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UIA competition guide for design competitions in architecture and related fields. — Paris, 2020

  
 
 
 

UIA COMPETITION GUIDE FOR DESIGN COMPETITIONS IN ARCHITECTURE AND RELATED FIELDS : interpreting and implementing the UNESCO “Standard Regulations for International Competitions in Architecture and Town-Planning” / International Union of Architects, International Competitions Commission. — Adopted by the 130th Council in Seoul, March 2017 ; Amendments adopted by the 131st Council in Kuala Lumpur, July 2017 ; Amendment adopted by the 139th Council in Rio de Janeiro, January 2020. — [Paris], 2020. — 55 p.

 
 
 

PREFACE

 
In 2016, sixty years after the UIA and UNESCO ratified the standard regulations for international competitions, the UIA International Competition Commission (ICC) spent several months reviewing the rules and guide for conducting competitions. This was in response to growing demands for competitions for increasingly complex projects that not only include buildings but also city development, planning and urban regeneration. During the early stages of the ICC activities, the objectives were to emphasize fairness in the evaluation, quality and innovation. Now these objectives are set against the challenges of sustainability and climate change.
 
There is a strong call for more creative solutions that will enhance the quality of life for the communities where the projects are located, as well as for their users. The designs and creations must take into account the impact on the local social framework while serving as an inspiration for future planning and architecture. Hence at the UIA General Assembly in August 2014 in Durban, South Africa, the Assembly passed the following resolution:
 
Resolution 22
 
The UIA General Assembly approved and adopted the resolution on the value of architectural competitions as recommended by the International Competitions Commission:
 
“Architectural competitions are a quality-based and solution-oriented selection procedure for architectural services, the best way to achieve quality in the built environment. A competition provides the best solution for a concrete task, selected from among several entries by the jury, with a majority of professionals. Therefore it guarantees high value and the optimal concept for the client and the users. The UNESCO-UIA rules on architectural competitions are characterized by the principle of anonymity, transparency, equal treatment, and non-discrimination. They are thus the best weapons against corruption. They protect intellectual property and copyright for the competitors and promote creativity. The rules benefit both the promoter and the competitors. In consequence, it is the best way to achieve high value projects and to commission the architect/winner. Through architectural competitions, society benefits from solutions with cultural value that contribute to a sustainable future. It remains impossible to replace architectural competitions with any other procedure. They achieve incomparably better results compared to procedures based on price criteria only. The UIA International Competitions commission recommends that all member sections ensure that the UNESCO-UIA rules for architecture and urban planning competitions are implemented in national practices and that architectural competitions be included as recommended procedure in national public procurement laws in order to promote qualitative and sustainable solutions for the built environment.”
 
It is for these reasons that the ICC has been reviewed and updated. I would like to record our sincere appreciation and thanks to all the dedicated members of the ICC and all those whose names are listed in this document. Without their hard work, dedication and untiring efforts this new UIA COMPETITION GUIDE FOR DESIGN COMPETITIONS FOR ARCHITECTURE AND RELATED FIELDS would never have been successfully completed. It is hoped that this document will aid in the selection of deserving architects and facilitate the procurement of projects internationally.
 
Esa Mohamed
President
 

 

 

Contents

 
PREFACE 3
 
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 UIA policy on international design competitions 6
1.2 UNESCO Regulations for international competitions 6
1.3 International design competitions 7
 
2.0 COMPETITION CHARACTERISTICS AND TYPES
2.1 Definition of an architectural design competition 8
2.2 Competition types 8
2.3 Competition stages 8
2.4 Procedure types 10
2.5 Eligibility 11
2.6 Multidisciplinary competitions 11
2.7 Student competitions 11
2.8 Young architects competitions 12
2.9 “Architectural design” and “design + build” competitions 12
2.10 Integration of competitions in public procurement legislation 13
 
3.0 ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES
3.1 Transparency 14
3.2 Equal treatment and non-discrimination 14
3.3 Fairness 14
 
4.0 BEST PRACTICE GUIDELINES
4.1 Thorough preparation and good conduct 15
4.2 Precise and comprehensive brief 15
4.3 Appropriate conditions and requirements 17
4.4 Professional and independent Jury 18
4.5 Anonymity of entries 19
4.6 Adequate prizes, prize-money, honoraria and recognition 20
4.7 Clear declaration of intent and obligations of the client 21
4.8 Analytical evaluation process and binding decisions of the jury 22
4.9 Respect of intellectual property and author's rights 24
4.10 Publication rights, Exhibition and Communication 25
 
5.0 DISPUTE RESOLUTION 26
 
APPENDIX A: Glossary 28
APPENDIX B: The UNESCO Standard Regulations for International Competitions in Architecture and Town Planning 46
 

 

 

1.0 Introduction

 

1.1. UIA policy on international design competitions

 
The UIA supports design competitions conducted in accordance with the UNESCO Regulations because they are likely to produce architecture of distinction and uphold the highest cultural and artistic values.
 
-The UIA advocates the highest professional standards, responsible architecture and quality-based procurement of architectural services.
 
-The UIA promotes architectural design competitions as a quality-based solution oriented procedure, particularly appropriate for the award of contracts for architectural services.
 
-The UIA recommends the adoption of open competition procedures in order to ensure a wide range and diversity of solutions, promote new talents, and offer enhanced opportunity for the emergence of innovative ideas.
 
-The UIA recommends organising competition procedures that are affordable for competitors by avoiding excessive requirements or providing adequate remuneration.
 
-The UIA promotes competitions that are open to professionals from all countries without restriction and that are conducted in accordance with the UNESCO Regulations.
 
-The UIA endorses competitions which promote high quality-built environments and respect the holistic, culture-centered and interdisciplinary approach to improve quality of life in alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goals.
 
All international competitions endorsed by the UIA must adhere to the UNESCO Regulations and enjoy the support of the Member Section in which the competition is launched.
 
 

1.2 UNESCO Regulations for international competitions

 
The General Conference of UNESCO adopted Standard Regulations for International Competitions in Architecture and Town Planning in 1956 (revised in 1978) and directed the International Union of Architects (UIA) to supervise their application and assist clients.
 
