What are AIA work stages?

AIA work stages are another name people use for the AIA design phases. The AIA's standard owner-architect agreement names them phases, not stages, but the path is the same: schematic design, design development, construction documents, bidding and negotiation, and construction administration.

What are the AIA design phases?

The AIA design phases are Schematic Design, Design Development, and Construction Documents, followed by bidding and Construction Administration. SD sets the concept and a first read on budget. DD firms up materials, systems, and dimensions. CD produces the drawings a contractor prices and builds from.

What is AIA project management for architects?

AIA project management is running the job on the AIA's phase sequence — schematic design through construction administration — instead of a generic kanban board. Time, budgets, drawings, and invoices all hang off those phases, so the project reads the way the owner-architect agreement is written. In Arcarrow, every project starts on that structure: hours log against the phase they belong to, and invoices group labor the same way the contract does. That's AIA project management as a working method, not a label you stick on a board.

Do smaller firms use all five AIA phases?

Not always. Smaller firms often fold bidding into construction administration. Arcarrow projects start on SD, DD, CD, and CA for that reason, and your firm can rename, reorder, or extend the list to match how you actually run jobs.

For architects tired of bending generic tools into shape

AIA design phases, SD through CA

Projects in Arcarrow are structured the way you already work — schematic design through construction administration — with time, budgets, and invoices organized around the phases, not bolted onto them.

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SD through CA, built in.

The five phases

The five core phases the AIA defines

The AIA's standard owner-architect agreement breaks architectural services into five phases that run from the first sketch to the finished building.

The five core AIA phases from schematic design through construction administration, with what each covers and its typical share of the design fee
Phase	What happens	When	Typical fee share
SDSchematic Design	The big moves: site plan, massing, floor plans, and a first read on scope and budget.	First design phase	~15%
DDDesign Development	The approved concept firms up — materials, systems, structure, and dimensions get locked.	After the schematic is approved	~20%
CDConstruction Documents	The drawings and specifications a contractor prices and builds from — the heaviest phase.	After design is locked	~40%
B/NBidding & Negotiation	Helping the owner solicit bids, evaluate them, and land a contract with a builder.	After documents are issued	~5%
CAConstruction Administration	Site visits, RFIs, and submittals — confirming the built work matches the documents.	During construction	~20%

Smaller firms often fold bidding into construction administration — which is why Arcarrow projects start on SD, DD, CD, and CA, and your firm can rename or extend the sequence to match how you run jobs.

The other name

AIA work stages are the same SD-through-CA path

You'll also hear AIA phases called AIA work stages. The AIA's standard owner-architect agreement names them phases, not stages — but it's the same sequence from the first sketch to the finished building: schematic design, design development, construction documents, bidding and negotiation, and construction administration.

If you searched for AIA work stages, this is that sequence. Arcarrow projects start on it, so time, budgets, and invoices speak the same language as the contract.

The heaviest phase

Construction documents phase

After design development locks the major decisions, the construction documents phase is when you produce the drawings and specifications a contractor prices and builds from. It's typically about 40% of the design fee — the largest share, and the phase that eats the most hours.

Arcarrow keeps the current CD set in one place and logs hours against the phase, so the invoice can say Construction Documents the way the contract does. Construction documents phase: what CD includes, and how the current set and the hours stay together.

The problem

Your project is not a kanban board

Generic project tools make you fake your profession's structure. Design Development becomes a label. Construction Documents becomes a column. You spend setup time teaching the tool what a phase is — and maintenance time keeping the metaphor from falling apart.

And because the phases are just decoration, nothing downstream understands them. Hours don't roll up by phase. The invoice can't say what the client expects it to say. Every report needs hand-assembly.

Arcarrow starts from the phase structure architects actually use, and hangs the rest of the project on it.

How it works

Phases first. Everything follows.

