What Is Architect-Office Registration? The Full-Time Managing Architect, Periodic Training and Renewal Requirements

In short: to undertake, for a fee and at another's request, the design or construction supervision of buildings as a business, you generally need to register an architect office with the prefectural governor under Article 23 of the Architects Act. This is a system separate from the construction-business licence (Construction Business Act). The registration's term is five years from the date of registration, and to continue after it expires you must obtain a renewal registration (Article 23, paragraphs 2 and 3). Each architect office must have a full-time managing architect (Article 24, paragraph 1); a person can become a managing architect only if, after engaging for three or more years in design or other work prescribed by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism ordinance, they have completed the managing-architect training given by a registered training body (paragraph 2). Architects who belong to the office also have, separately, a duty to take periodic training (Article 22-2). This article is general information and does not judge or guarantee whether a given office meets the registration or managing-architect requirements. Support for preparing and submitting the registration and change-notification documents is handled by the administrative scrivener of the Yotsuba group as an independent business; design, construction supervision and building-confirmation applications themselves are the exclusive work of an architect; leasing of the office premises and the important-matters explanation are by a real-estate agent, a separate business; registration of company formation and officer changes is by a judicial scrivener; social insurance and labor matters are by a labor and social security attorney; and tax is for a tax accountant. You contract with each separately.

What is the difference between an architect-office "registration" and a construction-business licence?

The starting point is "what you do as a business". Article 23, paragraph 1 of the Architects Act provides that a first-class, second-class or wooden-building architect, or a person employing such a person, who intends to undertake design, construction supervision and the like as a business, for a fee and at another's request, must define an architect office and obtain the registration of the prefectural governor. In other words, it is a registration focused on "repeatedly and continuously performing design and supervision for a fee". By contrast, the construction-business licence (Article 3 of the Construction Business Act) is a separate system focused on "undertaking construction work", needed when you undertake work whose contract price for a single job is a certain amount or more (15 million yen for general building work, 5 million yen for other work, both tax included).

Item	Architect-office registration	Construction-business licence
Governing law	Article 23 of the Architects Act	Article 3 of the Construction Business Act
Focus	Performing design/supervision as a business for a fee	Undertaking construction work as a business
When needed	Repeatedly performing design, etc. for a fee at another's request	Undertaking work whose single-job contract price is a set amount (15M general / 5M other, tax incl.) or more
Registration/licence authority	Prefectural governor	Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, or prefectural governor
Term	5 years (renewal registration required)	5 years (renewal required)

Simply having a design office does not require a construction-business licence, but if you also undertake the construction yourself, both may be relevant. Because the requirements for the construction-business licence itself are a different issue, please also see the requirements for a construction-business licence (managing responsible person, full-time engineer, financial basis). If you handle electrical work, registration, deemed registration and notification for an electrical construction business is yet another procedure. Because which system applies depends on the content of the business, confirming with the authority (the designated office-registration body of the prefecture) at an early stage is essential.

What requirements (full-time status, completion of training) does the managing architect need?

Article 24, paragraph 1 of the Architects Act requires the opener of an architect office to place, for each first-class, second-class or wooden-building architect office, a full-time first-class, second-class or wooden-building architect who manages that office (the managing architect). The managing architect is a premise of registration; without one, you cannot obtain registration (a ground for refusal under Article 23-4).

The requirements for who can be a managing architect are set in Article 24, paragraph 2. A person must, after engaging for three or more years in design or other work prescribed by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism ordinance, have completed the course of the managing-architect training given by a registered training body.

Item	Content (basis)
Placement duty	Place a full-time managing architect at each office (Article 24, paragraph 1)
Qualification	Three or more years of design or other prescribed work as an architect (Article 24, paragraph 2)
Training	Completion of the managing-architect training by a registered body thereafter (Article 24, paragraph 2)
Meaning of "full-time"	Working full-time at that office and devoted to its management; concurrent or part-time service at another office is, in principle, not allowed

What to watch here is that the managing-architect training is the "training to become a managing architect", separate from the periodic training (Article 22-2) described below. Whether the years and content of practice meet the requirement is a judgment under the Architects Act; an administrative scrivener does not make that judgment on your behalf as an exclusive matter. A "name-lending" managing architect who merely lends a name without actually working full-time is subject to refusal or cancellation of registration.

When and what do you submit for the term, renewal and change notification of a registration?

The term of a registration is five years from the date of registration (Article 23, paragraph 2 of the Architects Act). If you wish to continue the architect-office business after the term expires, you must obtain a renewal registration (paragraph 3). If you forget to renew and the term lapses, the registration loses effect and you cannot continue the design business without registration.

Procedure	Content (basis/practice)
Term of registration	Five years (Article 23, paragraph 2)
Renewal registration	Required to continue after the term (Article 23, paragraph 3); many prefectures require applying by roughly 30 days before expiry
Notification of change to registered matters	When the name, location, managing architect, belonging architects, etc. change
Notification of discontinuance, etc.	When the architect office is abolished or suspended

The registration procedure is set in Article 23-2 (matters to be stated in the application) and Article 23-3 (implementation of registration). Because the timing of the renewal application and the deadline and form of the change notification differ in operation by prefecture (the designated office-registration body), managing the expiry date and notifying promptly when a change arises is the key in practice. The point that "it was this form in another prefecture" does not always apply directly often arises in application practice.

How far are the office's reality (exclusivity, facilities) required?

Registration is not something that "suffices if the documents are in order"; it presupposes that the reality of an office exists. In particular, whether the full-time managing architect actually works full-time and manages that office is at issue. Not placing a managing architect, or having only a name without substance, is a violation of Article 24, paragraph 1 of the Architects Act and a ground for refusal (Article 23-4) or cancellation (Article 26) of registration. There are actual cases where a prefecture cancelled a registration on the ground that no managing architect was placed.

