Choosing an architect is one of the most important steps in the home-building process, but if you’ve never worked with an architect, selecting one can be difficult.

An architect helps bring your image of your new home to life. Before making a decision, you want to make sure that you and your architect share a common vision for your new home.

Finding an Architect

Referrals and recommendations are one of the best ways to find an architect to build your new home. Talk to friends, neighbors, relatives and colleagues about architects who they have worked with on home projects. Researching homes recently built in your area is another way to find an architect. Finally, you can also contact your local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, which should maintain a directory of members.

No matter how you find an architect, you’ll want to make sure that he or she is properly licensed. In the United States, architects are required to complete several years of schooling and at least three years of professional training before they are eligible for licensing. Licenses are issued by individual states, and prospective architects must pass an exam before being granted their license. In addition, most states have continuing education requirements for licensed architects.

Selecting an Architecture Firm

Once you’ve researched architects in your area, you can begin narrowing down the options and selecting firms to interview. How many architects you interview is up to you, though experts often recommend talking to between three and five firms.

You can conduct interviews with prospective architecture firms either in person or by phone. After you’ve narrowed the list, you’ll want to conduct in-depth meetings to get a sense of which firm best understands your needs and will be easiest for you to work with.

It’s at this stage that you’ll want to seriously evaluate your chemistry with potential architects. You and your architect will be working closely together over the course of many months. If you get a sense in early meetings that the architect doesn’t understand what you want from your home or isn’t listening to your concerns, if may be best to explore other options. Ultimately, you want to find an architect whom you can trust.

Questions to Consider

Asking yourself some of the following questions can help you find the right architect for your project:

• Can the architect provide a list of or referrals to past clients?
• How many other projects is the firm working on? Will your project be a priority?
• What are the architect’s fees?
• What is the architect’s design philosophy?
• What is the architect’s design process?