Principles and Draft Regulations for Architecture Competitions

The aim of architecture and urban design competitions is to fulfill society's rightful demand to entrust decision-making and selection to professionals, and to widen the circle of choice, by generating competition within the professional community, in order to attain the most appropriate designs for the construction of buildings and cities, and to create opportunities and encouragement for designers to present their work and to attain a higher professional standing.

The arrangements for organizing and administering the competition, the protection of participants' rights, the manner of selecting and verifying the qualifications of jurors, the procedures of review and judging, and the manner of publishing results, must all be governed by regulations approved by the comprehensive professional organization to whose codes the individuals and professional institutions are committed.

The planning and administration of competitions must be carried out by individuals or institutions whose professional competence is confirmed by one of the professional associations that are signatories to these basic principles, or by other professional associations identified in the regulations.

Oversight of compliance with the provisions of the competition regulations and the handling of complaints rest with the professional organization that approves the regulations.

Fulfilling the rightful demands of society and of designers requires the enactment of a law that makes the use of the competition method, and the observance of its basic principles, obligatory in the preparation of major projects in both the public and non-governmental sectors, and that allocates the necessary financial resources within state and public budgets.

Architecture and urban design competitions, in addition to helping achieve superior designs, can contribute — through the presentation of new schemes and viewpoints — to broadening outlook and cultivating public taste. It is necessary that the work of review, criticism, and publication be included as a complementary activity in the aims and programme of the competition.

All costs required for the holding of the competition — winners' prizes, the staging of the exhibition, and the publication of results — must be secured before the start of the competition and placed at the disposal of the competition administrator.

Draft Regulations

Chapter One: Definitions

Article 1. Architecture Competition A competition organized in order to obtain superior designs and solutions in architecture, interior architecture, urban design, architectural and urban conservation, landscape architecture and the like, in which natural and juridical persons engaged in architectural design, urban design, and other related disciplines may participate.

Article 2. Types of Architecture Competitions

• Clause 1. Executive Competitions. Competitions held in order to select a superior design solution for the execution of that design.
• Clause 2. Theoretical (Ideas) Competitions. Competitions in which there is no intention of constructing the results; rather, the aim is to arrive at superior views and ideas in the design of a particular subject.

Note: These regulations have been prepared and codified principally for the holding of executive competitions, but a considerable portion of them is also applicable to the holding of theoretical competitions.

• Clause 3. Open Competition. An open competition encompasses the entire community on a national or international basis. Any architect holding a university degree or a professional practice licence may participate. In open competitions, work submitted by other architectural designers or students is also accepted on condition that they collaborate with a chartered architect. In some cases this restriction may not apply, depending on the particular circumstances of the competition programme.
• Clause 4. Restricted Competition. A restricted competition limits participation to a particular group of architects and designers (for example by place of residence, experience, or special expertise). A restricted competition may also include a limited capacity for admitting participants.
• Clause 5. Invited Competition. An invited competition is one in which the organizer issues written invitations to a number of architects or architectural offices to take part.
• Clause 6. Single-Stage Competition. A competition in which the winners are selected through a single stage of judging.
• Clause 7. Two-Stage Competition. A competition held in two stages. The first stage consists of selecting a number of superior designs prepared by individuals or groups who must then continue the competition in the second stage; the selection of the first-place winner and the ranking of other participants takes place in the second stage.

Article 3. The Competition Organizer The organizer of the competition, also called the competition client, is the individual appointed by a private or governmental institution who bears individual and organizational responsibility for the commitments arising from the announcement and holding of the competition.

Article 4. The Professional Advisor The professional advisor is a specialist who is engaged as consultant to the organizer for the planning and holding of the competition, and who from the beginning to the end of the competition serves as the principal professional liaison between the organizer and the participants, and supervises matters relating to the conduct of the competition.

Article 5. The Participant A participant in the competition is a candidate who, on the basis of the conditions set out in the competition programme, is accepted to take part in that competition.

Article 6. The Juror A juror is a qualified person who, in view of his knowledge and experience, is appointed by the organizer of the competition through a written instrument to the jury panel.

Chapter Two: The Competition Announcement

Article 7. All architecture competitions must be brought to the attention of the public by means of a published announcement.

