News:
NCARB | AIA Documents FREE Through My NCARB for the ARE
In cooperation with the AIA, NCARB is able to offer ARE candidates free access to key AIA documents for the purpose of preparing for the Construction Documents & Services division of the ARE. This is another great resource to help you prepare for the ARE.
Interns may download the following sample documents through their NCARB Record:
Conventional Family
A101-2007 Standard Form of Agreement Between Owner and Contractor Where the basis of payment is a Stipulated Sum
A201-2007 General Conditions of the Contract for Construction
A701-1997 Instructions to Bidders
B101-2007 Standard Form of Agreement Between Owner and Architect
B101-2007A Document B101-2007 Exhibit A
C401-2007 Standard Form of Agreement Between Architect and Consultant
Contract Administration and Project Management Forms
A305-1986 Contractor’s Qualification Statement
G701-2001 Change Order
G702-1992 Application and Certificate for Payment
G703-1992 Continuation Sheet
G704-2000 Certificate of Substantial Completion
To access documents:
1. Log into “My NCARB”
2. Click “Go” to access your NCARB Record
3. Follow link for ARE Candidates: Construction Documents & Services Resources visible in the lower left of your Record.
NCARB | NCARB Releases Expanded Content Information for the ARE
After careful consideration by the Examination Committee and approval by the NCARB Board of Directors, NCARB has released new exam guides to include expanded information regarding the makeup of the multiple-choice sections of the Architect Registration Examination® (ARE®).
“This level of expansion is consistent with the amount of information disclosed by many other licensure programs, and aligns with the NCARB value of transparency,” said John E. Enkemann Jr., AIA, NCARB, Chair of the Examination Committee.
How does this benefit you?
The newly released editions include a detailed breakdown of the test content areas and a percentage outline for the major content areas of each multiple-choice section. You can use this information to better outline and focus your preparation.
“We are excited to offer candidates this additional level of information to use while preparing for the ARE. This change is a dramatic shift for the exam guides and we hope it will help to ease anxiety over the content distribution and make-up of the ARE,” said Erica J. Brown, AIA, Director, ARE.
As an example of the change, the previous edition of the exam guide for the Construction Documents & Services division provided the following information on Codes & Regulations:
1 CODES & REGULATIONS
A. Incorporate building codes, specialty codes, zoning, and other regulatory requirements in construction documents and services.
The new edition of the exam guide for this division provides the percentage of scored items and the expanded content information for Codes & Regulations:
1 CODES & REGULATIONS (5-8 percent of scored items)
A.Incorporate building codes, specialty codes, zoning, and other regulatory requirements in construction documents and services.
1. Government and Regulatory Requirements and Permit Processes – Conduct code analysis to ensure compliance with all building codes, zoning ordinances and other regulations and document code compliance in the contract documents.
2. Specialty Codes and Regulations including Accessibility Laws, Codes and Guidelines – Conduct code analysis to ensure compliance with all specialty codes, such as seismic, life safety, historic preservation, accessibility, universal design, energy, or other specialty regulations.
The percentages published provide a range of scored items only. Within the six divisions that include multiple-choice items, some questions are being pretested and will not affect your actual test score and are not included in the content distribution breakdown. These pretest questions will be evaluated and may be included in future editions of the test.
Call for Submissions | ART x ARCHITECTS
Back by popular demand! Enter your submission now for the October 7th, 2011, ART x ARCHITECTS, an exhibition of art created by AIA Kansas City members.
We know all of our members are talented architects—we also know that some of our members have remarkable artistic talent, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, video, and multi-media.
Join us for the second annual ART x ARCHITECTS exhibition on October 7 First Friday. AIA Kansas City will showcase the work of AIA Kansas City members and applaud their many forms of artistic expression.
Please see the document above to submit for this year’s show.
If you would like to assist us with coordinating this event, we’d love to have your help. Contact Dawn, Kristen, or Tiffany to lend a hand at 816.221.3485.
ARCHITECT | 2011 Emerging Talent
Click here for a look at some of the nonprofit programs that support young architects, and some of the talent.
ARCHITECT | Revenue at U.S. Architecture Firms Down for Third Consecutive Month
The Architecture Billings Index declined for the third consecutive month, reflecting the continued drop in demand for design services. June’s ABI score of 46.3 was nearly a full-point drop from May’s reading of 47.2, with scores over 50 indicating an aggregate increase in billings.
Among U.S. regions, only the West surpassed the 50 index mark, recording a 51.7 average to continue the region’s recent growth trend. The Midwest recorded the lowest score for the second-consecutive month at 44.6, while the Northeast and South also continued to experience a decline, finishing at 47.5 and 47.3, respectively.
