The Alliance has declared its founders to be Leonard Barrett (Midleton), Liam Hazel (Skibbereen), Brian Montaut (Bray) and Adrian Turner (Athlone).

The AAoI is lobbying for an amendment of the legislation to allow self-taught and other qualified practitioners, established seven years prior to the enforcement of the Building Control Act 2007, to be automatically registered as architects without undergoing examinations that they consider discriminative.

[4][6] It claims to have found inconsistencies in the legislation and its implementation, and has complained to the Irish Government, the Competition Authority of Ireland, and the European Commission.

The lobbying efforts of the Alliance gained the support of John O'Donoghue TD who has tabled The Building Control (Amendment) Bill 2010.

Members and supporters of the RIAI claim that their institute has been involved in the training and governing of architects for many years, that it played a very important role in ensuring high standards in the profession.

[10] In 2009, the cost for the Irish Prescribed Register Examination called ARAE[11] for self-trained architects was €11,500 + €2,000 for lectures, compared to €3,500 in the Netherlands.

AAoI wants a grandfather clause to be included in the Act for an automatic registration of self-trained professionals who have practised as architects for a minimum of seven years within the Republic of Ireland.

European countries such as the UK,[17] France,[18] Belgium,[19] Italy,[20] The Netherlands[21] when first implementing the registration of architects, have included a grandfather clause in their legislation.

[24] The position of AAoI is that the ARAE still is unaffordable for the large majority of self-taught architects due to the cost of the examination and the loss of income associated to it.

The RIAI claims that the methodology is specifically designed for practising architects, and that it is suited to those in employment as examinations are arranged in stages over one calendar year.

On the contrary, AAoI has explained in many meetings that the ARAE methodology is unsuitable for practicing architects, with many lectures and examinations organised during office hours and spanning on a period of approximately 10 months.

AAoI claims that the fees are inappropriate (€6,500 in 2009, lowered to €4,500 in 2011),[25] and that the RIAI is manipulating the procedure by setting up academic and administrative standards that do not reflect the practice of architecture before the implementation of registration.

AAoI members lobbied local TDs (Teachta Dála) for addressing newly elected Minister Hogan on the subject of their concerns.

In 2012, the position of the Alliance is that the actual examinations are still inappropriate and discriminatory for all self-trained architects established prior to the publication of the Building Control Bill 2005.

Some members of the RIAI claim that the examinations are seen by most registered architects as very appropriate to the profession, that they are based on internationally recognised basic standards and discriminate only between those who know the necessary subject matter and those who do not.

Deputy Ciarán Lynch, chairman of the Joint committee on the Environment, Transport, Culture and the Gaeltacht, organised a meeting with the RIAI and the AAoI in order to debate and find solutions for the registration of the so-called "grandfather architects".

[28] The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan, T.D., appointed Garrett Fennell, Solicitor, to conduct an independent review of the arrangements for the registration of architects under the Building Control Act 2007.

[33] The 54-page report includes over 15 formal recommendations in relation to the existing legislation (the Building Control Act 2007) which gave protection to the title of architect.

One of the recommendations to the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government, gives consideration to the inclusion of a typical, self-extinguishing 'grandfather' clause in the Building Control Act 2007 – as is provided in other States' legislation.

"[34] In 2014, AAoI launched a website to inform the public on the direction taken by the Irish government to reinforce building control in the Republic of Ireland.

[35] Statutory Instrument No.19 of 2014[36] is a final action from the Irish Government to prevent members of AAoI offering services in Ireland.