Article 8. The competition announcement must convey adequate and precise information about the competition in as few words as possible. The information to be included in the announcement is as follows:

• Clause 1. Identity of the competition organizer
• Clause 2. Subject, aim, type of competition, and its stages
• Clause 3. Conditions of participation
• Clause 4. Prizes, their number and the value of each
• Clause 5. Name of the professional advisor
• Clause 6. Names of the members of the jury panel
• Clause 7. Schedule for the holding of the competition
• Clause 8. The registration fee, if applicable
• Clause 9. Address of the competition organizer
• Clause 10. Any further information that may define and clarify the technical and legal consequences of the competition

Article 9. The competition announcement must be published in at least two widely-circulating newspapers. Publication of the announcement in other forms in addition is also permitted.

Article 10. The competition announcement is prepared by the professional advisor. Before publication, the advisor must obtain the approval of the organizer.

Chapter Three: The Competition Programme

Article 11. Every architecture competition must have a complete programme in the form of a written document.

Article 12. Drafting the competition programme is among the most important responsibilities of the professional advisor, and is accomplished through close collaboration with the competition organizer.

Article 13. The competition programme must be clear, complete, and as concise as possible. It must satisfactorily address the requirements and needs of the organizer, and be intelligible to the participants.

Article 14. The professional advisor must secure approval of the competition programme by the organizer before the announcement is published. This must be completed prior to the publication of the announcement.

Article 15. The main constituent elements of the competition programme are as follows:

• Clause 1. A brief description of the subject and content of the competition
• Clause 2. The aims of the competition
• Clause 3. Criteria for evaluation and judging
• Clause 4. Information and drawings concerning the urban setting and traffic
• Clause 5. Information and drawings concerning the dimensions and topography of the site
• Clause 6. Climatic characteristics of the location
• Clause 7. The spatial and physical programme of the competition subject
• Clause 8. The time schedule of the competition
• Clause 9. The financial programme of the project and its constraints if applicable
• Clause 10. Conditions and documents required for the submission of works
• Clause 11. Prizes, obligations, and the rights and prerogatives of the parties
• Clause 12. The method of packaging and submission of works and the manner of preserving the anonymity of participants
• Clause 13. Particular items appearing in the announcement in addition to the above clauses
• Clause 14. Any other information that may prove useful within the scope of the competition

Each of the above clauses must appear in the competition programme in a precise, concise, and classified form.

Article 16. In two-stage competitions, the programme for the second stage must be distributed among those who have qualified for the second stage upon completion of the first.

Article 17. The competition programme must be prepared in keeping with the type, scale, and importance of the competition, and there must be full coherence between the elaboration of the programme and the level of the expected requirements.

Article 18. Observance of all provisions contained in the competition programme is binding upon the organizer, the professional advisor, the jury panel, and the participants in the competition.

Chapter Four: The Competition Organizer

Article 19. The organizer of a competition is its client. Where a private or governmental institution or body is the custodian of a competition, a responsible individual must be introduced as that organization's representative in the conduct of the competition. This person bears responsibility for coordination, organization, and the discharge of the competition's commitments.

Article 20. An organizer should undertake the holding of a competition only after assuring himself of the management capacity and budgetary provision required to hold it.

Article 21. Payment of all costs associated with holding the competition — including the fees of the professional advisor and his assistants, the fees of the jury members, competition prizes, administrative services, publications, announcements, and the staging of the exhibition — is the responsibility of the competition organizer.

Article 22. The competition organizer bears individual and organizational responsibility for the execution of the provisions of the announcement and the programme. The replacement of the representative of the organizing body does not alter the organizer's commitments.

Note: Should the representative change, the organizing body is obliged to designate and introduce another individual as its representative without delay.

Article 23. The organizer of an architecture competition is obliged to keep the course of the competition in conformity with its programme, and is responsible for the accuracy of all statements issued concerning the competition.

Article 24. The selection of the professional advisor lies within the prerogatives of the organizer.

Article 25. Throughout the planning and holding of the competition, the organizer is obliged to provide at his own expense, for the use of the professional advisor, such facilities as workspace, secretarial services, printing and copying of documents, a secretariat, and other necessary amenities. The organizer is likewise obliged to provide suitable premises for the jury's work.

Article 26. The necessary documents — including announcements, the competition programme, jury reports, and the like — must be submitted for review and written approval by the organizer before publication.

Chapter Five: The Professional Advisor

Article 27. The professional advisor, as consultant to the organizer (client), is the person who bears the greatest responsibility for the planning, organization, and execution of the competition. He is a specialist and committed individual who has in view the conduct of the competition at a high standard and the attainment of favourable results, and who properly discharges his duties in this regard.

