Construction costs, material price escalations, supply chains and labour market conditions are impacting the architectural community, prompting the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) to issue a cautionary note warning members to be vigilant when it comes to dealing with clients.

The special advisory notice and recommendation, titled Extraordinary Market Conditions or other Factors not Reasonably Foreseeable, advised members to exercise caution with respect to contract definitions, terms, conditions and clauses related to construction budgets, costs and estimates.

“We encourage them to be absolutely frank with their client when starting the process, that their construction budget may be challenging going forward and that we are in a period of high inflation,” said Gregory MacNeil, vice-president of practice with the RAIC.