AIA MBA Joint Committee

The AIA-MBA Joint Committee is the longest standing committee of the AIA. It was founded in 1965 to provide a unique forum for Architects, General Contractors and Owners to meet and discuss existing conditions of the design and construction industry.

For more than half a century, this group has promoted cooperation and collaboration so local members of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the Master Builders Association of Western Pennsylvania can gain a better understanding of each other’s processes and resolve challenges.

As a result, this forum developed a set of guidelines to reflect the best practices for procedures involving drawings and specifications, bidding, contract documents, and administrative procedures during construction. These best practices are continually updated in the AIA-MBA Joint Committee Best Practices Guide.

Each year the Committee awards the James Kling Fellowship Award for outstanding collaboration between the design and constructor professions. The award alternates between an architect and a contractor.