Archinect - News

AIA commends finalized revisions to fee limitations for federal design and construction projects

2024-07-01T17:54:00-04:00

The United States Department of Defense has finalized a revision to the fee limitations for federal design projects after a yearslong campaign led by Emily Grandstaff-Rice, Dan Hart, Elizabeth Chu Richter, and other senior leadership of the American Institute of Architects.

Beginning on August 26th, 2024, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, the statutory fee limit for architecture and engineering services will be increased from six to ten percent of the contract's value.

This is being welcomed as a particularly big win for firms working on smaller contracts. The AIA says: "The increase will also benefit architect and engineering entities with contracts for producing and delivering designs, plans, drawings, and specifications for large horizontal and complex vertical construction projects. While costs have increased for architects, construction costs have increased more dramatically, which results in a higher cost limit."

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AIA comments on congressional revising of fee limitation for federal design and construction projects

2024-01-08T16:50:00-05:00

The recent decision by Congress to revise fee limitations on all federal design and construction contracts undertaken with the Department of Defense (DOD) has been commended by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) following President Joe Biden’s formal signing of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY2024.

Under the new federal guidelines, fees are now limited to ten percent of the total estimated construction costs for all architect-engineer services for the preparation of designs, plans, drawings, and specifications. The prevailing statutory limitations had formerly been limited to six percent and applied also to any contract modifications (e.g. redesigns). Any other services are not subject to the limit, according to the current letter of the law.

Speaking to the continued need for change, the AIA’s 2024 President Kimberly Dowdell said: “This is a step in the right direction to ensuring that architects are adequately compensated for the specialized skills and ...

AIA presidents pen letter to President Trump opposing proposed executive order

2020-02-24T13:08:00-05:00

In a statement posted the American Institute of Architects (AIA) website, the organization explains that a group of former AIA presidents have written a letter directly to President Donald Trump denouncing the "Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again" executive order.

Previously on Archinect: "New executive order could make classical architecture "the preferred and default style" for America's public buildings." The Jamie L. Witten Federal Building in Washington, D.C., designed by Philadelphia architects Rankin, Kellogg and Crane in 1901. Image courtesy of Wikimedia user U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The letter comes as 2020 AIA President Jane Frederick, AIA CEO and Executive Vice President Robert Ivy, and 2021 AIA President-Elect Peter Exley all denounced the initiative at the Grassroots Leadership Conference held in New Orleans las week. At least 34 current and past AIA presidents signed the letter, including Raj Barr-Kumar, William J. Bates, Helene Combs Dreiling, Carl Elefant...

New executive order could make classical architecture "the preferred and default style" for America's public buildings

2020-02-04T13:50:00-05:00

Is neoclassicism about to make a big comeback?

It looks likely, as a new executive order under consideration by President Donald Trump attempts to make classicism the "preferred and default style" for new and upgraded federal buildings.

According to an exclusive report by Architectural Record, the predictably named "Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again" executive order would seek to reposition classically inspired architecture as the country's default public building style. The shift comes in opposition to the longstanding style agnosticism displayed by public buildings in recent decades following the creation of the Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture directive crafted in 1962 by former New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

Moynihan's directive—which states that "The development of an official style must be avoided" and that "Design must flow from the architectural profession to the Government and not vice versa"—has resulted in a wide ranging set of innovative pu...

A Conversation with Rusty Long, State Architect, Furloughed by the Government Shutdown

2019-01-25T15:59:00-05:00

On this week's episode of Archinect Sessions, Ken, Donna, and I share our conversation with Rusty Long, an architect based in Cary, North Carolina. Rusty’s private practice focuses on sustainability and community engagement with a style that bridges modernism and the history of the the American South.

Rusty’s day job, however, is a State Architect for the USDA Rural Development office. As a federal employee, Rusty is one of approximately 800,000 individuals currently furloughed by the Government Shutdown. On this 34th day of the historic shutdown, as he and many others remain unpaid after two pay cycles, Rusty sits down with us to share his story. We talk about how and why he entered public service, the work he typically undertakes as a state architect, and the problems that this shutdown are causing for him, his colleague and the US taxpayers in general.

Listen to episode 134 of Archinect Sessions, “A Conversation Rusty Long, State Architect, Furloughed by the Government Shutdown”...