{"id":127375,"date":"2021-04-22T21:51:21","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T01:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/?p=127375"},"modified":"2021-04-26T22:00:57","modified_gmt":"2021-04-27T02:00:57","slug":"demand-for-design-services-continues-to-rapidly-escalate-aia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/demand-for-design-services-continues-to-rapidly-escalate-aia\/","title":{"rendered":"Demand for design services continues to rapidly escalate: AIA"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"According<\/a>
According to a new American Institute of Architects (AIA) report, demand for design services continued to rapidly escalate in March.<\/span>
Photo \u00a9 BigStockPhoto.com<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Strengthening to a score not seen since pre-Great Recession, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) logged its second positive mark since the beginning of the pandemic, according to a new report from the American Institute of Architects<\/a> (AIA).<\/p>\n

AIA\u2019s ABI score for March rose to 55.6 compared to 53.3 in February (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). Scores for both new project inquiries and new design contracts strengthened to 66.9 and 55.7 respectively. March also marked the first time in three years all building sectors and regions posted positive scores.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs business activity at architecture firms moves sharply toward recovery, it is very encouraging to simultaneously see such positive indicators of future project work increasing in the pipeline,\u201d said AIA chief economist, Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD. \u201cThe activity architecture firms are seeing is a positive bellwether not only for the construction outlook, but also for the larger economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Key ABI highlights for March include:<\/strong><\/p>\n