution duly recognized by the Ministry of Education, either possessing a bachelor's degree in or majoring in architectural engineering, and possessing excellent practical architectural engineering experience records. Length of service required is: three years, if examinee is a graduate of a postgraduate school or a five-year bachelor's degree course; four years, if graduate of a four-year bachelor's degree course; and five years, if graduate of a junior college course.
2.Examinee is a graduate of a state or duly accredited private junior college or higher private educational institution, or a foreign junior college or higher foreign educational institution duly recognized by the Ministry of Education, either possessing a master or bachelor's degree in or majoring in architectural engineering, previously teaching structural architecture courses in a junior college or higher educational institution for a period of at least three years under the official capacity (duly acknowledged by the Ministry of Education) of a professor, associate professor, assistant professor, or lecturer, as substantiated by related supporting documents.
3.Examinee is a graduate of a state or duly accredited private junior college or higher private educational institution, or a foreign junior college or higher foreign educational institution duly recognized by the Ministry of Education, either possessing a bachelor's degree in or majoring in civil engineering or construction engineering and technology completing at least 22 academic units in architectural design, as well as possessing excellent practical architectural engineering experience records. Length of service required is: five years, if examinee is a graduate of a four-year bachelor's degree course and six years, if graduate of a junior college course.
4.Examinee is a graduate of a state or duly accredited private junior college or higher private educational institution, or a foreign junior college or higher foreign educational institution duly recognized by the Ministry of Education, either possessing a bachelor's degree in or majoring in civil engineering or construction engineering and technology completing at least 22 academic units in architectural design, as well as previously teaching architecture courses in a junior college or higher educational institution for a period of at least four years under the official capacity (duly acknowledged by the Ministry of Education) of a professor, associate professor, assistant professor, or lecturer, as substantiated by related supporting documents.
5.Examinee has previously passed the senior civil service examination in architectural engineering and was officially employed in government service working in an architectural engineering related position or job for at least three years and showing excellent work performance records, as substantiated by related supporting documents.
6.Examinee has been issued an official architect's license by a foreign government and such license is duly accredited by the Ministry of Examination.
The rules and regulations governing the aforementioned special examination shall be determined by the Examination Yuan and Executive Yuan.

The authorities governing architects: the central government – the Ministry of the Interior; municipalities – the municipality government; counties/cities – the county/city government.

Under any one of the following circumstances, an individual is disqualified from practicing architecture or barred from obtaining the architect's license; where an architect's license has been previously issued, such license or certificate should be revoked by central competent authority:
1.Individual has become subject to the order of the commencement of guardianship or assistantship has not been revoked.
2.Individual Suffers from mental illness or is in irregular physical or mental condition, two or more medical physicians of the appropriate specialty have been consulted upon request of the competent authority, and the competent authority has determined that he or she is unable to practice.
3.Individual has been declared bankrupt and status has not yet been revoked.
4.Individual was convicted of a crime during the practice of his/her profession or in matters related to his/her profession and given an imprisonment term of at least one year and sentence has not been placed under probation.
5.Individual's official license to practice or business license is invalidated as a punishment or penalty for violations committed.
In the matter of the circumstances provided in the foregoing subparagraphs 1 to 3, upon the elimination of the cause of such revocation, individual may re-apply for an architect's license certificate pursuant to the regulations of the Architects Act.

When claiming for the official architect's license, individual is required to present application and all eligibility supporting documents to the Ministry of the Interior for evaluation and approval; license shall be issued after due approval.

A practicing architect shall have an office for practice; or the said architect may jointly open an office with two or more licensed architects. Such an office should be duly registered with the respective municipality, county/city authority under which jurisdiction the office is located. An architect may practice anywhere within the R.O.C.

An architect applying for a business practice license should be a duly licensed architect possessing at least two years of practical experience in architectural work.

