The skills and knowledge required for admission to the APEC Architect Register are defined as follows:

An APEC Architect must be competent to create architectural designs that:

  satisfy both aesthetic and technical requirements;

• are informed by the history and theories of architecture and the related arts, technologies and human sciences;
• demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between people and buildings, and between buildings and their environment, and the need to relate buildings and the spaces between them to human needs and scale;
• respond to environmental concerns and address sustainability issues;
• show skill in land-use planning and the planning process;
• take account of cultural and social factors and demonstrate an understanding of the responsibility of an architect to society;

An APEC Architect must be competent to translate a design concept into built form and be able to:

• investigate and interpret design objectives and relevant issues and prepare the brief for a design project;
• advise on project evaluations, feasibility studies and programs;
• evaluate and determine structural, constructional and engineering elements of a building design and integrate the advice and design of specialist disciplines into a building project;.
• assess the physical influences on buildings and the technologies associated with providing internal conditions of comfort and protection against the climate, and coordinate and integrate services systems to control them;
• meet building users' requirements within the constraints imposed by cost factors and building regulations
• provide advice on issues of construction, procurement and contract administration;
• generate the documentation and information needed to translate a design concept into a building;
• manage the procurement of buildings, administer contractual arrangements and monitor their construction.