Architecture firms in Philadelphia: 416 offices, who may own one in Pennsylvania, and the design-build disclosure

This report is for institutions, developers, homeowners and businesses hiring an architect in Greater Philadelphia, for architects and designers looking at local employers, and for anyone selling to design firms. It covers the Census count by county, Pennsylvania's firm and design-build rules, how to vet a firm, and how to prospect.

Philadelphia's architecture offices

County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, NAICS 541310 (Architectural Services), for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area (CBSA 37980):

The Census Bureau counts establishments with paid employees. A firm with a Center City office and a Wilmington office counts twice, and an architect practicing alone without staff isn't in the figures.

Fewer one-person shops than most cities

That's 371 offices under 20 employees and 42 with 20 to 99. The Census Bureau withholds every class from 100 employees up here; subtracting the published classes from the total leaves three offices with 100 or more. Only 54% of offices have fewer than five people, against 64% across the US, so the metro has an unusually deep middle of five- to 49-person practices.

Three states, eight counties

Employees per office is our calculation. Philadelphia County has 38% of the offices and 52% of the jobs. Nine more offices sit in the metro's smaller counties. The New Jersey and Delaware offices practice under their own states' boards; for a project in Pennsylvania, the architect who seals the drawings needs a Pennsylvania license. NCARB counts 8,595 Pennsylvania architect licenses in 2025, 52% held by people living in other states, and 8,028 in New Jersey.

Who may own a Pennsylvania architecture firm

The Architects Licensure Law (Act 281 of 1982, renumbered and amended in 2024) lets architects practice as a sole proprietorship, partnership, professional association, professional or business corporation, LLC or LLP, with conditions in section 506:

• At least two-thirds of the partners, directors, governors or managing members must be licensed in any state in architecture, engineering or landscape architecture, and at least one-third in architecture. Business corporations and LLCs must meet the same thresholds for voting ownership.
• A firm with fewer than three principals needs at least one who is a Pennsylvania-licensed architect.
• Each project must be under the personal supervision of a principal licensed in Pennsylvania, whose seal must appear on all drawings, specifications and design documents.

The State Architects Licensure Board regulates architects and certified interior designers. Look up the architect who will seal your drawings on PALS, the state's licensing system, and ask the firm who its Pennsylvania-licensed principal on your project is.

Design-build: read the disclosure

Pennsylvania lets a design-build company that isn't an architecture firm offer design-build only on terms set out in section 508(9). An authorized architecture firm must contract independently with the design-builder and be responsible for the architecture. When the design-builder gives you a written proposal, it must also give you a written disclosure that the architect will be engaged by and contractually responsible to the design-builder, and won't be responsible to you. The contract must name the architecture firm, and the architect must directly supervise the architectural work.

That's the core trade-off of design-build, stated in law: one contract and one point of responsibility, but the architect works for the builder. If you want an architect working for you, hire the architect first and the contractor second, with a standard set such as AIA's B101-2017 for the architect and A201-2017 general conditions for the construction contract.

When you don't need an architect

Section 508 also lists work that doesn't require one, including drawings for detached one-family or two-family homes of up to three stories and their accessory structures, farm structures used with a farm residence, and remodeling that involves no structural or egress changes. Your township or city may still require sealed drawings for a permit, so ask before you hire.

Finding and vetting a firm

1. Search AIA Philadelphia's Find an Architect directory by project type.
2. Check the license of the Pennsylvania principal on PALS, and the New Jersey or Delaware license for sites across the river.
3. Ask how the firm is owned if it isn't obviously an architect-owned practice; the two-thirds rule is the test.
4. Interview on qualifications first, then negotiate the fee with your first choice.

Careers

BLS counted 2,330 architects in the metro in May 2025, at a mean wage of $104,010 and a median of $98,140, plus 2,110 architectural and civil drafters at a mean of $72,370. AIA Philadelphia runs a job board. SEC records list no public architecture company based in the metro.

Selling to Philadelphia architecture firms

The deep middle is the opportunity: 174 offices have five to 49 employees, enough work to buy outside expertise and a principal who still signs off.

Illustrative example. The company, prices and results are invented.

Schuylkill Conservation (schuylkillcons.example) surveys historic masonry and writes repair specifications for architects working on older buildings. It targets the 174 mid-sized offices, keeps the 60 whose portfolios show preservation, adaptive reuse or campus work, and calls each firm's preservation lead or project architect. Fourteen conversations lead to five surveys at $7,500. Picking the 60 out of 174 is the research Bebop does for each account, with the reason each one fits.

Subject: Masonry survey for [building]

Hi [first name],

I saw [firm] is working on [building], and buildings of that age usually hold surprises in the masonry. We survey facades, test mortars and write repair specs that drop straight into your project manual, typically within three weeks.

Could I send a sample survey from a similar [building type]?

[Your name]
[Company], [postal address]

Next step: see who builds what these firms design in construction companies in Philadelphia.