Since 1956, the UIA has assisted clients (also called “promoters” and “sponsors”) in the organisation of international competitions. The UIA has acquired vast experience in this domain and contributed to the realisation of significant buildings worldwide.
 
When conducted in accordance with the principles defined in the UNESCO Guidelines and approved by national authorities and/or architectural professional associations, architectural design competitions are recommended in the UIA Accord (Accord on Recommended International Standards of Professionalism in Architectural Practice) as an appropriate method for procuring architectural services.
 
The UNESCO Regulations for International Competitions have maintained their relevance. Eleven of the fifty-one articles of the UNESCO Regulations contain specific rules and recommendations for international design competitions.1 These essential principles and rules also apply to competitions conducted on a national or regional level.
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1 UNESCO Regulations Articles 1, 5, 6, 8, 14, 15, 34, 35, 36, 42, 49 contain specific rules and recommendations for UNESCO/UIA international competitions
 
The UIA has developed these guidelines for all competitions in architecture, town-planning and related fields. They comply with the UNESCO Regulations and provide further elaboration. The philosophy of competitions can be summarised in three essential principles and ten best practice recommendations, as set forth in this publication.
 
In aiming to encourage design competitions under fair conditions, the UIA recommends that all clients who intend to launch an international competition seek UIA approval and that all national sections consult and respect these UIA Guidelines.
 
 

1.3. International design competitions

 
The designation “international,” according to the UNESCO Regulations, applies to competitions in which participation is open to architects from different nationalities residing in different countries, with a jury composed of persons of different nationalities, one of whom is appointed by the UIA as its representative. International competitions may be organized according to the UNESCO Regulations under the aegis of the UIA.
 
Competitors from countries that are signatories of the WTO Agreement and (or) other bi-lateral agreements espousing the principle of reciprocity can take part in national competitions of other cosigning countries. Such competitions become de facto partially international, even though it is not required that the jury also be international.
 
In several countries, design competitions are integrated into public procurement law and the competitions may be subjected to further constraints by national legislation.
 
Competitions may be restricted to a specific geographic area at a national or regional level, or be international according to relevant national legislation, procurement laws and international agreements. The international character of a competition varies according to the degree to which the Client desires to limit or enlarge international participation in the competition.
 
Competitions which are restricted to professionals of two or more countries having common geographic, cultural, historical, professional or economic links are termed “Regional” and may be organised on the basis of the international regulations under the aegis of the UIA.
 
National competitions open to all or to certain architects from the host country and a limited number of invited architects from foreign countries are not international competitions and cannot obtain UIA approval. An open competition with only a few invited competitors violates the principle of equal treatment and is not compatible with public procurement legislation.
 
Notwithstanding, if a Client chooses to undertake an invited procedure and invites a number of named architects from several countries to submit a design project for a competition, the competition may be organized under the aegis of the UIA and on the basis of the international regulations.
 

 

 

2.0 Competition Characteristics and Types

 

2.1 Definition of an architectural design competition

 
Competitions in architecture, town-planning, landscape and other related fields are design contests to evaluate multiple proposals in a formalised procedure. Designs are compared on the basis of a specified task, a defined program and evaluation criteria, all of which are announced in advance, and anonymously assessed by a professional and independent jury.
 
A design competition is a quality-based and solution-oriented form of procurement. A design competition allows the Client to procure an optimal high quality project and find in its author the partner with whom to achieve its realization.
 
Consideration of aesthetic, technical, functional, economic, ecological and sustainability requirements are typically encompassed in the design competition. Priority is given to a project's qualitative merits, including cultural values and benefits to society.
 
Design competitions are suitable for all design tasks, which can be defined.
 
 

2.2 Competition types

 
There are two basic types of competitions2:
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2 UNESCO Regulations Art. 2.
 
-The ideas competition, which demonstrates numerous conceptual approaches and proposals, without the intention of directly realising the task or project.
 
-The project competition, which demonstrates numerous solutions for the intended realization of a project.
 
Ideas competitions seek to elucidate certain approaches to architectural and/or planning problems. The winning project is not generally destined for realization and its author is therefore not commissioned as the architect. If the client intends to make use of the winning or any other scheme, he/she shall undertake some form of formal collaboration with its author. In certain cases, a contract with the winner as architect-consultant may be envisaged.3
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3 UNESCO Regulations Art. 27.
 
The objective of a project competition is to find the best solution for the project to be realized, with the author of the winning submission commissioned as architect for its realisation.4
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4 UNESCO Regulations Art. 25.
 
 

2.3 Competition stages

 
Competitions can be conducted as single stage competitions, two stage competitions or, in rare circumstances, multiple stage competitions.5
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5 UNESCO Regulations Art. 3.
 
Ideas competitions are usually single-stage competitions. In some instances ideas competitions may be the first stage of a two-stage competition in which the second stage is a project competition.
 
Project competitions may be organized as one or two-stage competitions. This must be clearly stated in the brief. When possible, project competitions should be organized as one-stage competitions.
 
Two-stage competitions require a substantial, additional commitment for both the client and the participants and therefore their use is advised only for particularly complex architectural tasks. In two-stage competitions, the first stage should have reasonably light submission requirements, consisting of a general approach, usually an overall conceptual plan accompanied by schematic drawings and sketches sufficient to demonstrate the intentions of the competitor.
 
The jury will discern which of the first stage submissions demonstrate strong architectural promise. The authors of the entries selected for further development are entitled to participate in the second stage. A reasonable honorarium shall be paid to each upon the submission of the entry. This remuneration is intended to partially reimburse the competitor for the additional work carried out in the second stage and shall be in addition to the prizes awarded.6
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6 UNESCO Regulations Art. 23.
 
In order to maintain anonymity, a person of confidence not connected with the jury, for instance a notary, should open the envelopes containing the identity of the authors of the designs retained for the second stage and be in charge of communicating an invitation to participate in the second phase. The envelopes are then sealed until the end of the second stage. Any communication with the authors of the projects chosen to participate at the second stage will be done through the notary, who will keep the authors' identity secret.
 