Article 28. Duties of the Professional Advisor The duties of the professional advisor are as follows:

• Clause 1. Coordination and collaboration with the client in articulating and codifying the needs, aims, and content of the project in question
• Clause 2. Examination and proposal of the type of competition suited to its subject
• Clause 3. Planning, organization, and management of the competition with a view to attaining its aims
• Clause 4. Preparation of the necessary documents, including announcements, the competition programme, reports, and the like
• Clause 5. Proposal and participation in the selection of the members of the jury panel
• Clause 6. Conduct of the competition in such a manner that all participants enjoy professional treatment in equal measure

Article 29. The professional advisor must hold a licence to practise architecture, with a minimum of five years' professional experience.

Note: Where the competition relates to a particular urban-design project, the professional advisor must either hold a licence to practise urban design with a minimum of five years' experience, or hold a licence to practise architecture with a minimum of five years' experience in urban-design work.

Article 30. The professional advisor may select assistants to perform the duties entrusted to him. These collaborators may be drawn from among the personnel of the organizing body or from outside it.

Article 31. The professional advisor assumes the relevant responsibilities under an agreement concluded between himself and the organizer. All legal matters and the obligations of both parties must be set out in this agreement.

Article 32. The professional advisor of a competition and his assistants may not take part in that competition, nor may they serve as members of its jury panel.

Article 33. The professional advisor is obliged throughout the competition, by his professional conduct, to guarantee impartiality towards all participants.

Chapter Six: Conditions and Manner of Participation

Article 34. The conditions and manner of participation in any given competition depend on its type. In all cases, the conditions, the manner of participation, and the registration procedure for each competition must be set out clearly in its announcement.

Article 35. A registration fee may be required from candidates wishing to take part in the competition. The organizer must not necessarily regard the registration fee as a means of recouping a portion of the competition costs.

Article 36. Adherence to the calendar set out in the competition announcement and accuracy in completing the registration form are preconditions for the acceptance of a candidate's participation.

Article 37. The planning and proper execution of the registration is among the responsibilities of the professional advisor. An informative registration form must be prepared. At a minimum, the following information must be obtained through these forms:

• Clause 1. Identity of the candidate, including name, address, telephone number, and the like
• Clause 2. Where a consulting body or engineering consultancy firm is the candidate for participation, the designation of the head and director of the design team is required
• Clause 3. Academic qualifications of the participant and the date and place of their attainment
• Clause 4. Names of the participant's collaborators in the competition
• Clause 5. Signature of the team director affirming acceptance of and adherence to the rules and contents of the competition programme
• Clause 6. In the case of restricted competitions, information satisfying the conditions of participation in such competitions

Article 38. The registration form must be prepared and completed in four copies: one remains with the professional advisor, one is retained in the organizer's files, and the remaining two are handed to the participant. The participant retains one of the two copies as a receipt and encloses the other in a sealed envelope accompanying the submitted design (this envelope is opened after the judging of works, for identification of the design's author).

Article 39. The competition secretariat is the location for carrying out matters relating to registration and for the safekeeping of candidates' documents.

Chapter Seven: How Designs are Submitted

Article 40. The documents required for the submission of designs, their number and scale, depend in each competition on its type and conditions. The range and variety of documents required principally include the following clauses:

• Clause 1. Site plan of the complex
• Clause 2. Plans of the floors and sections
• Clause 3. Principal elevations
• Clause 4. Principal sections
• Clause 5. Presentation of selected details
• Clause 6. Functional and explanatory diagrams
• Clause 7. Descriptive notes
• Clause 8. Supplementary materials such as three-dimensional drawings, models, or the like

All of the foregoing must be of a scale and quantity commensurate with the volume, dimensions, and complexity of the subject.

Article 41. All documents submitted, together with their number and scale, must conform to the provisions of the competition programme.

Article 42. The manner of submission must guarantee the anonymity of the authors of the designs until the conclusion of the judging stage. The omission of the participant's name from the drawing sheets and written pages explaining the designs is mandatory.

Article 43. Should the documents prepared by one or more participants fall outside the framework specified in the competition programme, the design or designs concerned are eliminated from the competition.

Article 44. Should the number of documents submitted by one or more participants exceed the number called for by the competition, the professional advisor, at his discretion, removes one or more documents so as to bring the number of submitted documents into accordance with the quota set by the competition programme, and thereupon issues permission to participate in respect of that case or cases.

