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Survey on the impact of the economic crisis on the architectural profession

date added: 09.07.2011

For the first time since 2008, architects are expecting to see an increase in their workload in all types of work over the coming three-month period. Recent survey by the Architects' Council of Europe (ACE) is good news as the architectural profession is the first part of the construction sector to feel the end of a recession. We can say that the European economy has turned the corner and a full recovery is just ahead!

The Eight Survey by the ACE of the impact of the economic crisis on the architectural profession was completed in mid-June 2011. These surveys are carried out very six months and they have permitted the ACE to build a picture of the nature and extent of the economic crisis in the architectural sector.

The results from over 3,600 responses have been analysed and weighted to permit a comparison to the earlier surveys. For the first time since the ACE started these surveys in late 2008, the architectural profession across Europe predicts an increase in workload in all types of work in the coming three-month period. The expectation varies from a zero increase for some kinds of public work to a net increase of over 12% in certain types of private development work.

In the private housing sector, a net increase of just about 4% is expected, whilst work on public housing is expected to increase by just over 11%. This optimism is despite the fact that the opinion about the current situation remains very negative, with over 60% of the profession saying that the current situation is bad or very bad.

The previous survey, which was carried out in December 2010, predicted that the current crisis would be a double-dip recession and this seems to be borne out by the latest results, although the prediction is that the second dip is less severe that the first dip and may, for the architectural profession, be over.

To see the full results of the survey, visit the ACE website at:
http://www.ace-cae.eu/public/contents/getdocument/content_id/1189

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