It is not recommended to make the names of those competitors selected to proceed to the second stage public.7
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7 UNESCO Regulations Art. 18.
 
Each competitor who participates at the second stage receives an individual critique of the jury for his project of the first stage. The jury may also make general remarks, which will be communicated to all participants of the second stage.
 
If the client wants to involve third parties and the public concerned by the project he/she should involve them during the preparation of the brief before launching the competition, not during the competition. This can compromise the principle of anonymity, influence the jury and falsify the professional judgement. It is therefore not advisable to consult the opinion of third parties or the public between the two stages.
 
The same jury evaluates both stages and awards the prizes. Stage two entries shall carry the same code (usually alphanumeric code) as in stage one. If necessary and with the agreement of the client, the jury may clarify or amplify points in the competition conditions at the end of the first stage for the benefit of the second stage. Such additional information must not disclose in any way the solutions proposed by any of the first stage entries. The second stage may if necessary be restricted to only part of the subject matter addressed in the first stage.
 
The ranking and the awarding of prizes to the finalists will take place at the end of the second stage. The anonymity will then be lifted.
 
The time frame between the end of the first stage and the submission of the stage two requirements may not be less than two months. Publication and exhibition of all the projects submitted, including first stage projects, will take place only at the end of the second stage after the termination of the evaluation process.
 
A project competition launched as a single-stage competition should not proceed to a second stage.
 
This violates the principle of transparency.8 In exceptional cases, the possibility of proceeding to a second stage could be stated in the brief of a single-stage competition as an option.
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8 UNESCO Regulations Art. 43. UIA does not approve a second stage that has not been announced in the competition brief.
 
 

2.4 Procedure types

 
Competitions can be organized in the following three forms: as open, restricted or invited.9
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9 UNESCO Regulations Art. 1.
 
Open procedures permit all eligible professionals to submit entries.
 
Restricted procedures permit only selected professionals to submit entries.
 
Clients occasionally wish to limit participation to professionals with specific expertise and experience.
 
In such cases, eligible professionals may submit requests to participate accompanied with references and required qualification documents. An evaluation panel then selects the professionals who seem to be most capable of providing successful solutions for the envisioned project, using an appropriate prequalification procedure and established criteria.10 The majority of evaluation panel members should be professionals with professional experience similar to that required of competitors. The selection criteria should focus on quality of accomplished work. Required references should be reasonable, in relation with or analogous to the task of the competition.
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10 See detailed description of the prequalification procedure in the Glossary
 
Procedures by invitation allow clients to determine which participants will be invited to take part in the competition.
 
Combined procedures—that is, open competitions that also include a few invited competitors—do not respect the principle of equal treatment and are not advised.
 
In restricted procedures and procedures by invitation a sufficient number of participants must be chosen in order to ensure a sane concurrence and obtain a variety of solutions in relation also to the significance of the project. Participation of local professionals should be considered.
 
For the choice of the appropriate procedure type consultation with the professional association of the country in which the competition is launched is recommended. According to public procurement law procedures by invitation are usually only permitted for the procurement of services under a certain threshold.
 
The UIA encourages and recommends open competition procedures. These will ensure a wide range and diversity of solutions, promote new talents, and offer greater opportunity for the emergence of innovative ideas.
 
 

2.5 Eligibility

 
Eligibility must be clearly stated in the competition regulations. Eligibility can refer to disciplinary fields (architecture, town-planning, landscape architecture, interior design etc.), to professionals of different degree (licensed professionals, young architects, students) or to geographic, economic and cultural specifications.
 
Competitions may be restricted to a specific geographic, economic or cultural area on national or regional level or be international according to the requirements of national legislation, procurement laws and international agreements.
 
 

2.6 Multidisciplinary competitions

 
Competitions may be launched for competitors belonging to a single design discipline or for teams of competitors of several design disciplines. In the last case the competitions are called multidisciplinary competitions.
 
The client may impose the collaboration of a combination of disciplines as a team such as architectural and landscape design or ask architects to take as consultants professionals from another discipline for example a specialist in ecology, energy or traffic. The architect is the leader of such collaborations. The names of all team members and consultants must be mentioned in the identification envelope.
 
When the client asks for interdisciplinary collaboration he / she is committed to commission all the team members of the winning project. Such specification must be stated in the brief.
 
The multidisciplinarity of the team should be reflected in the composition of the jury. Alternate members should be provided for all concerned disciplines. However a holistic approach should be guaranteed.
 
Architects and professionals in related field can only participate in one team. Specialists in a certain field may however consult more than one team if a certain field is highly rare and specialized, if the consultancy is in a technical capacity and if their contribution is not decisive in the creative aspect of the project. Such specialists are bound by confidentiality and are not permitted to transfer information from one team to another.
 
 

2.7 Student competitions

 
Competitions may be organised exclusively for students of architecture and related fields. These competitions' aim is to train students and by the nature of the task are usually ideas competitions—that is, without a concrete project commission for the winner. The reward for submitted projects can be in prize money or also in the form of various gifts.
 
In rare cases, if the design task is adequate, a student competition might be organized as a project competition aiming to launch students in their professional careers. The competition regulations may require the student winner to collaborate with an architect of his choice appointed by the jury and the client.11 It is also possible to envision that a professional association or a senior architect guarantees the work of the student winner.
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11 UNESCO Regulations Art. 25. This article applies here in analogy.
 
Competitions open to both students and professionals are not recommended. Such competitions compromise the principle of equal treatment in regard to the eligibility requirements as well as the notion of professionalism.
 
 

2.8 Young architects competitions

 
Competitions may be launched exclusively for young architects. There is either an age limit or a specification in relation with the obtainment time of the master degree. The age limit for young architects is maximum 40 years old.
 
These competitions aim to help young professionals start their career.
 
 

2.9 “Architectural Design” and “Design + Build” competitions

 
The UNESCO Regulations are addressed to Design competitions (ADC) and do not mention Design and Build competitions (D+B). However the same basic principles and rules apply for both ADC and D+B. In addition the following recommendations for D+B should be respected. The UIA does neither promote nor recommend Design and Build competitions.
 