Chapter Eight: The Jury Panel

Article 45. The members of the jury panel are selected following consultation between the competition organizer (client) and the professional advisor. They must be determined and introduced before the publication of the competition announcement.

Article 46. Each member of the jury panel is appointed to this position by the organizer through a separate written instrument. The identification of qualified individuals, the obtaining of the organizer's assent, contacting the candidates for the jury, explaining and elucidating the subject of the competition and the course it will follow, securing their written agreement to the competition's conditions, and following up the issuance of the jurors' appointments, are among the responsibilities of the professional advisor.

Article 47. Each juror must declare in writing his agreement with the competition programme and conditions prior to the publication of the announcement.

Article 48. The professional advisor of a competition may not be a member of its jury panel, but may attend the sessions of the jury without voting rights.

Article 49. The members of the jury panel must receive appropriate remuneration for the performance of the duties entrusted to them.

Article 50. Payment of the jurors' fees is the responsibility of the organizer. The amount and manner of payment are determined on the basis of the volume of work and the agreement of the parties.

Article 51. The members of the jury panel of a competition cannot be among the participants in that competition.

Article 52. First-degree relatives of the jurors of a competition may not participate in that competition. Similarly, the jurors of a competition must not be employees of, or shareholders in, the offices or firms that have entered the competition.

Article 53. Members of the jury panel are obliged to maintain the anonymity of the designs' authors throughout the stages of judging, and to refrain from offering conjectures concerning the creators of the designs.

Article 54. Members of the jury panel must not enter into contact with any of the participants throughout the stages of the competition, except within the framework foreseen by the programme (for example, at the start of the second stage of two-stage competitions or in invited competitions).

Article 55. The number of members of the jury panel must be odd. A minimum of five and a maximum of eleven members, depending on the type of competition, its subject, and its programme, constitute the jury panel.

Article 56. Coherence among the members of the jury and the suitability of their experience and expertise in relation to the subject of the competition are of importance, and must be the concern of the professional advisor and the organizer at the stage of selecting the jurors and thereafter.

Article 57. In competitions where, in the view of the professional advisor, the presence of experts in specialized disciplines is important, such experts are appointed as specialist jurors to the panel. In any case, the majority of the members must be architects.

Article 58. In competitions where, in the view of the professional advisor, the presence of experts in specialized disciplines is important, such experts may be appointed as non-voting advisors to the jury panel.

Chapter Nine: Procedure of the Jury's Work

Article 59. At the outset, the jury panel must vote to elect a chair. The chair will be responsible for directing the course of the judging of the designs and for preparing the final judging report, and will also serve as liaison between the jury panel and the professional advisor.

Article 60. Only those works are submitted for judgment which have previously been examined by the professional advisor and his assistants for conformity with the conditions of the competition programme and have been recognized as qualifying. The professional advisor provides an oral report on this matter to the jury panel.

Article 61. The professional advisor attends the sessions of the jury panel and, where necessary, is consulted by them, but does not have a vote.

Article 62. In the judging sessions, no one apart from the jurors, the professional advisor, and his official assistants is permitted to be present in the place of judging.

Article 63. Attendance of all members of the jury panel at the judgment sessions is mandatory. In exceptional cases, sessions may be held with a majority of members present (3 of 5, 4 of 7, 5 of 9, and 6 of 11). Where a session is constituted with an even number of members owing to the absence of one or more, in the event that votes are tied twice for and against on a single decision, the vote of the chair of the jury panel shall be decisive.

Article 64. Awareness of and adherence to the competition programme at all stages of the judging is essential. The chair of the jury panel is responsible for ensuring this.

Article 65. The jurors select the first-place design and rank the other designs. In each competition only one first-place winner is to be selected.

Note: In rare cases where the jury panel finds none of the designs to answer the fundamental aims of the programme and the expectations of the organizer, they have the authority to award no first prize.

Article 66. In two-stage competitions, the jury panel first selects the finalists — the winners of the superior designs of the first stage — whereupon the competition organizer invites them to continue their work in the second stage. The jury panel prepares a report on the reasons for selecting some of these designs and may also prepare guidance in relation to the designs that can be communicated separately to each participant in the second stage.

Article 67. After the final judging, the jury panel is obliged to submit a written report setting out the reasons for its decisions. The verdict of the jury panel is final, not subject to objection or change.

