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 ...

Efficiency-enhancing drones could dramatically reduce construction costs

2016-09-27T13:32:00-04:00

According to this Fortune article, it's estimated that the construction industry wastes billions of dollars annually in poorly organized and distributed materials, a practice that could be eliminated with omnipresent flying drones. The trick is to create software that can process what the drones see on each construction site into data that humans can quickly comprehend and efficiently implement. Autodesk is investing in developing software and hardware that can convey this information, which may dramatically cut construction costs (and perhaps make architects rethink how they bill for projects).

For more on drones:

Make it Rain: sorting through the complex world of architecture fee structures, plus Architecture for Humanity's $3M lawsuit, on Archinect Sessions #72

2016-07-14T15:49:00-04:00

This week on the podcast, Julia Ingalls joins us to discuss the byzantine considerations behind how architects charge for work, and shares some helpful guidelines from her recent piece about how residential architecture fee rates are determined.

We also dip into the recent $3M lawsuit against Architecture for Humanity for allegedly misusing restricted funds. After suddenly going bankrupt last year, many of AFH's volunteer cells have continued operating, and an offshoot organization, Open Architecture Collaborative, officially launched this past March. The lawsuit against AFH's founders could shed light into why the lauded nonprofit seemed to shutter so suddenly.

This episode of Archinect Sessions is sponsored by AIA Advantage Partner, BQE Software, and the makers of ArchiOffice. ArchiOffice is the only Office and Project Management Software built with the needs of architects in mind. It will help you manage people and projects, while you focus on designing great architecture. Our podc...