LARE test: Who takes it and who decides not to?

If you want to be involved in the building of spaces, it’s good to be licensed in that it demonstrates to clients that you have at least a minimum competency in the field to maintain public health, safety and welfare.  It’s becoming increasingly difficult to do design and build without a license.

If you are a stellar designer and can find a licensed professional to review and stamp your designs and/or work on designs where a stamp is not needed, then you could choose to forgo a license.  You will, of course, be expected to compensate that professional for their liability.  Relatively few firms are large enough to have ‘design’ tracks where licensure is not needed.

Generally if you work in areas where you are involved with other professionals, the lack of a license raises questions about minimal competency unless you’ve demonstrated your expertise in higher profile areas (read you’ll be expected to be a high profile figure in design or academia).  It’s not at all difficult, so it’s fair they raise an eyebrow.

If you are eligible and are capable of passing a test and can afford to do so, just get licensed; it should not be a problem unless you have test-taking anxiety issues and/or have not been exposed to or learned much in your first few years practicing. There have been at least a few crazy-bad horror stories about the awfulness of sitting for the exam discussed at great length in this forum, although I am glad they were inconsistent with my experience. I encourage you to read those to learn from the misfortunes of others.

Being licensed in the states in which you work opens many more doors for you by enabling you to enjoy a greater role in larger and more complex projects. As with anything there are costs: staying current on CE can be inconvenient (and expensive) if you procrastinate for 23.9 months every two years and/or your state doesn’t allow on-line CE courses; licensing fees are annoying (but small tax deductions); and your insurance increases as a result of having a greater responsibility. Depending upon your employer, you may be required to hold a license to get and/or keep your job if you are eligible. If that’s the case, your employer might cover most, if not all, of your license fees and CE expenses. I worked for somebody else when I sat for the exam; their deal was that they paid for exam expenses the first time through. After that, we were on our own to pay exam fees, travel expenses, etc… and we lived under the threat that if anybody failed the exam a third time, they would be shown the door.

Good luck!

Hi,

I have been a landscape designer for 20 + years.  I started taking the LARE in 2007.  I passed, over the course of 4 years, 4 out of the 5 sections.  The grading and drainage section I still have not passed, after 8 attempts.  This is not only humiliating, but expensive.  I consider myself to be an intelligent woman,and I do know how to do a grading and drainage plan, having worked for two important landscape architects, but it has been years since I was in school, and the grading and drainage section has had as low as a 20% pass rate in the past in California.  That is unconscionable.  And so the deck has been stacked against my passing that particular section.  Not to mention the fact that I have terrible test anxiety, which did not help.

When the economy tanked, I stopped trying for financial reasons, not to mention the fact that I was extremely disenchanted by the whole process.  And now, they have changed the format and I have no idea how to study for it.

Meanwhile, I continue to be successful in the field, and have discovered that the city and the county that I live in could care less whether I am licensed or not.  I just have to sign each sheet of my plan packet, not do any details or grading and drainage, (civil engineers do this anyway for most projects, but I always check the plans and add my two cents), and be careful to call any elevations or details ‘conceptual only’.  So, there is a way around licensure.  I do wish I could finally pass it, but it has not really stopped me from continuing to be successful in my career.

I would love to talk to someone who has attempted the new format.  Anyone out there?

Denise;

I would highly recommend getting in touch with CHERYL CORSON……she’s a member of LAND8.  Cheryl has an MLA degree from Harvard……and has taken the NEW version of the LARE (and passed it the 2nd time).

Cheryl also has an on-line study program for various portions of the LARE.

I can relate to your issues with GRADING design……it took me maybe 5 yrs. of professional practice before I really felt like I was competent in grading a site.  I can tell you, I have produced detailed grading plans for over 400+ projects in 17 different states…..flat sites, steep sites and everything in between.  HOWEVER, that being said, I have looked at LARE’s NEW computerized testing for the GRADING…and to me, it’s confusing.  I absolutely know HOW to grade ANY site…but, the LARE’s testing method for GRADING (in my opinion) is just NOT appropriate….it doesn’t work.  Regardless of the fact that I have never used autoCAD, I still just feel CLARB could re-design the LARE’s GRADING testing….to where it made sense…so, they could determine if a candidate “understood” HOW to grade a given site.  The way grading is now tested on the LARE is unnecessarily confusing…..and who knows if it’s (on purpose).  Grading has always been one of the most difficult tasks for LA’s to learn over the years.

When I took the National LA exam (in 1977), it was called the U.N.E.  Everything was on paper.  For the GRADING test, I was given a base sheet, criteria and required to do a grading plan….simple….and I passed.  Picked up my LA licenses for BOTH Texas & Florida within 2 yrs. after I graduated from Texas A&M.

With respect to “GRADING”….as I feel sure you know, grading design by Civil Engineers and Landscape Architect is “different”.  CE grading plans are more conceptual.  For most of my past projects, CE’s would establish FF grades, grade the parking areas and streets and do cut/fill for the site…..but, I had to do very detailed Grading Plans for sites that were 5 to 70 acres in size.

OK……as I mentioned above, I would get in touch with CHERYL CORSON.  She would be an excellent LA to talk to about LARE’s new testing format.

Best of Luck to You!

J. Robert (Bob) Wainner

Thanks for your response.  I have been doing exactly what you suggest, and am know here in Santa Barbara as a darn good designer of high end residential projects. The last one I completed in March of this year was a 5 million dollar garden, with huge water works.  I designed every inch of 2 acres and then spent a year as project manager on the installation.  It was the client of a lifetime, and it is my best work to date.  I am independent so don’t have to answer to anyone, so I am quite happy with my current circumstance.  I just want to complete the long journey to licensure.  I think the LARE is a real racket, but need to get the license for some of the reasons others have mentioned in this thread. 

It depends on what kind of work you want to do. If you want to go into any kind of commercial work (not residential design) you will need a license to have the ability to stamp permit and construction drawings. If you do very high end residential, a license adds credibility, and again, you may need it to stamp submission drawings for structures and earthwork. Back to commercial, not having one will severely hamper your ability to become employed later in your career. Though you may not use it much, it is still something employers will want to see with someone over 5 years experience. It kind of shows that you are serious about your career, and generally a license can get you more salary.

In some states, LAs can engineer and stamp drawings for those things, which is why they are on the test. A good number of LAs routinely size pipes and in-ground storm drainage systems, and with the current trend of designing bioswales and water infiltrations systems, it is quite lucrative for the profession to be able to design a whole stormwater management system top to bottom. Or at the very least, have the understanding of how the whole thing works.