You quite often find roles for "application architects" as opposed to "technical architects" offered as contracts.

The distinction between the two being that an application architect will be confined to working within the bounds of a project, usually with some additional controls being set by a technical architect.

Contracts for application architects will usually run for the duration of a project, as the customer does typically want to ensure a level of continuity up until the go-live date.

Given that technical architects will be working on numerous projects, and assist in shaping policy, it is unsurprising that these roles are not offered as contracts.

Another role which is rarely offered as a contract is that of solution architect, which tends to blend responsibilities of a technical architect role with those of an application architect in a pre-sales environment. I would hazard a guess that this role s infrequently offered as a contract position due to its commercial sensitivity.

Talking of which... I'm looking for a new contract as an application architect at this very moment. :-)