What an architect’s website needs

On This Page

1. What the site needs to do
2. The title “architect” and the words around it
3. Your project pages
4. Reviews, endorsements and prices
5. The checklist
6. The design
7. Questions I get asked

Look up "architect website" and you'll find galleries of beautiful sites: full-bleed photos, thin type, a portfolio that scrolls forever. Some are lovely. Almost none mention what actually trips up an Australian practice online. "Architect" is a protected title in every state and territory, your registration number belongs on your site in several of them, the photos in your portfolio usually belong to your photographer, and the house you're proudest of belongs to a client who may not want their street on the internet. This guide covers what an architect's website needs, the design and the rules together.

I build websites for architecture practices. I'm not a lawyer, and this is general information, not legal advice. Everything below comes from each state's Architects Act and board, the Copyright Act and the Australian Institute of Architects, read on 11 October 2026. Where a board hasn't said something, I've said that too.

What the site needs to do

The Institute's own client survey, from 2021 and mostly commercial clients, found that 71% chose their architect by "referral from a trusted source", and 10% from "marketing material (social/web/collateral)". My reading of that: for most practices the website isn't where clients find you. It's where a referred client checks you out. So it needs to answer the questions that person has, quickly:

• What kind of work you do, in plain words on the first screen. Houses, alterations, multi-residential, commercial, heritage. Your location too.
• Projects that show your role. A small number of well-photographed projects with a few lines each on the brief, the site and what you did, beats an endless grid.
• How you work. The stages, what the client agreement covers, and roughly how fees are worked out. Several states require a written agreement before you start; explaining it up front sets expectations.
• Who you are. The people, their registration status described accurately, and how to reach you.
• Proof a client can check. Your registration number, which they can look up on the state register in seconds.

The title "architect" and the words around it

Every state and territory restricts "architect" to people registered with its board, and requires companies and partnerships to have their own approval before they call themselves architects. The details differ, and several states restrict more words than you might expect.

If you work across borders, registration in one state doesn't cover using the title in another. South Australia's board says you can only use it there after registering through mutual recognition or notifying it under automatic mutual recognition.

Websites have already been evidence. The NSW board's own factsheet describes a tribunal case where a consumer won because "the firm's website contained an implied representation" that a registered architect would do the work. And the Victorian board tells practices to "critically assess the information on your website (particularly in staff biographies)".

Can I say this?

Tap each one to see whether someone who isn't a registered architect can use it. The answer for a registered architect working through an approved firm is generally yes.

One gap: I found no board guidance on domain names. A domain is part of how a business presents itself, so I'd apply the same rules to it as to your business name.

Your project pages

Say what you did

The codes in NSW, Victoria and Queensland all prohibit letting your name imply authorship you don't have. South Australia's board has a guidance note written for exactly this, project images on websites. It says architects must "clearly define their role in projects" and "attribute other participants", that "acknowledging the firm of architects engaged for the project is important", particularly if you did the project in a previous role, and suggests wording like "when working at XYZ Architects Pty Ltd" on the images. It also says the attribution "should be no less obvious than the text used to describe the project", and that less than full attribution "could fall into the category of misleading the public".

So on each project page I'd include a short credits line: your role, the year, collaborators, the builder if the client is happy to name them, and the photographer.

Credit the photographer, and get a licence

Unless your agreement says otherwise, the photographer owns the photos of your buildings. Under the Copyright Act, the person who takes a photograph owns it; only photos for "a private or domestic purpose" belong to whoever commissioned them. The Institute's guidance says the same: "Unless otherwise agreed, architectural photographers own the copyright of their images and control their use and reproduction."

Photographers also have a moral right to be credited, and the Act says the credit "must be clear and reasonably prominent". So credit the photographer on each project, and make sure your agreement with them licenses the photos for your website, social media, award entries and print. The Institute's own awards make photographer licences and credits a condition of entry.

One more copyright point that cuts both ways: under the Copyright Act, photographing a building doesn't infringe the building's copyright. Builders, agents and suppliers can publish photos of your work too.

Ask the client first

A photo of someone's home, with its suburb, is personal information in the OAIC's sense. Most small practices sit outside the Privacy Act, but the codes in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the Northern Territory all require client confidentiality, and the Institute's awards require written owner consent before a project can be entered. My practice for houses: written consent from the owner to publish, the suburb or region rather than the street, and no house numbers, number plates, family photos or floor plans that give away security details unless the owner is happy with them.

Awards, exactly as given

NSW's code says that if you claim an award, "all persons or bodies that shared in the award or honour are identified accurately in the claim". Victoria requires awards to be "stated accurately", and Queensland's code covers accurate attribution of awards. The Institute's awards have three tiers, a Named Award, an Architecture Award and a Commendation, and the jury's shortlist isn't one of them. So write it the way it was given: the tier, the category, the program and the year. "Shortlisted" isn't "award-winning", and an award from a previous firm shouldn't read as your current firm's.

Reviews, endorsements and prices

• Testimonials aren't banned for architects, unlike regulated health services. Consumer law still applies: reviews must be genuine, and the ACCC says reviews from staff, family or paid people mislead unless the connection is stated. Get the client's consent before quoting them.
• Paid endorsements need disclosing. The NSW and Victorian codes require you to disclose fees or inducements for endorsing or specifying products.
• If you publish prices, the ACCC's rules on total prices apply. Victoria's new code also means a "free concept design" offer needs care: it requires a signed agreement before any service, including sketches. That's my reading; check it with the board.

The checklist

The design

An architect's site is judged by people who notice spacing, type and how a page is put together. That's a high bar, and it's the reason so many practice sites end up as a full-screen slideshow with a hamburger menu: it looks considered, and tells a referred client almost nothing. What I'd aim for is the photography doing the work, the type quiet, and the facts easy to find: what you design, where, how you work and how to start. The registration number and credits can sit quietly in the footer and captions without spoiling anything. My architect websites page shows how I approach it.

Questions I get asked

Can I use the word architect in my business name?

Only if your business is approved, licensed, registered or nominated under your state's Act, which generally means a registered architect is responsible for the services. Rules differ by state; check with your board.

Do I need my registration number on my website?

NSW's code requires it in publications, Victoria's board guide lists websites, South Australia's code says it should be in advertising, and in the ACT leaving it off an advertisement is an offence. Putting it in your footer covers all of them.

Who owns the photos of my buildings?

The photographer, unless your agreement says otherwise. Get a written licence for how you'll use them and credit the photographer on your site.

Can I show projects from a previous firm on my website?

Yes, with clear attribution. South Australia's board suggests wording like "when working at" the previous firm, as visible as the project description.

Can a building designer say "architectural design"?

Not in Victoria or Queensland, and not in NSW, where "architectural design" is a prescribed description. Those words are restricted to registered architects and approved firms.

Can I show photos of a client's house?

Get the owner's written consent. The codes in several states require client confidentiality, and I'd use the suburb rather than the street address.