An architect applying for a business practice license shall file application along with architect's license certificate documents substantiating practical experience at the competent county (city) government authority. Said documents should manifest the following information of the applicant. A business practice license is issued following the evaluation and registration of the applicant's information; where applicant's business practice is located in a special municipality, application should be filed at the local public works department:
1.the name and address of the place of practice; and
2.the full name, sex, age, photograph, place of residence and license certificate number of the architect.

The architect is not authorized to start operating the business practice prior to the issuance of the official business practice license.

The business practice license shall be valid for a period of six years. An architect issued a business practice license intending to continue practice operations should file for the issuance of a replacement business practice license with the competent special municipality or county (city) government authority where the practice is located, at least three months prior to the expiration of the valid business practice license. The architect should attach the original business practice license and the seminar attendance substantiating documents issued by a duly accredited body or group of the Ministry of the Interior.
The procedure for the aforementioned replacement business practice license issuance application, documents required, the pertinent processing charges and fees, and other regulations for observance are subject to the discretion of the Ministry of the Interior.
The certification conditions and procedure for the seminar attendance documents issued by the “body” or “group” and other related regulations for observance stated in Paragraph 1 of this article are subject to the discretion of the Ministry of the Interior.
In the matter of a business practice license issued pursuant to the provisions of the Architects Act prior to the enforcement of the provisions stated in the three preceding paragraphs, its validity period shall be six years from the enforcement date of the procedures provided in the two preceding paragraphs. Application for replacement license shall be as provided in Paragraph 1 of this article.

Upon the approval and issuance of the architect business practice licenses, the respective municipality or county (city) authorities are obliged to report such license issuances to the Ministry of the Interior for record purposes; moreover, a public announcement or bulletin should be posted to its effect. The same procedure should be observed during the cancellation or revocation of the business practice license.

In the event that the architect should decide to change its business address or employ or dismiss architects and other technical persons to attend to the operations of the practice, architect is required to report such changes to the municipality or county (city) government authority for due registration.

In the event the architect moves practice to a location outside the jurisdiction of the county/city practice was previously registered, the architect is required to apply for a transfer authorization with the competent government authority under which such practice is originally registered. The government authority registering the new location should immediately issue a business practice license and report the matter to the central competent authority for reference purposes.

Where an architect decides to close his/her business practice, architect is required to present the valid business practice license to the competent government authority under which it is registered and apply for business practice license revocation or cancellation.

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The municipality or county (city) government authority should prepare an architect's business practice registration book; entries recorded in the book should include the following information:
1.All information contained in the business practice license application form;
2.The certificate number of the business practice license;
3.The full name(s), date of employment or dismissal of the architects and technical employees attending to matters of the practice;
4.Amendments to the registered information;
5.The types, the period of validity and the reasons of the rewards and punishments imposed; and
6.Date and reasons of business practice termination.
A duplicate of the aforementioned registration book should also be prepared to serve as the record for submission to the Ministry of the Interior.

An architect may accept the commission of a client to conduct an investigation, survey, design, construction supervision, cost estimation, inspection and/or appraisal of a building and its physical environment, as well as accept the customer's power of attorney for building permit application, building contractor bidding, drafting of the building construction agreement and the negotiation of other construction project related matters.

The architect commissioned by a client to draft a design, constructions documents and specifications or other related documents, should ensure that such documents are completed pursuant to building laws and founded on the construction technology regulations and building administration regulations provided in the building laws, and other related governing laws. The details of the design should be able to allow the construction firm and other equipment makers to accurately assess prices and implement construction work according to the plan.

The architect accepting the client's commission to supervise building construction matters is obliged to observe the following regulations:
1.To supervise the construction firm's work, thereby ensuring construction work is executed in accordance with the construction documents provided in the foregoing article;
2.To observe all duties and obligations assigned by related building laws to the building construction supervisor;
3.To inspect and evaluate the specifications and quality of the building construction materials; and
4.To observe other construction supervision related agreement provisions.