ARCHITECT | LEED Gold Self Storage Facility
The new Colorado Springs, Colo., Northgate Self Storage is unusual—it will be certified LEED Gold. John Stevens reports that the 675-unit, four-story facility saves on electricity and provides mechanical ventilation that exceeds typical systems by 30 percent. “When you spend as much time and capital as we did in the pursuit process, it only makes sense to take a little extra effort to build an exceptional facility,” developer Lee Frederick says. “We wanted to create the best opportunity for success, and we chose to distinguish this project in all areas—location, appearance, amenities and design.”
KCMSD Education & Community Leadership School (formerly: School Board School)
As we progress rapidly towards the start of a new school year (August 15th) and the Special Board Election for Sub-District 6 (November 8th), Semester Two of the KCMSD Education & Community Leadership School — which is organized and ran by KCU4EA — is open for registration. There are only 80 seats available for Semester Two so please reserve your spot quickly.
Semester Two builds off of the governance topics discussed in April at Semester One, but with a greater focus on shared values, building strategic relationships, and using power.
Semester Two will be held on July 30th (8:30-2:00) at Linwood United Church, 3151 Olive St., Kansas City, MO, 64109.
Upcoming Events to Support Joplin Rebuilding
I am pleased to share the following information, provided by Brandon Dake of AIA Springfield, to encourage AIA members to participate in Joplin’s rebuilding efforts.
Rebuild Joplin Strong Conference
July 8-9, 2011
Corely Auditorium, MSSU
Keynote Speaker, Friday, July 8 at 7:00pm
Workshop, Saturday, July 9 from 9:00am to 1:00 pm
Governor Nixon will be introducing the keynote speaker, Bob Berkebile of BNIM.
For more information and registration, visit the following links:
http://www.ozarksnewenergy.org/site/
http://www.greenbuildjoplin.org/Conference_Details.html
Joplin Public Meeting
July 12
This event is still being coordinated with FEMA and the City of Joplin so details are limited. Anticipated to be an Open House format for the general public, we expect 1) a presentation by the City on a collaborative process to engage the community and 2) booths to allow citizens to speak with specific resources: SBA, FEMA Individual Assistance, AIA, volunteer agencies, etc. More details to follow as they become available.
Dawn Taylor
Executive Director
News from Joplin
I visited Joplin on June 15 along with AIA leaders from St. Louis, Kansas, Missouri, and Springfield chapters and AIA National. AIA Springfield organized a two-day workshop with FEMA, SEMA, Joplin architects, and Joplin city officials to begin laying out a process for recovery and rebuilding. More on that below.
CLEAN-UP EFFORTS
President Obama had committed to support Joplin’s clean-up by paying for 90% of the efforts for 75 days (closing Aug. 7). Many AIA members have asked me if the debris was going to be sorted for recyclable content, and the answer is Yes, the best that it can be. Wood, metal, and vegetation are being separated for salvage.
Although a few new construction projects have been underway, the City wants to keep the disaster area clear from construction traffic to allow the Corps of Engineers to do their clean-up job. The Corp has 800 workers and are working 12 to 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, to meet the Aug. 7 deadline. The Chamber anticipates 2 dump trucks are entering the disaster area, and 2 are leaving, every minute. I saw these trucks around town and on the highway outside of Joplin, and they are massive.
Amidst the devastation that I witnessed that day was a sense of hopefulness and determination. It was hard to witness the epic scale of loss, but I was bolstered by the good wishes sent by our chapter and the commitment of AIA to do its part to help Joplin repair the physical and emotional damage caused by this tragic natural disaster.
Dawn Taylor
Executive Director
AIA National | Repeal Three Percent Withholding Law
The three percent withholding law, which was enacted without any debate, mandates that federal agencies, states, and certain local governments withhold three percent of nearly all of their contract payments. Compliance with this law will impose significant, unnecessary financial burdens on architecture firms that do business with any government agency both the public and private sectors, and will essentially give government an interest free loan on the backs of small businesses.
This withholding will be a flat percentage of revenues from government payments, bearing no relationship to companies’ taxable incomes, and will restrict cash flow that firms need for day-to-day operations and investments. In addition, it will impose substantial administrative and capital investment costs on businesses and governments struggling to comply- hitting small firms the hardest. Ironically, the provision will cost more to implement than it is estimated to raise in new revenue- completely defeating its intended purpose.
The Senate will soon take up Amendment 405 to S. 782, authored by Senators Scott Brown and Olympia Snowe, which would repeal this provision that is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2013. Now is the time to tell Congress to repeal this law. Please take just a moment to send your Senators a message through the AIA’s advocacy center. Click here to send your message.
Sincerely,
Paul Mendelsohn
Vice President AIA Government & Community Relations
The American Institute of Architects