Architectural design competitions (ADC)
 
Architectural design competitions are addressed to architects and specialists of related fields. The winner is awarded design services for the project. An estimate of probable construction cost cannot be reliably determined at this stage and should not be a submission requirement. Cost estimates may distort the results because not applying a unitary method of calculation. The client should have a realistic budget for the realisation of the project when launching the competition.
 
 
It is not recommended either to ask for fee offers. The height of the fees should not be an evaluation criterion in an ADC. The parameters for the fee calculation for subsequent design services could be stated in the brief for transparency reasons. However the Client should not impose the amount of the fees unilaterally. After the competition the client and the winner will negotiate the contract and the fees corresponding to the services to be done.
 
If despite the above explanations fee offers are requested in an ADC they should be submitted anonymously in a separate envelope carrying the secret code of the entry. This envelope should only be opened after the ranking and the award of the prizes. The offer of the winner will only serve as basis for his negotiation with the client.
 
Design + Build competition (D+B) (not recommended by UIA)
 
A design + build competition combines design with formal bids for the realisation of the project. These are addressed to teams including architects, specialists of related fields and general contractors. The winning team is awarded the design services and the contract for the construction.
 
Design + build competitions are usually organized as two-stage project competitions. In the first stage projects are evaluated only on the basis of design quality. Projects that show promise will continue to the second stage. The offer with the bid for the construction of the project shall be submitted anonymously in a separate envelope in the second stage. This procedure is known as the “two envelopes method”.
 
Only the envelopes containing the bids for the shortlisted projects, which will be awarded a prize, shall be opened and compared. The final ranking will take the bid under consideration. More weight should be given to the quality criteria.
 
 

2.10. Integration of competitions in public procurement legislation

 
Design competitions are sometimes integrated in public procurement law as for instance in countries that are signatories of the WTO agreement and in the European Union member states. Competitions must then respect certain constraints, for example, the choice of the procedure type in connection with financial thresholds.
 
The integration of design competitions in public procurement law has in some instances added an administrative burden and formalized Architectural Design Competitions (ADC) to an undesired degree, often involving complex, time consuming and costly administrative procedures for competitors. It is important that all UIA Member Sections undertake the necessary efforts at the national level to ensure that competitions retain their cultural dimension and values and do not simply become a bureaucratic procurement procedure.
 

 

 

3.0 Essential Principles

 

3.1 Transparency

 
Competition procedures, regulations and requirements must be clearly stated and available to all. Competition purposes and client intentions must also be clearly stated in the brief.
 
Potential conflicts of interest between client and competitors or jury members and competitors must be recognized at the beginning of the procedure, declared and avoided. Anyone employed by the client or a jury member, anyone closely related to the client, a jury member or the Professional Adviser and anyone involved in the preparation of the competition will not be eligible to compete or assist competitors.12
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12 UNESCO Regulations Art. 41
 
Jury decisions must be documented. Evaluation processes and the rationale for jury decisions shall be available to all competitors and the public in the formal jury report.
 
 

3.2 Equal treatment and non-discrimination

 
Regulations and conditions must be identical for all competitors.13 Equal treatment of all competitors must be ensured in all phases of a competition. The same information must be provided to all competitors at the same time during the competition process. Individual exchange of information between competitors and jury members or the client is strictly prohibited.
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13 UNESCO Regulations Art. 4
 
In order to ensure equal conditions, one language must be declared as the official language for the competition. The brief and all competition documents must be written in the declared official language, and all competitors must use the same language for the entry documents.
 
 

3.3 Fairness

 
Every competition participant undertakes a considerable intellectual, creative and economic effort in the hope of obtaining highest possible recognition in the form of a prize or mention for his or her work. In the case of a project competition, the participants compete for the commission to realize the project. Only the winners of project competitions are rewarded with the right to pursue the design mission and realize the project.
 
Under these circumstances the Client and the Jury have obligations and responsibilities towards the competitors. The competition must be carefully prepared. Conditions and requirements must be fair for the competitors. There must be an adequate prize-money sum for the allocation of prizes. The client must make a clear declaration of intent concerning the outcome of an ideas competition, and must offer the winner of a project competition the chance to be awarded the commission for the design services, as outlined in the brief.
 
The following ten guidelines respect the interests of both the clients and the competitors. These include mandatory provisions as well as optional and suggested recommendations.
 

 

 

4.0 Best Practice Guidelines

 

4.1 Thorough preparation and good conduct

 
A design competition must be carefully prepared so that its outcome will achieve the task established. Decisive parameters in connection with the task must be clarified during the preparation of the competition. The requirements and the feasibility of the task must be examined before developing the programme and launching the competition.
 
In view of the great intellectual effort of the competitors and the economic investment of both competitors and clients, the architectural design competition must be prepared with corresponding diligence and specificity. All requirements and the feasibility of the task must be carefully examined before finalising the programme and launching the competition.
 
The client shall appoint a Professional Adviser (sometimes called Technical Adviser), preferably an experienced architect, to prepare the competition and formulate the conditions and the programme.14 The professional adviser shall also supervise the conduct of all phases of the competition process and the work of the technical committee.15
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14 UNESCO Regulations Art. 9
15 The tasks of the professional advisor are extensively described in the Glossary
 
Should a competition involve a large number of competitors and too many entries for a sole professional adviser to review, the client should appoint a Technical Committee of professionals to examine if entries meet the formal requirements.16 The committee issues a report with the results of their reviews. The technical committee should not make evaluations and influence the opinion of the jury.
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16 The tasks of the technical committee are extensively described in the Glossary
 
The composition of the technical committee should take under consideration that skills in the main discipline of the competition as well as skills in informatics and administration work are also needed.
 
The announcement for a competition must reach all potentially interested professionals. Sufficient time must be allowed between the announcement of the competition and the closing date for registration.
 
