How architecture practice works, market by market.
Every market sets its own rules for who may practise, who may own a practice and how a practice changes hands. Before anyone values, buys or succeeds to a practice, these are the rules that decide what is possible.
United Kingdom
The register
The title is protected. The work is not. Under Section 20 of the Architects Act 1997, only a person on the Architects Register may practise or carry on business as an architect. The design of buildings is open to anyone, and buildings in the UK are commonly designed by people who are not architects.
Who can own a practice
Ownership is open. The name is not. A business may only use ‘architect’ in its name if a registered architect is in control and management of all of its architectural work. A practice can be owned by a non-architect or by another company.
For a buyer, that separates two questions that are often confused: who owns the practice, and who controls the architecture. A sale has to answer both.
How practices change hands
Usually one of four ways: to the next generation of directors, through a management buy-out, to a larger practice or consultancy, or to an employee ownership trust.
The deal climate
The tax position has moved against sellers. Capital gains relief on a sale to an employee ownership trust was cut from 100% to 50% from 26 November 2025. Business Asset Disposal Relief rises to 18% for disposals from 6 April 2026.
A founder who sells in 2026 keeps less than one who sold in 2024, which makes the price, and what drives it, matter more.
Sources: Architects Act 1997, s.20; Architects Registration Board; Finance Bill 2025–26. Tax position as at September 2026.
United States
The register
Architects are licensed state by state. Each of the 55 US jurisdictions, the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the territories, has its own board that issues licences and regulates practice. NCARB sets the national standards those boards share, but an architect may only provide services in a jurisdiction where they are licensed.
Who can own a practice
It depends on the state, and on the firm’s legal form. Many states require firms to register, and some require a share of the owners to be licensed. In Pennsylvania, for example, a limited liability partnership needs at least two-thirds of its partners licensed in architecture, engineering or landscape architecture, and at least one-third licensed in architecture.
Any sale or merger has to be tested against the rules of every state the firm practises in.
How the market is shaped
The AIA counts more than 19,000 architecture firms in the United States, about three quarters of them with fewer than ten employees. The work is concentrating in larger firms: between 2015 and 2023, the share of billings earned by smaller firms fell by half and by midsize firms by 40%, while the share earned by larger firms rose by 40%.
How practices change hands
Internal transfer to the next generation of principals, employee ownership, or a sale to a larger firm. As consolidation continues, owners of mid-sized firms are increasingly choosing between the second and the third.
Sources: NCARB; AIA, The Business of Architecture: Firm Survey Report 2024; Pennsylvania State Architects Licensure Board regulations.
Europe, Asia and the Middle East
The rules differ from country to country. These overviews set out what is established, and where a region needs an example, they name the market used.
Europe
The register
There is no single European licence. Each country regulates the profession through its own rules, and the Architects’ Council of Europe counts 580,000 architects across 30 European countries.
How the market is shaped
Practices are small. Nearly 70% are solo operations, and 46% of architects are practice owners or principals. Total practice turnover is about €26 billion, roughly 1% of a €2.6 trillion European construction market.
Who can own a practice
Ownership and transfer rules are set nationally. A cross-border acquisition has to be tested country by country.
Sources: Architects’ Council of Europe, Sector Study 2024.
Asia
The register
Regulation varies widely across Asia. In Singapore, only a registered architect with a practising certificate, or someone working under their direction, may prepare plans intended to govern the construction of a building.
Who can own a practice
Ownership is licensed. The Board of Architects licenses the corporations, multi-discipline partnerships and limited liability partnerships that supply architectural services in Singapore.
Sources: Architects Act 1991 (Singapore); Board of Architects, Singapore.
Middle East
Who can own a practice
Ownership has opened. Before 2021, mainland companies in the UAE generally required a UAE national to hold 51%. Since the Commercial Companies Law of 2021, foreign investors may own up to 100% of many mainland companies.
The position depends on the licensed activity and the emirate. Any purchase of a practice has to be tested against the specific licence, and other Gulf states set their own rules.
Sources: UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 32 of 2021 (Commercial Companies Law). Position as at September 2026.
These markets are covered in outline. Depth follows value, and we add it market by market.
Every market here rests on the same method, from the register up. How we build the dataset.