The architect accepting the building design commission of a client is liable for the building project of the design; on the other hand, an architect accepting the client's commission to supervise building construction work, is liable to ensure the construction work of the project. However, in the matter of the professional construction matters of the building structure and equipment, except for building structures having five or less stories not designated for public use, the architect in-charge is obliged to assign the construction of such building to a professional engineer of a duly registered practice; under which circumstances, the architect assumes joint liability for the construction of such project. This provision is not applicable in localities where having no practicing engineers.

An individual passing the architect licensure examination and issued an architect's license and the architect business practice license, unless otherwise provided by law, is likewise permitted to engage in the occupational activities of an architectural engineer.

The architect is obliged to execute all commissioned undertakings under the principles of good faith, and thus should refrain from engaging in inappropriate or illegal behaviors or neglecting his/her professional obligations to the appointed undertakings.

The architect is legally liable for all actions and behaviors conducted during the execution of his/her appointed tasks.

The architect should execute an agreement with his/her client regarding the scope of the appointed responsibilities or undertaking and the amount of the compensation due for each undertaking assumed prior to the execution of such undertaking; thereafter, the parties concerned in the agreement are obliged to jointly observe agreement conditions.

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The architect should aid the implementation of all directives issued by the government authority on construction matters relating to public safety, social welfare and disaster prevention.

The architect is prohibited from assuming the following positions under a part-time capacity or assuming part-time employment in the following establishments:
1.The position of a civil service employee as defined in the Civil Service Employment Act;
2.A construction firm or the position of chief engineer or engineer of a construction firm, or the guarantor of project contracted by a construction firm; or
3.A building construction material supplier.

The architect is prohibited from allowing a third party to open a practice or engage in related undertakings under his/her name.

The architect is obliged to maintain the confidentiality of all confidential information acquired during the execution of his/her duties.

An architect who is not a member of the county/city architects association organized in his/her chosen area of practice after acquiring the necessary business practice license will not be authorized to run a practice. On the other hand, architects associations are not entitled to refuse or deny the membership application of a duly licensed architect.
An architect who has already joined the provincial architects association before the amendment to provisions of this Act on December 11th, 2009 takes effect, may continue to practice for two years starting on the date the amendment takes effect. Upon the end of the two-year term, the said architect should joint the county/city architects association of the county/city he/she is registered in. In the event an architects association was not organized in the county/city the said architect is registered in, the said architect may join the architects association of a neighboring county/city. The original provincial architects association should be dissolved within a year after the two-year term ends.
Municipality and county/city architects associations should submit membership data to the national association of architects for registration and reference purposes.
The number of municipality and county/city architects associations that practicing architects in Paragraph 1 may join is limited to one.

Regulations to facilitate the development of architects associations in Jinmen and Mazu areas and Penghu county are as follows:
1.Architects with business practice licenses may join architects association in Jinmen and Mazu areas or Penghu county and are not under limitations of Paragraph 4 of the preceding Article. An architect may not practice in Jinmen and Mazu areas or Penghu county unless he/she joins the architects association organized in the respective area. However, this rule does not apply if an architects association was not organized.
2.An architect with a business practice license issued in Jinmen and Mazu areas or Penghu county may join a municipality or county/city architects association of the main island of Taiwan, but limited to one.
The original Fujian provincial architects association should be restructured to architects association in Jinmen and Mazu areas, and governed by the local government where it is organized.

The architects association should be organized within a municipality or county/city. Moreover, the architects associations should organize a national association of architects at the place where the central government offices are located. However, the national association of architects may be located at other places with permission from the central competent authority.

An architects association should be organized in the municipality or county/city where nine or more practicing architects are registered. Where practicing architects registered in a municipality or county/city is less than nine (exclusive) in number, the practicing architects of the municipality or county/city should join the architects association of a neighboring municipality or county/city, or jointly organize an architects association with a neighboring municipality or county/city.
The number of architects associations organized or jointly organized at the same administrative level within the same administrative area is limited to one.