 

4.2 Precise and comprehensive brief

 
The competition brief includes only information relevant and necessary to the task. Competition requirements must be clearly specified. The information must not be open to misinterpretation. Mandatory recommendations and evaluation criteria must be explicitly stated.17 The brief shall include four distinct parts:
  • Introduction explaining briefly the task and the objectives of the competition
  • Competition regulations18
  • Project programme19
  • Appendixes giving additional information and useful documents
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17 UNESCO Regulations Art. 10, 12, 13 and 14. For detailed information about the structure and content of a brief see document: “Briefs for UIA Competitions in Architecture and related fields”
18 For detailed information about the content of the competition regulations see Glossary.
19 For detailed information about the content of the project programme see Glossary.
 
A clear distinction shall be made between mandatory requirements and those permitting the competitor freedom of interpretation. Mandatory requirements shall be restricted to the minimum necessary in order to leave opportunity for creativity and invention.20
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20 UNESCO Regulations Art. 11.
 
The necessary plans and documents that the competitors need in order to draft their designs must be provided. Where the furnishing of such documentation is conditional on payment of a deposit, and unless otherwise stated in the brief, this deposit shall be returned to competitors who submit an entry within one month after the announcement of the results of the competition.21
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21 UNESCO Regulations Art. 17.
 
Registration fees should be avoided. Electronic documents can be made accessible on a website and reproduction costs avoided. The payment of a deposit fee is only justified when a base model is delivered to the competitors.
 
Competitors shall have an opportunity to ask questions regarding the brief and programme. The questions should be submitted anonymously in written form by a specified deadline. The Professional Adviser, in consultation with the client, shall prepare the answers to relevant questions and after having them approved by the jury will deliver or make them available to all participants on a specified date. These answers are intended to provide further detail, clarifications or to modify provisions of the competition. The competitors should therefore have sufficient time between the date on which they receive the answers and the deadline for submission of the entries.
 
The brief must include the names of the jury members. Each jury member shall approve the brief prior to the launch of the competition.22 Convened by the Professional Adviser, the Jury should meet before the launch to examine the regulations and conditions, discuss the programme in detail and visit the site designated for the realization of the project. If for valid reasons such a meeting cannot be physically held a videoconference should be organized. A draft of the brief will be sent to all jury members requesting comments and approval. A site visit is obligatory either at the beginning or during the final meeting of the Jury.
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22 UNESCO Regulations Art. 39.
 
The brief shall clearly state the evaluation criteria, defined in relation to the task and the requirements of the competition. Evaluation criteria of architectural design competitions usually concern: the integration of the project in the site, its functionality, the clarity of the organisation of the programme elements, the quality of the architectural concept, the quality of the proposed spaces, the quality of the aesthetical and architectural expression, the adequacy of the proposed materiality and construction, aspects of environmental and social sustainability, and coherence of the project.
 
The brief must be available at or before the launch of the competition. It must be possible for interested professionals to consult the brief in order to be able to decide upon their participation.
 
The brief should grant competitors the greatest possible liberty to perform their tasks, sufficient time to ask questions as well as sufficient time to develop the project proposals following the receipt of the questions and answers (Q&A) document. Competitors should have about one month from the closing date of registration before the deadline for submitting questions. Competitors should ideally have three months (two months minimum) from the date they receive the answers prior to the deadline for the submission of entries.23
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23 See also “Timetable for a one-stage competition seeking UIA approval”
 
It is not possible, under any circumstances, to shorten stated deadlines.
 
Publishing the conditions constitutes a contract binding the client. By registering for the competition and delivering an entry the competitors accept the regulations and conditions of the competition as stated in the brief and clarified in the Q&A document.24
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24 UNESCO Regulations Art. 16.
 
 

4.3 Appropriate conditions and requirements

 
Competitors should only be requested to submit relevant requirements for the evaluation of the entries. Competition submission material shall be limited to the minimum required for a qualified decision by the jury. The degree of detail required for the competition entry should be appropriate to the task and the competition type. The evaluation should focus on the quality of the concepts. Asking for too much precision in a competition entry may distort the evaluation by focusing the analysis on details, to the detriment of the overall quality and comprehension of the project.
 
Competitors should not be required to submit cost estimations for the realization of the project. It is preferable that the client mandates an independent specialist to calculate the cost so that a consistent method is used in order to compare the costs of the short listed projects. Cost estimates should not be a determining factor in the jury's decision. The client may, however, ask competitors to provide calculations of the surface area (m²) or volume (m³) of a building according to the method specified in the programme, or ask the professional advisor to make such calculations of the short listed projects, for the purpose of comparison of the projects by the Jury.
 
The brief must precisely indicate the requirements concerning the number, nature, scale, metric system, as well as the dimensions of the documents, plans, models and other materials that the competitors must submit.25 Graphic restrictions, if any, must be clearly stated. The format of the submitted documents must conform to applicable document post and transport conditions. This applies especially when models are required.
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25 UNESCO Regulations Art. 13.
 
If plans are to be submitted digitally, the client must have a specialist download and print these at the client's expense. It is critical that the submissions be physically present during the jury's evaluation process.
 
Competitors are allowed to enter only one project in the competition. Variants are not permitted.
 
 

4.4 Professional and independent jury

 
The competitors are guaranteed a professional evaluation of their submitted creative work. The majority of the jury members shall therefore be qualified professionals: architects, landscape architects, town-planners and interior designers, with pertinent professional experience and qualifications at least equivalent to the standards required of the participants. The majority of the jury members shall be professionals in the main discipline of the competition task. The majority of jury members must also be independent from the client. All jury members must be independent from the participants.
 
Members of the jury are appointed by the client and are often recommended by the professional adviser or by professional organizations. The jury composition and the profiles of the jury members contribute decisively to high participation in the competition. When composing the jury, consideration should be given to include generalists who are capable of providing a balanced and holistic evaluation, especially in competitions involving multidisciplinary teams.
 
For international competitions conducted according to UNESCO Regulations, the majority of the jury must also be composed of members of different nationalities, at least one of whom is appointed by the UIA as its representative.26
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26 UNESCO Regulations Art. 35 and 36.
 
The jury shall be established before the launch of the competition, with names of the jury members announced in the brief.27 This is in order to avoid conflicts of interest, or the appearance thereof. In open procedures competitors are responsible for identifying conflicts of interest that would prohibit them from participating in the competition.
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27 UNESCO Regulations Art. 33.
 
