Larger, more complex building projects require the services of many professionals trained in specialist disciplines, usually coordinated by an architect.
Professionally, an architect's decisions affect public safety, and thus an architect must undergo specialized training consisting of advanced education and a practicum (or internship) for practical experience to earn a license to practice architecture.
In many places, a building designer may achieve certification demonstrating a higher level of training.
Building surveyors are technically minded general practitioners in the United Kingdom, Australia and elsewhere, trained much like architectural technologists.
This aspect of the practice is similar to other European occupations, most notably the geometra in Italy, but also the géomètre in France, Belgium and Switzerland.