Billings Moderate, Still Strong

May 20, 2022

Billings Moderate, Still Strong

The Architecture Billings Index score for April was 56.5, lowering 1.5 points from the March register of 58.0. The Project Inquiries index was 62.3, down slightly from 63.9. The Design Contracts index scored 55.4, down from 60.5. Despite moderating, the scores showed increasing demand for design services for the fifteenth consecutive month.

“While business conditions at architecture firms have been very encouraging over the past year, project activity has been steadily shifting toward work on existing buildings,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA.

Regional averages for April, 2022:

	Mar	Apr
West	54.0	58.2
South	57.2	57.3
Midwest	56.2	57.6
Northeast	46.3	53.1

Sector index breakdown for April, 2022:

	Mar	Apr
Commercial/industrial	55.3	60.7
Mixed practice	58.2	61.2
Multi-family residential	57.2	57.2
Institutional	50.5	51.8

Baker continued, “Billings for reconstruction projects exceeded those for new construction for the first time in the last two decades. While the reconstruction share of building activity will continue to ebb and flow, in general, we’ll continue to move toward an increased share of building activity for reconstruction and a decreased share for new construction.”

For more information about the Architectural Billings Index, visit the AIA website.