Under the provisions of the Architects Act, 1972 the Council of Architecture is required to prescribe the Minimum Standards of Architectural Education for imparting 5-year undergraduate degree course in Architecture (i.e. Bachelor of Architecture degree course) and also monitor the compliance of the same by the approved Architectural Institutions all over the country for award of recognized qualifications under the Act.

There are about 594 institutions in India, which are imparting undergraduate degree course in Architecture leading to recognized qualifications. The standards of Education being imparted in these institutions (constituent colleges/departments of universities, deemed universities, affiliated colleges/schools, IITs, NITs and autonomous institutions) is governed by Council of Architecture (Minimum Standards of Architectural Education) Regulations, 1983, which set forth the requirement of eligibility for admission, course duration, standards of staff & accommodation, course content, examination etc. These standards as provided in the said Regulations are required to be maintained by the institutions.

The Council oversees the maintenance of the standards periodically by way of conducting inspections through Committees of Experts. The Council is required to keep the Central Government informed of the standards being maintained by the institutions and is empowered to make recommendations to the Government of India with regard to recognition and de-recognition of a qualification.