Billings from architecture firms grew for the 14^th consecutive month in November, according to the latest Architecture Billings Index (ABI) from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The November ABI score was 54.7, matching the year’s high score from January and up from October’s score of 50.4. The continued growth in billings should mean a strong year for construction activity in 2019.

For the ABI, all scores above 50 indicate an increase in billings, and scores below 50 indicate a decrease in demand for design services. The ABI acts as a barometer for nonresidential construction starts with construction activity following architectural billings by nine months to a year.

The project inquiries index and the design contracts index both had strong growth in November. The project inquiries index increased from 58.6 to 63.1. The design contracts index jumped to 54.6 in November after a score of 52.8 in October.

All the regions saw growth in billings in November with the exception of the West. The Northeast led all regions with a score of 56.8, up from a 51.8 in October. The Midwest saw growth slow dropping from a 57.8 to a 53.1 in November. The South managed to get back above 50 with a 50.5 last month after falling to 48.4 in October. The West was still in decline with a score of 49 but was up from the previous month’s score of 46.9.

All the sectors had growth in November. The Institutional sector has seen growth slow the last couple of months with November dropping to 50.8 after a 52.0 the previous month. Multi-Family Residential dropped to again to 51.2 after falling to 52.3 in October. Mixed Practice saw nice growth with a score of 53.8 after dropping to 52.7 the month prior. Commercial/Industrial showed growth in billings with a score of 53.8 after declining to 48.9 in October.