Summary
AIA Document C205–2024 defines the scope of regional or urban planning services, covering phases from data gathering to plan finalization, and addressing issues like infrastructure, mobility, and social equity. It supports flexible use by architects or other planning professionals, and must be paired with a C-Series agreement. Replacing B212-2010, C205–2024 expands on community engagement, social factors, and climate resiliency goals in planning.
Does AIA Contract Documents publish a document for regional or urban planning services?
Yes, AIA Document C205–2024, Standard Form of Consultant’s Services: Regional or Urban Planning establishes duties and responsibilities where the consultant provides the owner with regional or urban planning services. This scope provides a menu of choices of regional or urban planning services, grouped under four phases: (i) Inventory, Research, and Data Gathering; (ii) Analysis, Assessment, and Recommendation; (iii) Plan Concepts; and (iv) Plan Finalization.
Can C205-2024 be used by itself?
No, C205–2024 is a scope of services document only and may not be used as a stand-alone owner-consultant agreement. C205-2024 may be used in two ways: (1) incorporated into an owner-consultant agreement as the consultant’s sole scope of services or in conjunction with another scope of services document, or (2) attached as an exhibit to an existing owner-architect agreement.
Can an architect use C205–2024 to provide regional or urban services?
Yes. C205–2024 does not specify the professional background of the person or entity performing the regional or urban planning services. The consultant could potentially be an architect, planner, or other planning professional.
How is the scope of the consultant’s regional or urban planning services defined in C205–2024?
C205–2024 is a scope of services document that may be used with an owner-consultant agreement to provide a sole scope of services or it may be incorporated into any owner-consultant agreement. The consultant provides only the services that are specifically designated in the list of subsections within each phase of the table. The regional or urban planning services set forth in the table are the activities that should be undertaken by the consultant to produce the Plan, but the services may not necessarily be performed in the sequence set forth in the table or in an entirely linear manner.
How is C205-2024 different from the previous regional or urban planning document (B212™–2010)?
C205–2024 replaces B212™–2010, Standard Form of Architect’s Services: Regional or Urban Planning and includes several notable changes. In developing C205–2024, the AIA Documents Committee recognized that professionals from a variety of backgrounds perform planning services. Thus, C205–2024 is no longer written as an Architect’s scope of services in the B-Series of documents. Instead, it is neutral as to the professional background of the person or entity who performs the regional or urban planning services and is categorized as a consultant document in the C-Series of agreements. An owner can still use C205-2024 to hire an architect to perform regional or urban planning services, but it can also be used to hire professionals from other backgrounds to perform these services.
C205–2024 was also updated to reflect changes in the industry since the prior version. For example, C205–2024 now includes: (1) provisions describing the Planner’s role in facilitating visioning sessions with the Owner and stakeholders to identify, discuss, and prioritize values and goals for the Project; (2) updated provisions relating to community engagement and the Planner’s role in obtaining the community’s input; (3) a distinct service for reaching and analyzing demographics, social justice, and other social vulnerability factors; (4) an option for the Planner to prepare implementation guidelines and strategies; and (5) a detailed description of the regional or urban plan (referred to as the “Plan”). C205–2024 also includes an expanded Initial Information section, including a prompt for the parties to include the Owner’s anticipated climate resiliency objectives, and updated provisions for Additional Services.
How does C205-2024 differ from AIA Document B212™-2024 Standard Form of Architect’s Services for Master Planning?
AIA Document B212-2024 and AIA Document C205-2024 are related scopes of services documents, but they have distinct focuses and purposes. Some key differences between these documents include the following:
(1) Scope of Services: B212-2024 is designed for master planning projects for physical spaces at sites that usually have multiple buildings, such as a hospital, campus, or educational campus. B212-2024 is written to account for a more limited scope of services than in larger-scale projects and it is more detailed with regard to architectural design visioning for future buildings and physical space on the site. B212-2024 focuses more on the architectural contextual relationships of existing and potential future buildings on the site. As a final deliverable, the Master Plan focuses more on the physical design of the Project for the purpose of future development.
In contrast, C205-2024, Regional or Urban Planning scope of services focuses on conceptual issues relevant to planning at a larger scale, typically in the context of a city or region. It anticipates planning for conceptual issues like infrastructure, mobility, social equity, and zoning. As a final deliverable, the Plan may contain goals such as creating equal and equitable opportunities for different demographics throughout a large territory through the enactment of, or recommended changes to, jurisdictional policies.
(2) Scale of Engagement: B212-2024 is designed for services on smaller scale projects than the C205-2024. Projects that use B212-2024 are often done at “campus” scale. In contrast, the scale of projects suitable for the C205-2024 is much larger and typically consist of an entire region with multiple sites.
(3) Clientele: B212-2024 anticipates the client-owner to be a single private or governmental owner-entity. Whereas, C205-2024 anticipates the client-owner to be a city, municipality, or other government agencies.