***License Renewal alert:***
Starting January 1, 2026: California architect licenses issued prior to January 1, 2025, expire at midnight every two years on the last day of the birth month. Licenses issued after this date expire at midnight every two years on the last day of the month in which the license was issued by CAB.
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License Renewal Approaching? AIA California Has You Covered with Continuing Education. Pick-up Units Live and/or On-Demand
AIA California believes continuing education is crucial for professionals who strive for excellence, career growth, and personal development. It provides a pathway to acquire new skills, adapt to changes, expand professional networks, and stay competitive in a dynamic and evolving job market. AIA CA provides access to hundreds of hours of peer-reviewed, high-quality, low-cost (or free!) CE to help you be successful.
Mandatory Continuing Education (MCE) is education required by a state to retain licensure. Each state has the legal right to establish its own guidelines and requirements. However, most state’s requirements are similar, whether they require architects to meet them annually or biannually. The average AIA member holds four or more state licenses and must meet the continuing education requirements for all the states in which you intend to practice.
In California, architects, as a condition of license renewal, must complete five (5) hours continuing education (CE) coursework on disability access requirements and another five (5) hours on zero net carbon design (ZNCD) for a total of 10 CE hours during each renewal cycle which is every two years.
To discover more:
CA Mandatory CE Requirements
Contact California Architects Board
Members of AIA are required to complete 18 continuing education credits (LUs) from registered AIA/CES providers each year. Of the 18 LUs, 12 must be in the topic areas of health, safety and welfare (HSW).
When you receive certificates of completion for your MCE courses, be sure to save them for your personal records. For California license renewal, it is strongly recommended by CAB to submit your MCE certificates of completion when renewing your license. CAB may also perform an audit and require you to submit your certificates as proof of completion. If you hold an architect license in another state, please check with those state licensing boards outside of California to confirm their licensing requirements.
