Signs suggest that business conditions across America’s architecture firms may be stabilizing despite ongoing global economic uncertainty, according to the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI) measured a score of 49.4 in February 2026, indicating that firm reports of billing declined only slightly more than reports of increased billings. Inquiries saw an uptick last month following a minor decline in January, and while the volume of newly signed design contracts continues to sink, February reported a significant slowdown in the pace of decline.
Business conditions remained flat at firms in the South for the second month in a row while billings softened in the Northeast. Firms across all specializations saw a decline in billings this month as well.
The AIA has also introduced a new question for the index to measure how firm leaders feel about gross billings and billable work in the next quarter compared to the current quarter. Nearly half of leadership (48 percent) indicated an expectation that billings would remain about the same in the second quarter of 2026. Nearly one third (31 percent) anticipated an increase in billings by 5 percent or more, while 21 percent forecasted a decline. In particular, large firms with annual billings of $5 million or more, firms located in the Midwest and the South, and firms with a commercial/industrial specialization were most likely to anticipate an increase in their billings in the coming months, while firms with annual billings of less than $1 million and those in the Northeast accounted for the least likely.
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