ARE 5.0: PDD study guide
ARE 5.0: PDD · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
ARE 5.0 is the current version of the Architect Registration Examination, the professional exam series that NCARB develops for candidates working toward an architecture license in the United States. It is organized into six divisions - Practice Management, Project Management, Programming & Analysis, Project Planning & Design, Project Development & Documentation, and Construction & Evaluation - each taken as a separate appointment. The ARE 5.0: PDD study guide has 6 sections and about 1,616 words.
01Practice Management
Practice management covers how an architecture firm organizes, prices, and protects its work. Candidates should understand entity types (sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, corporation), licensing and firm registration, ownership transition, marketing, fee proposals, and the economics of direct labor, overhead, and profit.
274 words, about 1 min02Project Management
Project management is the discipline of delivering the contracted scope on schedule, within fee and budget, and at the required quality. Key concepts include the owner-architect agreement and scope definition, work plans, staffing and consultant coordination, schedules (Gantt, critical path method, milestones), budgets and fee tracking, risk registers, communication protocols, quality assurance/quality control, and change control.
271 words, about 1 min03Programming & Analysis
Programming translates owner goals, constraints, and data into a written and graphic problem statement before design. Candidates should know how to gather information (interviews, questionnaires, observation, benchmarking, code and site research), define functional space needs, build adjacency matrices and bubble diagrams, analyze site and climate, and test feasibility against budget, zoning, and code.
273 words, about 1 min04Project Planning & Design
This domain moves from verified program to design decisions: concept, massing, spatial organization, circulation, structural and MEP integration, envelope, sustainability, and code compliance. Candidates must coordinate architectural, structural, civil, and MEP systems early; understand grid and bay sizing, ceiling plenums, shaft locations, and equipment rooms; and test egress, accessibility, fire separation, and occupancy.
276 words, about 1 min05Project Development & Documentation
Project development converts design into biddable, permittable construction documents: drawings, specifications, schedules, and the contract documents. Candidates need to understand drawing organization and scales, dimensioning, detail coordination, MasterFormat divisions, prescriptive versus performance specifications, "or equal" language, fire-rated assemblies, accessibility details, and BIM coordination.
259 words, about 1 min06Construction & Evaluation
Construction and evaluation covers bidding and negotiation, contract administration, site observation, submittals, RFIs, change orders, payment certification, substantial and final completion, closeout, and post-occupancy evaluation. The architect observes for general conformance with contract documents but does not supervise means, methods, safety, or the contractor's schedule.
263 words, about 1 min