The national association of architects should be jointly organized by the municipality and county/city architects associations.
Municipality, county/city architects associations should join the national association of architects within six months after they are organized. The national association of architects may not refuse or deny the membership application of an architects association.

The National Union of Architects Association, R.O.C., which was organized before the amendment on December 11th, 2009, should be restructured into the national association of architects in accordance with this Act within two years after the amendment takes effect. County/city offices of the National Union of Architects Association, R.O.C. should be adjusted, restructured or merged into municipality, county/city architects associations within three years after the amendment takes effect; municipality offices should be adjusted, restructured or merged into the respective municipality architects association.
The following regulations are applicable to property transfer resulting from adjustments or restructuring mentioned in the Paragraph 2 of Article 28-1 and preceding paragraph:
1.Deeds and certificates are exempted from stamp tax.
2.Transfer of securities is exempted from securities transaction tax.
3.Transfer of goods or labor is not in the scope of sales tax.
4.Transfer of real estate is exempted from deed tax and land value increment tax. However, for a subsequent land transfer, land value increment tax will be calculated based on the original land value before the adjustment or restructuring.

The government authority governing architects association is the social administration authority.
However, the objective undertakings of such associations are subject to the direction and supervision of the government authority governing architectural undertakings.

Article 33 The board of directors and supervisors of the architects association should be duly elected to office during a general members meeting; the size of each board shall be as follows:
1.The directors of an architects association should not exceed the maximum of twenty-five persons; supervisors should not exceed the maximum of seven persons.
2.The board of directors of a national association of architects should not exceed the maximum of thirty-five persons; supervisors should not exceed the maximum of eleven persons.
3.The number of alternate directors and supervisors should not exceed 50% of the total number of directors or supervisors composing the board.
The aforementioned directors and supervisors shall have a term of office of three years; term of office is subject to extension upon re-election for a maximum term of six years.

The architects association is required to hold a general members meeting at least once a year, and hold an emergency general members meeting whenever circumstances require. An emergency general members meeting may be called upon the request of at least 20% of the total association members.
At least 50% of association members must be present for the general members meeting to commence. However, this rule does not apply if the articles of incorporation of an architects association stipulate otherwise.
Association members should attend general members meetings held in accordance with the preceding provision in person. Association members may not appoint an attorney to represent them in such meetings.

The architects association should define its articles of incorporation, prepare a simple roster of members and list of association employees. The architects association should apply for the approval of the competent authority under which the association is registered, and report to competent government authorities on architectural affairs for record purposes.

The articles of incorporation of the architects association should require the following matters in its provisions:
1.The name, area and the office location of the association.
2.The principles, organization and objectives of the association.
3.Membership admission and withdrawal conditions and procedures.
4.Rights and obligations of members.
5.The number, authorities, terms of office, election and impeachment of the directors, supervisors, alternate directors and alternate supervisors.
6.Meeting matters.
7.Pacts for the observance of its members.
8.The organization of the architect disciplinary committee and the methods for the maintenance of discipline and ethics.
9.The membership fees, budgets and accounting matters.
10.Other matters necessary to the administration of association affairs.
The articles of incorporation of municipality and county/city architects associations shall not violate the articles of incorporation of the national association of architects.
The articles of incorporation of the national association of architects should provide contact and negotiation matters with municipality and county/city architects associations.

The architects association should define the standards and regulations governing the practices of architects. Such provisions should clearly define the scope of practices, compensation or fee standards, as well as the obligations and responsibilities of the architects.
The resolution of the general members meeting is necessary to establish the regulations governing the practices of architects stated in the preceding paragraph. Where the association is located in a special municipality, such regulations should be reported to the local government authority governing architectural affairs and thereafter submitted to the evaluation and approval of the Ministry of the Interior. Where the association is located in a province, such regulations should be directly reported to the evaluation and approval of the Ministry of the Interior

The social administration authority and government authority governing architectural affairs in the locality where the architects association is located should respectively appoint representatives to attend and guide the general members meetings and the board meetings of directors and supervisors of the architects association. Moreover said authorities should read the related meeting minutes of the association.

