Project files, RFIs and field notes: an AEC owner's guide

Walk into almost any architecture, engineering or construction office and you'll find a server, or three, full of finished jobs. Drawing sets. RFI logs. Submittal reviews. Daily reports. Punch lists. Inspection notes. Most of it gets archived and forgotten the day the project closes out.

That history has real value to your own team, and more owners are asking whether some of it may have value beyond the firm. Here's a plain-English look at what you own, how AI fits in and what to check.

How much are AEC firms using AI right now?

Less than the headlines suggest, and it depends a lot on size. In the AIA's 2024 Firm Survey, about one-third of architecture firms reported using AI in day-to-day work. That included 61% of large firms, 42% of midsize firms and 27% of small firms (AIA, 2024 Firm Survey Report).

A separate AIA study published in March 2025 found that only 6% of architects use AI regularly, and only 8% of firms had implemented AI solutions, with another 20% working on it (AIA, March 2025). Architects were most optimistic about automating manual tasks to save time (84%), and nearly all (90%) had concerns about accuracy, security and how data might be used.

That's a profession that's curious, careful and still early. Fair enough.

Where does AI help with project files today?

The practical uses are mostly about finding and summarizing what you already have:

• Searching past RFIs and submittals to see how a similar detail was resolved on an earlier job.
• Summarizing long specification sections, meeting minutes and daily reports.
• First drafts of RFI responses, transmittals and client updates for a licensed professional to review.
• Checklists built from your own lessons learned.

The catch is data quality. RSM's 2026 survey of professional-services firms, a group that included architecture and engineering, found data quality was the top reason AI pilots fell short (RSM, 2026). If project files are named ten different ways across ten years, AI will struggle the same way a new hire would.

Who owns the drawings and project files?

Your contracts decide, so start there. Under AIA Document B101-2017, the standard owner-architect agreement, the architect and its consultants are treated as the authors and owners of their Instruments of Service and keep their copyright. The owner gets a license to use them for constructing, using, maintaining, altering and adding to the project (AIA Contract Documents).

Other contracts may say something different. Some clients require that all project documents belong to them. Some government work comes with extra rules. Engineers and contractors have their own forms. So read your agreements before you assume anything.

For work your own employees create on the job, U.S. copyright law generally treats it as a "work made for hire," with the employer as the author (U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 30). Work from subconsultants and freelancers needs a clear written assignment.

Which AEC records may qualify for licensing?

Depending on your contracts and how the files are kept, firm-created records that may qualify include:

• Internal standards, detail libraries and QA/QC checklists.
• RFI and submittal logs, with client-confidential specifics handled carefully.
• Field notes, daily reports and inspection checklists your staff produced.
• Lessons-learned reports and internal post-project reviews.
• Estimating notes and scheduling histories, where you own them outright.

Which AEC records usually don't qualify?

• Documents a client contract says belong to the client, or that you can't share.
• Security-sensitive drawings, like critical infrastructure or certain government facilities.
• Third-party material: manufacturer data, purchased reports and licensed software libraries.
• Files that are mostly personal information about people.
• Methods you'd rather protect as trade secrets (USPTO).

What should an AEC owner check first?

1. Pull your standard owner, subconsultant and subcontract forms and read the ownership and confidentiality sections.
2. List your main software and how many years of project history each one holds.
3. Flag client-restricted and security-sensitive jobs so they stay out of any review.
4. Talk with your own attorney before you sign anything.

None of this is a sure thing, and value isn't guaranteed. It's a careful first look. For the general version across all industries, read which business records may qualify for a license, and for how firms are using AI in their daily work, see what AI is actually doing inside small firms in 2026.