...show cracks, says Connecticut ACEC head Brady. “A delayed reaction,” he adds. Some firms surviving on public sector work are relying on big, ongoing jobs, such as Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers and its geotechnical consulting roles on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Second Avenue Subway and No. 7 Line extension projects. “While we’ve had a slowdown in the intensity of work, that ongoing work has carried us through this year so far,” says Al Brand, partner at Mueser.
D’ORAZIO
But few new projects are starting, leaving many firms chasing less work and in some cases cutting fees, says Arvind Tikku, principal at ikon.5 Architects in Princeton, N.J. “When [design] firms get in trouble, the survival mode kicks in – it’s better to have some revenue than to go under,” Tikku says. “Profits are basically thrown to the wind.”
WILLIAMS
The fact that construction material costs mostly have stabilized and that labor unions have been offering concessions to keep projects going probably has helped the marketplace not fall further, adds New York AIA’s Roslyn. But those trends aren’t enough to offset the slowdown, he says.
RUHLE KLIESCH
The sheer volume of bidders on projects may be the most visible sign of distress. Tikku says architects are scraping – where 15 to 18 normally would be pursuing new projects in his firm’s specialties of higher education, high-end retail, and libraries, today there are 40 or 50 bidders.
Others tell similar anecdotes. Roslyn says a recent walk-through for a local county seeking bidders for pre-engineered long-span buildings might have gotten eight to 12 visitors a few years ago. “There were 147 people,” he says. “It’s just mind-boggling. There were large firms that almost would never go after this kind of work. And the project never went forward.”
Engineers, too, see greater competition. Roland Ericsson, vice president and area manager for New York at Hatch Mott MacDonald, a civil engineer in Millburn, N.J., says up to 40 companies are responding to requests for proposals where maybe 10 to 15 were before. And Brady says local school projects attract dozens of bidders, some from around the country.
Another sign of the times is slowing project activity, FXFowle’s Geier says. “It seems there is no urgency right now,” he adds.
In some residential and office building construction, the delay is actually a halt in work, says Mueser’s Brand. He says a simple walking tour of Manhattan turns up numerous sites with completed concrete foundations but no activity behind the construction fences.
In other cases, it takes longer to start projects, as owners hesitate, says Edward D’Orazio, who runs an architecture and design-build practice in St. James, N.Y. “We’re scrambling around doing more pre-contract type of work for...
