I am really sorry to hear this.  I was not aware there was such a cap because of the pay issue.  Is there work in adjacent cities to which you could commute ... or move to?

i'm not sure how it's being done under the new rules, but yes they do audit work records ( i can say because they audited my wife's record). they are notorious for rejecting anything that doesn't 'comply'...

Thanks Gregory and observant. I sold my car before I moved where I'm currently staying, I'm here because it's rent free and I share living expenses. (If I was offered a job, I would move, but you know the same issues with applying to "out of region" jobs.)

I see far too many colleagues inflating their hours and mentors letting them, but somehow NCARB thinks I don't work as hard because I'm not getting paid? Even EPC doesn't let me get the required 1200 I have left...I just want to be done. 

Thanks Gregory for letting me know they audit..I would hate to waste the energy and have them just take it away later. 

If the work you are doing there counts towards IDP, then it must be billable. If it's billable, then it must be illegal.

There is no excuse working for free. Non. Ever.

they're paying me in IDP hours? the unpaid part doesn't bother me..it's the cap, preventing me from getting the hours I need to get my dang license. 

It doesn't bother you that people who actually cannot survive without a paying job have to leave architecture because people like you and your employer exist? It doesn't bother you that eating our young is the accepted norm in architecture? It doesn't bother you that by taking an unpaid job you are in fact bringing down my wages?

Unpaid jobs would cease to exist if no one ever took them.

How is it that IDP let's you count anything btw? It makes no sense to me that you are able to report any amount of hours if you are telling them that you are working illegally. Are you telling them that you are working for a non-profit or something?

yup, that's exactly what i'm telling you. read the guidelines. 

I think there are "triggers" for an audit:  hours accumulating too quickly, categories reserved for more experienced interns being front-loaded, and other oddities.

I did mine fairly conservatively, with typical categories filling up first.  I was never questioned at any point during the process.

i would honestly just inform your boss that you're putting it down as paid, and leave it at that.  Also, does anyone know if they audit old hours?  Like from before everything switched over the past couple years?  I personally put some unpaid / not enough per week to count hours down a few years back that are a little fudged.  Honestly, experience is experience.  Punishing interns for poor work practices just does double the damage to the wrong people.

Clearlyambguous

Are you working for a non for profit community design center or something similar?

What sort of market are you in right now med small or big city?

Peter, Yes I work for a non-profit in a small city (100k) in the mid-west. I can count the amount of architects here on my hand, who are all not hiring. So. With that, I get my IDP hours very legally at a community design center, anxiously hoping one day I will get paid, but again, it's an non-profit, I can barely find a working highlighter. But since I'm not going to live here permanently, I'm working there to pass the time and it benefits both of us. I just wish NCARB saw it that way. 

Offer to get paid minimum wage. If they can't even offer than, tell them to F off!