The architects association is required to submit the following to the social administration authority and competent government authority governing architectural affairs of the locality where association is located:
1.Articles of incorporation of the architects association;
2.Roster of members and the membership admission and withdrawal related matters;
3.Full names of the director and supervisor election candidates and the developments of the director and supervisor elections;
4.Dates, time, venue and developments of the general members meetings, board of directors meetings and board of supervisor meetings; and
5.Meeting proposals and resolutions.
The matters required for reporting in the preceding paragraph are to be submitted to the local social administration authority, and thereafter forwarded to the Ministry of the Interior for evaluation and approval.

Where the architects association violating laws and regulations or the articles of incorporation of the architects association, the competent social administration authority may institute the following disciplinary actions:
1.Warning
2.Revocation of meeting resolution
3.Re-election of officers
The disciplinary actions provided in subparagraphs 1 and 2 may instituted by the government authority governing architectural affairs.

Upon the achievement of one of the following accomplishments, the government authority of the municipality or county (city) shall award a commendation to the architect; where accomplishment is magnanimous or outstandingly excellent, accomplishment shall be reported to the Ministry of the Interior for commendation:
1.A major contribution to the study and development of building laws, regional planning or urban planning efforts;
2.An outstanding performance or accomplishment in matters of public safety, social welfare or disaster prevention, or other building construction related matters.
3.An outstanding performance in architectural design or architect related academic studies; or
4.An excellent performance constructive to the implementation of building construction related matters.

The architect's commendation may take the following form:
1.Citation,
2.Awarding of a certificate for meritorious services.

Where an architect engages in professional practice without proper authorization, that is practicing without a business practice license or without any official architects association membership, or practicing after business practice license has been revoked, canceled or suspended, architect shall be subject to immediate closure or debarment and liable to a minimum fine of Ten Thousand NT Dollars to a maximum of Thirty Thousand NT Dollars. Where individual continues to commit the same offense after disciplinary action and penalty, a repeated disciplinary action and penalty shall be imposed each time such offense is committed.

The architect violating the provisions of Article 9-1, meaning architect fails to apply for a replacement license at the prescribed period and continues with his/her architect's practice after the expiration of the business practice license, a fine amounting to a minimum of Six Thousand NT Dollars and a maximum of Fifteen Thousand NT Dollars shall be imposed. Architect shall be granted a grace period for the processing of his/her replacement license; where architect fails to process said replacement license before the prescribed deadline and continues to commit the same offense, a repeated disciplinary action and penalty shall be imposed each time such offense is committed.

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Disciplinary actions taken against architects may take the following form:
1.Warning.
2.Reprimand.
3.Suspension of business practice license for a minimum of two months or a maximum of two years.
4.Revocation or cancellation of business practice license.
Where three or more reprimands have been issued to an architect, a temporary suspension of practice license should be issued to the architect; where the total temporary suspension period of practice license has accumulated to a period of five years, the business practice license of said architect should be revoked.

An architect violating the provisions of the Architects Act shall be subject to the following disciplinary actions:
1.An architect violating the provisions stated in Article 11 to Article 13, or Article 54 Paragraph 3 shall be issued a warning or reprimand.
2.An architect violating the provisions stated in Article 6, Article 24 or Article 27 shall be issued a reprimand or a business practice suspension or termination order.
3.An architect violating the provisions stated in Article 25 shall be issued a business practice suspension or termination order. Where architect ignores such order and continues with the business practice, the business practice license of said architect shall be revoked.
4.An architect violating the provisions stated in Article 17 or Article 18 shall be issued a warning, a reprimand, a business practice suspension or termination order, or a business practice license revocation order.
5.An architect violating the provisions stated in Article 4 or Article 26, business practice license shall be revoked or canceled.