In restricted procedures and procedures by invitation, both competitors and jury members are responsible for signalling any potential conflict of interest that would oblige either the participant or the jury member to withdraw.
 
No jury member shall take part either directly or indirectly in the competition, or be entrusted directly or indirectly with any commission resulting from the competition.28
____________
28 UNESCO Regulations Art. 40.
 
The jury chair (also called president) is appointed by the client or elected at the first jury meeting. The chair, who should be an independent professional in the main discipline of the task of the competition, directs the jury sessions, assures that the competition regulations are respected, and represents the jury as needed once the competition is complete.
 
A jury should be composed of an uneven number, not to exceed nine. Jury decisions are taken by majority vote. The chair has the deciding vote in case of a tie.
 
In the case a regular jury member cannot perform his or her duty, due to illness or unavoidable absence during the evaluations, the client must appoint one or more alternate jury members. The recommended proportion is one alternate to four jury members. Alternate jury members are to attend all jury meetings, but do not have the right to vote unless officially replacing an excused voting member.
 
If a voting jury member misses the first meeting, the alternate shall acquire his or her vote for the entire period of evaluation. If for any reason a voting jury member has to absent him or herself for a brief period of time, the alternate jury member shall acquire the vote for that period, and any decision taken in that time shall be binding. If a voting jury member is absent for a prolonged period, or leaves before the conclusion of the evaluation, the alternate shall acquire his or her vote for the remainder of the evaluation period.29
____________
29 UNESCO Regulations Art. 37 and 38.
 
As a general rule in competitions endorsed by the UIA the members of the jury are appointed by the client after approval by the UIA. The UIA appoints one jury member and one alternate jury member as its representatives in the jury.30
____________
30 UNESCO Regulations Art. 47
 
As coordinated by the Professional Advisor, the jury may seek specific council from experts in specialized fields. These experts provide only an advisory role.
 
The client is to pay an adequate honorarium to each jury member and to possible experts, as well as all travel expenses and accommodation.31
____________
31 UNESCO Regulations Art. 47
 
 

4.5 Anonymity of entries

 
All entries must be submitted and evaluated anonymously. Authors shall remain anonymous until the evaluation process has been completed and the jury has ranked the entries, awarded the prizes and signed the jury report.32
____________
32 UNESCO Regulations Art. 7
 
Anonymous entries facilitate objective evaluation. Anonymity also protects the client and the jury members from possible accusations of favouritism or personal motives.
 
A competition entry shall be excluded from the evaluation process if its author violates the presumption of anonymity. Rigorous measures shall be taken to ensure that anonymity is scrupulously observed. Competition regulations shall stipulate that all documents are to be submitted anonymously. Names, logotypes, symbols or other identifying marks may not appear in any form.
 
Each competitor shall place a secret code on all entry documents. The brief will give specifications concerning the form of the code. The identification of the competitor will be placed in a sealed identification envelope carrying the code on its front.
 
If according to the competition regulations the entries must be submitted in person, by post or courier, the identification of the competitor will be placed in a sealed identification envelope carrying the code on its front. A person of confidence, who is not related to and does not get in contact with the jury will receive the entries, unpack the parcels and destroy the outer wrapping which might have the address of the expeditor. Upon reception of the entries the identification envelopes will be taken apart and kept by the professional advisor in a safe until the jury has awarded the prizes and signed its report. Then the jury president will open the identification envelopes and reveal the identity of the authors.
 
If according to the competition regulations the entries must be submitted digitally the registration and submission system must be specially constructed to ensure anonymity of the competitors through the competition from registration to the end of the evaluation process. At registration competitors receive a number which they will use to log into the system and then upload their entries directly on the competition website. Digital entries must be printed by the technical committee on paper for the evaluation process at the expenses of the client.
 
An opportunity must be given to the competitors to actualize the data concerning the author's identification, for instance with information concerning an enlarged composition of the team, at the time of the submission of the entries.33
____________
33 For practical advice regarding “Author / identification“ see Glossary.
 
In two-stage competitions, any communication with the authors of the projects chosen to participate at the second stage will be done through a notary, who will open the identification envelopes at the end of the first stage and keep the identities secret.34
____________
34 For practical advice regarding “Anonymity“ see Glossary.
 
 

4.6 Adequate prizes, prize money, honoraria and recognition

 
The reward for submitted projects in the competition consists of prize-money plus, in the case of a project competition, the right of the winner to be awarded the commission to realize the project design. Prizes are recognitions and do not cover the work done by the competitors for the competition. Competition prizes and honoraria are not constituent elements of a later fee; they are paid in addition to the fees.
 
Clients must allocate adequate prize-money for the highest ranked projects. The competition regulations must state the number of prizes (no less than three) and the amount of total prize-money that will be awarded. The total sum allocated for prizes and mentions must be determined in relation to the task, the size of the project, the amount of work and the probable expenses incurred by competitors.35 In order to have widespread participation in international competitions, the prize-money should be attractive to competitors from all countries.
____________
35 UNESCO Regulations Art. 19.
 
The UIA recommends awarding between 3 and 10 prizes and between 1 and 4 mentions (purchases).
 
A certain percentage, no more than 30% of the total prize-money may be designated for mentions. Honourable mentions do not receive prize-money.
 
The number of prizes and mentions announced in the competition brief must be awarded. The remuneration for each prize shall be clearly stated in the brief. A first prize should be awarded. Tie (ex-aequo) prizes should be avoided. The total prize-money must in any case be paid out in full within the stipulated time.
 
If the number of participants turns out to be equal to or fewer than the number of prizes announced in the brief, the jury may reduce the total prize money and the number of prizes proportionately. The total prize-money may be reduced up to fifty percent. Notwithstanding, at least three prizes must be awarded.
 
In ideas competitions, where there is no intention to realize a completed, tangible project, the prize money shall take into consideration that the first prize should recompense the winner for the work he / she has done for the competition.36
____________
36 UNESCO Regulations Art. 20.
 