Start on the AIA sequence

Every new project starts on your firm's phase sequence — Schematic Design, Design Development, Construction Documents, Construction Administration — with no setup. Your firm can rename, reorder, or extend the list to match how you actually run jobs.

SD, DD, CD, CA — there from day one
The project timeline tracks the current phase
Phases are firm-configurable, not hardcoded

Work gets logged by phase

Hours land on the phase they belong to, and the budget rollup breaks actuals down phase by phase — so you can see DD running hot before it becomes CD's problem.

Time entries carry their phase
Budget vs. actuals broken down by phase
The AI assistant knows your phases too

Billing speaks the same language

Invoices group labor by phase, so your client reads the same SD-through-CA structure your contract is written in — not a flat list of hours.

Invoice lines grouped by phase
Phase names your client already understands
One structure from kickoff to closeout

The project, phase by phase

Maple Street Residence

Construction Documents

Phase timeline

Schematic Design

Design Development

Construction DocumentsCurrent phase

Construction Administration

Hours by phase

Schematic Design42.5 h

Design Development61.0 h

Construction Documents38.5 h · in progress

The timeline, the hours, and the budget all read in the same phases.

You work in phases. Your tools should too.

Skip the setup ritual — start every project on the structure your profession already agreed on.

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Glossary

The AIA phases, in plain terms

The five-phase sequence used across US architectural practice — and the structure every Arcarrow project starts on.

SDSchematic Design: The first design phase: establishing the project's basic shape — site plan, floor plans, massing, and a first read on scope and budget. SD ends with a design the client can say yes to.
DDDesign Development: The approved schematic gets developed into a coordinated design: materials, systems, structure, and dimensions firm up, and the major decisions get locked before documentation begins.
CDConstruction Documents: The drawings and specifications a contractor prices and builds from — the most documentation-heavy phase, and usually the largest share of the fee.
B/NBidding & Negotiation: The handoff from paper to price: the owner solicits bids or negotiates with contractors, and the architect helps evaluate them and answer bidders' questions. Smaller firms often fold this into CA.
CAConstruction Administration: The architect's role during construction: site visits, answering field questions, reviewing submittals, and confirming the built work matches the documents.

AIA phases and work stages, answered

What are the AIA phases?: The five core AIA phases of architectural services are Schematic Design (SD), Design Development (DD), Construction Documents (CD), Bidding and Negotiation, and Construction Administration (CA). They run from the first sketch to the finished building, and they're the sequence most US owner-architect agreements are written around.
What are AIA work stages?: AIA work stages are another name people use for the AIA design phases. The AIA's standard owner-architect agreement names them phases, not stages, but the path is the same: schematic design, design development, construction documents, bidding and negotiation, and construction administration.
What are the AIA design phases?: The AIA design phases are Schematic Design, Design Development, and Construction Documents, followed by bidding and Construction Administration. SD sets the concept and a first read on budget. DD firms up materials, systems, and dimensions. CD produces the drawings a contractor prices and builds from.
What is AIA project management for architects?: AIA project management is running the job on the AIA's phase sequence — schematic design through construction administration — instead of a generic kanban board. Time, budgets, drawings, and invoices all hang off those phases, so the project reads the way the owner-architect agreement is written. In Arcarrow, every project starts on that structure: hours log against the phase they belong to, and invoices group labor the same way the contract does. That's AIA project management as a working method, not a label you stick on a board.
Do smaller firms use all five AIA phases?: Not always. Smaller firms often fold bidding into construction administration. Arcarrow projects start on SD, DD, CD, and CA for that reason, and your firm can rename, reorder, or extend the list to match how you actually run jobs.

Keep exploring

More ways architects use Arcarrow

Construction documents

Construction documents phase

The drawings and specifications a contractor prices and builds from — usually the heaviest phase. Keep the current set current, and log hours against CD as you go.

Time & billing

Hours to invoice

Log time against phases and turn it into a professional invoice, backed by a project record that supports every line on it.