Article 68. The envelopes identifying the authors of the designs are opened, upon the conclusion of the judging, in the presence of the organizer, the professional advisor, and the members of the jury panel, in order to establish the identities of the winners.

Article 69. The conclusion of the judging and the determination of the winners is formally declared by the signing of a record of the proceedings by all members of the jury panel, the professional advisor, and the competition organizer.

Chapter Ten: Prizes and Honors

Article 70. Responsibility for awarding prizes in every competition, under all circumstances, rests with the competition organizer, whether the amount and budget of these prizes have been provided independently by the organizer or jointly with the competition's sponsors.

Article 71. The determination of the number and value of the prizes, the guarantee of whose payment is set out in the competition programme, must be considered in proportion to the type of competition, the importance of the programme, the volume of the project, the activities envisaged, and the time required for preparing the design.

Article 72. The organizer is entitled to enter into a contract for the engineering services of the project that was the subject of the competition only with the first-place winner.

Note: Should the first-place winner lack the executive capacity to prepare tender documents and to supervise the works, he may introduce to the competition organizer an organization or consulting firm capable of such work and, in collaboration with that firm, conclude a contract with the client.

Article 73. The organizer is obliged to conclude the said contract with the winner of the competition not later than one year after the announcement of the results. Failing this, the organizer shall be obliged to pay the first-place winner an additional sum equivalent to the value of the first-place prize, over and above the prize already awarded.

Article 74. In two-stage competitions, each participant who qualifies for the second stage must, in addition to the announced prizes, receive a sum as an honorarium. This sum is proportionate to the programme of the second stage of the competition.

Article 75. The first-place winner and the other winners of the competition must receive their prizes not later than two months after the official announcement of the results. The prize of the first-place winner is not deducted from the amount of his engineering-services contract.

Article 76. Should it be established that the design prepared by the first-place winner or any other winner is a copy of someone else's work, all rights and prizes awarded are immediately revoked, and the offending parties are obliged to return the prizes received to the organizer.

Chapter Eleven: Publication of Competition Results

Article 77. The result of the judging, in addition to written notification to the winners, must be published in accordance with the schedule announced in the competition programme in at least two widely-circulating newspapers.

Article 78. After the conclusion of the competition, the organizer holds an exhibition of the participants' works at a suitable location. The organization of this exhibition is the responsibility of the professional advisor. Payment of the costs of staging the exhibition is the responsibility of the organizer.

Article 79. In addition to the staging of the exhibition, the organizer may convene lectures, seminars, or panel discussions in the presence of the first-place winners and the authors of the superior designs, and may invite all participants in the competition or the general public to attend.

Article 80. Should the organizer wish, he may, through radio and television programmes, present and explain the subject of the competition, the manner in which it has been held, and the results attained.

Article 81. The organizer shall have the right of unlimited publication, dissemination, and exhibition of the works of those who took part in the competition, subject to the acknowledgement of the names of the authors of the designs.

Article 82. Without the written consent of each of the authors of the designs, the organizer shall not have the right to use those designs for the construction, in whole or in part, of the project that was the subject of the competition or of any other supposed project.

Chapter Twelve: End of the Competition, Return of Works, and Aftermath

Article 83. After the stage of judging and the announcement and publication of the results, the competition is at an end. The designs that have been awarded prizes are not returned to their authors and remain in the possession of the competition organizer.

Article 84. The professional advisor implements the return of the other designs in accordance with the established schedule. Designs that have not been retrieved by their authors within the specified period are destroyed, and the designers concerned shall have no right of objection.

Article 85. Should participants in the competition wish to lodge any objection regarding the manner and course of the competition, they may, within at most one week of the publication of the results, submit their substantiated views in writing to the professional advisor. After examining the objections received and consulting with the competition organizer and the chair of the jury panel, the professional advisor shall provide the necessary reply to the objector within at most one month.

Article 86. The competition organizer is obliged, through the professional advisor, to send a copy of the competition programme, the questions and answers, the jury report, and images of the winning designs to the permanent secretariat of architecture competitions located at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

Article 87. The executive bylaws of these regulations, after final approval by the professional organizations that are signatories to the basic principles and by the relevant authorities, will be made available to the public.

Erratum

The sub-clauses appearing under Article 24 are redundant and should be disregarded.

Article 47 — Each juror must declare in writing his agreement with the competition programme and conditions prior to the publication of the announcement.