Every competitor who submits an entry to the second stage of a two-stage competition is to receive an equal remuneration (honorarium). This sum is intended to reimburse the finalists for the additional work carried out in the second stage and shall be in addition to the prizes awarded. The sum of the remuneration must be stated in the regulations of the competition and correspond to the work required.37
____________
37 UNESCO Regulations Art. 23.
 
In a restricted competition an appropriate sum of the total prize-money may be distributed equally between the competitors. Each competitor in a competition by invitation shall receive equal remuneration (honorarium) proportionate to the work required for the competition in addition to the prizes awarded.38
____________
38 UNESCO Regulations Art. 22.
 
The currency prizes and eventual honoraria will be paid must be clearly stated in the brief. It must also be stated if taxes have to be withhold on prizes and honoraria from foreign competitors. The client must pay the prizes within a specified period, usually one month, after the announcement of the competition results.39
____________
39 UNESCO Regulations Art. 21.
 
 

4.7 Clear declaration of intent and obligations of the client

 
In both ideas and project competitions, clients must state clearly how they intend to use results of the competition.40 The regulations for ideas competitions should state that the competitors retain and reserve all design rights included in their submissions. In project competitions, the declaration of intent must include a commitment to award an appointment contract with sufficient scope of work to the winner.41
____________
40 UNESCO Regulations Art. 24.
41 UNESCO Regulations Art. 25.
 
The author of the first prize is awarded the commission for the design services in addition to the prize money. As a general rule the design services cover the standard mission of the respective disciplinary field and imperatively include the architectural direction of the project. The scope of services to be awarded the winner must be explicitly defined in the brief.
 
If the winner of a project competition is unable to satisfy the jury of the ability to carry out the work, the jury may recommend collaboration with another architect of his choice appointed by the jury and the client.42 This provision is a precaution in the interest of the client and the realization of the winning project. It makes it possible for inexperienced architects to win the competition and to realize the project.
____________
42 UNESCO Regulations Art. 25.
 
It is important that the winner choose a complementary partner with whom he/she feels compatible.
 
This choice should ideally be made in mutual agreement between the winner and the client in order to avoid any kind of conflict. The contractual arrangements of such collaborations vary from case to case, but in most cases and in particular in the frame of public procurement the helping architect will have to be a subcontractor of the winner architect.
 
It is also possible to envision that a professional association or a senior architect guarantees the work of the inexperienced winner.
 
In certain cases, a partnership or other relationship between the prize-winning architect and a local architect of the promoting country may be a legal requirement and must therefore be clearly stipulated as a condition in the competition regulations.
 
The regulations for project competitions should state that the first prize-winner will receive compensation (at least equal to the amount of the first prize) if no contract for carrying out the project has been signed within a specified time, usually two years, since the announcement of the competition results.43
____________
43 UNESCO Regulations Art. 26.
 
In ideas competitions if the client intends to make use of all or part of the winning or any other scheme shall whenever possible consider some collaboration with its author. The terms of collaboration must be acceptable to the latter. Such intention must be clearly stated in the brief.44
____________
44 UNESCO Regulations Art. 27.
 
 

4.8 Analytical evaluation and binding decisions of the jury

 
The jury shall examine the entries submitted anonymously on the basis of the evaluation criteria indicated in the brief. The jury is autonomous in its decisions and sovereign in matters of evaluation. Its decisions are final and must be accepted by the client and the competitors. The jury shall document and explain its rationale in the Jury Report.
 
Jury members are bound to confidentiality regarding the jury proceedings and the opinions of other members. Jury members are obliged to judge objectively and to respect the regulations of the competition.
 
At the opening session, all jurors shall declare that they have not seen nor been involved in any of the projects before the meeting. In the case of a juror having knowledge of an entry, he/she must withdraw from the jury. The alternate jury member will replace him/her.
 
The Professional Adviser and/or the Technical Committee should exclude any entry, which arrives after the deadlines for reception of submissions or which violates the principle of anonymity before the jury examines the competition entries. The jury should exclude any material not required under the regulations before it examines the entry and any entry considered incomplete.45
____________
45 UNESCO Regulations Art. 44.
 
The jury shall disqualify any entry that does not conform to the mandatory requirements or regulations of the competitions.46 A competition entry should not receive a prize if it deviates substantially from the terms specified in the competition. Such entry projects may be awarded special commendations in form of honorary mention, if the jury finds them noteworthy.
____________
46 UNESCO Regulations Art. 45.
 
All entries for the competition must be presented to the jury and evaluated under identical conditions.
 
The physical presence of the submitted materials is obligatory. If the entries were sent digitally, the professional adviser must ensure the plans are printed on paper at the client's expense and exhibited in a room where the jury members can view them with ease and in confidence.
 
It is not recommended to organize the evaluation process in two stages, the first stage being conducted on line for initial short listing and the second in the physical presence of the projects. The evaluation process is a group dynamic opinion making process. The opinion of other jury members and the exchange of arguments are important aspects of the evaluation process. Jury members should be physically present during the evaluation process meetings.
 
The client will provide for the jury a conference room as well as a secretariat responsible for keeping the minutes of the meetings and recording the decisions. In some cases, the Professional Adviser may undertake these tasks. The client will also provide translation if necessary to facilitate communication between jury members.
 
During the jury meeting it is not allowed that external people (for instance representatives of the client, journalists etc.) enter the premises where the projects are exhibited. Any kind of disturbance or interference of the work of the jury must be avoided.
 
The jury evaluates the entries on the basis of the evaluation criteria, which were defined in relation with the task and the requirements of the competition and announced in advance in the brief.47
____________
47 See usual «evaluation criteria» for architectural design competitions in Glossary.
 
The jury examines the entries in succession, eliminates projects with obvious faults and shortlists the projects with evident qualities to be re-examined in depth. The professional members of the jury should explain the attributes of each project to non-professional members, make a clear analysis and justify their arguments.
 
The final evaluation is not a simple addition of the weight given to each criterion. The whole is more than the sum of its parts. It is the interaction of all criteria and not isolated criteria, which is decisive for the final evaluation of a project.
 