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Point checked	Example
Full-time status of the managing architect	Working full-time at that office, not concurrently at another
Reality as an office	Independent workspace for business; retention of design documents and work records
Not name-lending	The managing architect and belonging architects actually exist and are actually involved

The concrete operation regarding facilities and document retention (documents to keep, retention periods, submission of reports) is set by the Architects Act, ministry ordinance and each prefecture's guide, and the details of items and forms are judged by the authority. Consulting the prefecture (the designated office-registration body) in advance before opening makes it easier to avoid a return of documents just before submission.

How do you divide registration (administrative scrivener) from design and supervision (architect) and registration of a company (judicial scrivener)?

Because the professionals involved differ, the basis is that you contract with each as an independent business, separately. The administrative scrivener of the Yotsuba group handles, as an independent business, the preparation of the application documents for the registration, renewal and change notification of the architect office, and guidance on prior consultation with the prefecture (the designated office-registration body).

Who to ask	Main role
Administrative scrivener (our office)	Support for registration/renewal/change notification of the architect office; construction-licence applications (a separate issue)
Architect	Design, construction supervision, building-confirmation applications—the architect's exclusive work itself
Judicial scrivener	Commercial registration such as company formation and officer changes
Real-estate agent (our company, a separate business)	Selection of office premises, lease brokerage, important-matters explanation
Labor and social security attorney	Employees' social insurance and labor procedures
Tax accountant	Tax after opening

Please also see our Services, Engagement Flow and Fee Schedule. You contract with each professional as an independent business, and we receive no referral fee from one another. Registration is, after all, only the entrance to performing design and supervision as a business; the judgment of the design and supervision content itself is made by the architect.

FAQ

Q. Even if I work alone on design at home, do I need an architect-office registration?
A. If you undertake design, construction supervision and the like as a business (repeatedly and continuously) for a fee at another's request, you need an architect-office registration regardless of scale (Article 23 of the Architects Act). Even alone, that person must meet the requirements of a full-time managing architect (three or more years of practice as an architect plus completion of the managing-architect training). Whether the reality of an office exists is also checked.

Q. If I hold a construction-business licence, is the architect-office registration unnecessary?
A. They are separate systems, so even with a construction-business licence you still need an architect-office registration to perform design and supervision as a business. The construction-business licence is needed for undertaking construction work (such as 15 million yen for general building work, 5 million yen for other, both tax included, or more), and does not cover performing design and supervision as a business. Judge by the content of the work you handle.

Q. Are the managing architect's periodic training and the managing-architect training the same thing?
A. They are different. The managing-architect training is the training completed to become a managing architect, after practice (Article 24, paragraph 2). The periodic training is the training that first-class, second-class and wooden-building architects belonging to an architect office keep taking; under Article 22-2 of the Architects Act, they must take it at intervals prescribed by ministry ordinance (the law sets a range of three to five years, and the enforcement regulations set it at every three fiscal years).

Q. What happens if I forget to renew and the term lapses?
A. The registration's term is five years, and continuing requires a renewal registration (Article 23, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Architects Act). If you forget to renew, the registration lapses, and you cannot continue the design business without registration. Many prefectures require applying by roughly 30 days before expiry. Managing the expiry date and acting with time to spare is important.

Sources (Primary Information)

• e-Gov Law Search / Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, "Architects Act" (Act No. 202 of 1950), Article 22-2 (periodic training; architects belonging to an architect office take the registered body's training at intervals set by ministry ordinance), Article 23 (registration of an architect office; paragraph 2 = five-year term from the date of registration, paragraph 3 = renewal registration), Article 23-2 (application), Article 23-3 (implementation of registration), Article 23-4 (refusal; where a managing architect is lacking, etc.), Article 24 (paragraph 1 = placement of a full-time managing architect, paragraph 2 = completion of the managing-architect training after three or more years of design or other prescribed work as an architect) and Article 26 (cancellation of registration) (accessed 2026-10-16)
• e-Gov Law Search / Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, "Enforcement Regulations of the Architects Act" (the interval for periodic training = every three fiscal years; the conduct of the managing-architect and periodic training; forms for the registration application and change notification) (accessed 2026-10-16)
• e-Gov Law Search / Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, "Construction Business Act", Article 3 (construction-business licence; scope of minor construction work) (accessed 2026-10-16)
• Guides on architect-office registration of each prefecture (the designated office-registration body) (reception of registration, renewal and change notification; submission documents, fees and the timing of the renewal application; confirmation of the managing architect's full-time status; concrete forms, attached documents and destinations differ by authority) (accessed 2026-10-16)

This article is general information and does not judge or guarantee whether a given office meets the architect-office registration requirements or the managing architect's full-time and qualification requirements, or whether a renewal or change notification is required or its timing. Reception of registration, renewal and change notification is by the prefectural governor (the designated office-registration body), and the concrete forms, fees and attached documents are set by the authority. The preparation of the application documents for the registration, renewal and change notification of the architect office and guidance on prior consultation are handled by the administrative scrivener of the Yotsuba group as an independent business; design, construction supervision and building-confirmation applications themselves are by an architect; commercial registration for company formation and officer changes is by a judicial scrivener; the selection of office premises, lease brokerage and important-matters explanation are by Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd., a separate business; employees' social insurance and labor matters are by a labor and social security attorney; and tax after opening is by a tax accountant, each contracted separately. Our office receives no referral fee. Individual judgements are made by a qualified professional after a meeting. Written by Joji Uramatsu, administrative scrivener and licensed real estate broker.