All disciplinary actions imposed by the municipality or county (city) government authority should be coursed through the Disciplinary Committee for Architects. The Disciplinary Committee for Architects shall thereafter notify the concerned architect about the disciplinary action matters imposed and require said architect to present his response to such charge(s) or personally argue his/her case with the committee within twenty days; where no response or personal rebuttal is received from the architect after the deadline has elapsed, the board may arbitrarily deliberate and decide on the case.

An architect refusing to concede to the decision of the Disciplinary Committee for Architects may submit an appeal for re-evaluation to the Disciplinary Action Review Committee for Architects of the Ministry of the Interior within twenty days after receiving the committee decision notice.

The organization of the Disciplinary Committee for Architects and the Disciplinary Action Review Committee for Architects is subject to the discretion of the Ministry of the Interior; upon its definition, organization should be reported to the Executive Yuan for record purposes.

Where an architect commits any one of the violations provided in Article 46, the related parties, the municipality or county (city) government authority or architects association are obliged to report all related facts and present supporting evidence of the violation to the municipality or county (city) government authority for disciplinary action.

Upon due determination of the disciplinary action to be imposed on the architect under penalty, the municipality or county (city) government authority is obliged to see to its proper execution, public bulletin or newspaper announcement.

Architects issued Class A architect's business practice license, as per official registration records, prior to the enforcement of the Architects Act shall be likewise granted the status of architect. However, upon the enforcement of the Architects Act, such architect is required to present supporting documents to the Ministry of the Interior and to apply for the issuance of an architect's license.
Individuals possessing an architectural engineer license prior to the enforcement of the Architects Act may also apply for an architect's license as provided in the preceding paragraph.

An architectural engineer eligible to apply for an architect's license pursuant to the examination and recognition procedures stated in Article 1, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 5 are required to process application on or before June 30, 1985; otherwise, no late applications shall be entertained.
Effective January 1, 1986, an architectural engineer acquiring an architect's license through the examination and recognition procedures stated in the preceding article and paragraph 1 of this article is no longer entitled to run a joint practice offering the professional services of an architect, civil engineer or architectural engineer; where party is already practicing such professions, party is required to abandon one practice. The same condition is required for architects attending to architectural engineer practices as provided in Article 19-1.

Architects issued Class B architect's business practice license prior to the enforcement of the Architects Act are entitled to continue their practice after the enforcement of Architects Act on the strength of the valid business practice license in their possession. However, such architects are only entitled to contract design or construction supervision services for construction projects valuated within the prescribed limits.
The prescribed limit of the construction projects for which design or construction supervision matters may be contracted to an architect possessing a Class B architect's business practice license shall be subject to the discretion of the municipality or county (city) government; moreover, existing changes and conditions of the local economy should be taken into account during the determination of such limit. Thereafter, the defined prescribed limit should be presented to the Ministry of the Interior for evaluation and approval; adjustment implementation shall follow.

A foreign national intending to practice in the Republic of China is required to take the architect licensure examination as regulated by law.
A foreign national passing the aforementioned licensure examination and issued an official architect's license running a architect practice in the Republic of China is obliged to apply for an approval under the Ministry of the Interior, as well as to observe all the related laws of the Republic of China and the bylaws and regulations of the architects association.
A foreign national authorized to practice as an architect in the Republic of China should use the traditional Chinese characters employed by the Republic of China in all his/her documents and drawings.

The license fees for the architect's license and the architect's business practice license shall be subject to the discretion of the Ministry of the Interior.

The Enforcement Rules of the Architects Act are subject to the approval of the Ministry of the Interior.

The Architects Act shall take effect immediately upon its enactment.
The enforcement date of the amended provisions of Article 54 of the Architects Act supplemented on May 7, 1997 is subject to the decision of the Executive Yuan. The Articles supplemented on May 12, 2009 shall take effect since November 23, 2009.