The jury must attribute the prizes thoughtfully and decisively. The final decision of the jury must include a ranking of the finalists and the allocation of the announced prizes.48 It is recommended to make a control tour before allocating the prizes.
____________
48 UNESCO Regulations Art. 46.
 
The winner of a competition is the author of the first prize. However, in the exceptional case that the jury finds none of the submitted projects satisfactory and convincing, it must explain and justify this rare situation in its report. The jury must nonetheless rank and attribute the prizes.
 
The jury shall document the evaluation process and its decisions in a report, which shall be distributed or made available to the competitors and the public at the end of the competition. All jury members and alternates who participated in the evaluation process shall sign the report.49 The report usually includes:
• discussion of the general criteria of the competition, broad assessment of the competition entries, documentation of the general evaluation process and explanation of conclusions
• descriptions and critics of shortlisted competition entries taking under consideration all requested disciplines
• decisions made respectively to exclusion of entries, award of prizes and mentions
• recommendations addressed to the client and the winner for the further development of the winning entry
____________
49 UNESCO Regulations Art. 42.
 
The amount of time that the client provides the jury (generally three to five days) for the evaluation and adjudication process is largely dependent on the number of entries. In two-stage competition, this time frame is valid for both evaluation periods. In two-stage competitions, the same jury shall judge both stages. The ranking and the awarding of prizes shall take place at the end of the second stage.
 
 

4.9 Respect of intellectual property and author’s rights

 
Entries remain the intellectual property of the competitors. The Client may use the design of the first prize only if the author is commissioned to carry out the project. No design, whether or not awarded a prize, may be used wholly or in part by the client except by agreement with its author.50
____________
50 UNESCO Regulations Art. 30.
 
The author of any design retains the copyright and the author's rights of his/her work; no alterations may be made without his formal consent.51 The winning design can only be used once unless the competition regulations provide for repetitive work and specify the terms.52 Unless otherwise stated in the regulations, the author of any design shall retain the right of reproduction.53
____________
51 UNESCO Regulations Art. 29.
52 UNESCO Regulations Art. 31.
53 UNESCO Regulations Art. 32.
 
After the competition, the winning project will be further developed and finalised by its author in dialog with the client. In the further development the architectural concept of the project should neither be questioned nor be compromised.
 
All competitors must guarantee that their submitted entries do not violate intellectual property rights and that they are the authors of the submitted design.
 
Following a mutually assumed agreement, the client and each competitor share the right to publicise competition entries, provided that the authors and the client are mentioned. In some cases the competition brief will include particular specifications regarding publication and exhibition of the entries.
 
The client has the right to retain all reproducible material (plans, photographs and other materials in paper or digital form) pertaining to the entries that received prizes or mentions. Models shall be returned to their authors. All materials of the entries other than those who have received prizes or mentions shall be destroyed at the end of the exhibition unless provision is made to the contrary in the regulations of the competition.54
____________
54 UNESCO Regulations Art. 51.
 
The client shall insure competitors' entry material from the time of receipt and for the duration of his or her responsibility.55
____________
55 UNESCO Regulations Art. 28.
 
 

4.10 Publication rights, exhibition and communication

 
The client shall notify all registered competitors of the results of the competition and of the date and place of the public exhibition. He /she shall send them a copy of the jury report or indicate the link, where the report may be downloaded.56 The client shall further provide an adequate release of the competition results to the professional and daily press. It should be mentioned in the brief where and how the client intends to publicize the results of the competition.
____________
56 UNESCO Regulations Art. 49.
 
After the conclusion of the competition, the client is obliged to exhibit all entries alongside the names of their authors. All competition entries, including those disqualified by the jury, with the names of their authors, shall be exhibited publicly for a specified time (minimum 14 days). The exhibition shall be open free of charge.57 Online exhibitions may also be considered in addition to the physical exhibition.
____________
57 UNESCO Regulations Art. 48.
 
The client shall publicise the competition results in the appropriate media outlets. The client and the UIA have the right to publish entry material (plans, visualizations and photos etc.) of the awarded projects in competitions that have received UIA endorsement.58
____________
58 UNESCO Regulations Art. 49.
 
Competitors may not publish their submitted project in magazines, books or on their website before the results of the competition have been announced. The same limitation is required of the jury and the client.
 
In two-stage competitions, designs submitted in the first stage shall be held confidential until the final results are announced. The projects of the first stage will also be exhibited, together with the projects of the second stage, at the end of the second stage.59
____________
59 UNESCO Regulations Art. 50.
 

 

 

5.0 Dispute Resolution

 
A provision for a dispute resolution must be included in the competition regulations.
 
In public procurement national or international legislation usually specifies the legal authority where competition participants can raise a claim concerning the competition procedure.
 
The jury members are the sole arbiters at all stages, up to the final prize giving. Jury's decisions cannot be disputed and must be accepted by the client and the competitors. Disputes may only concern formal aspects and administrative handling of the submissions.
 
Any dispute concerning competition procedures should be examined by the relevant national professional organisation before engaging legal procedures. It is therefore recommended that the national professional organization of the country in which the competition is launched provide a national council for solving complaints.
 
In international competitions conducted under the auspices of UIA, it is possible to envisage a conciliation or arbitration process involving UIA, if the member section does not have a national council for solving complaints. Such provision must be explicitly agreed in advance and stated in the competition regulations in order to apply.
 
The arbitration board should be composed by representatives of the UIA International Competitions Commission. Another arbitration procedure could involve the appointment of three arbiters, one to be nominated by each party and the third by the UIA International Competitions Commission. The expenses resulting from any conciliation or arbitration procedure shall be shared by the two interested parties.
 

 

 

APPENDIX A

 

GLOSSARY

explanation of terms and detailed descriptions

 
 

Anonymity

 
The consequent separation of competition entries from the identities of their authors. It is essential that anonymity be maintained until the final evaluation has been concluded, the prizes attributed and the jury report signed. In two-stage competitions anonymity must be respected until after the final evaluation, at the end of the second stage. A competition entry shall be excluded from the evaluation process if its author violates the principle of anonymity.
 
Practical advice
 
In the interest of the competition rigorous measures shall be taken to ensure that the principle of anonymity is scrupulously observed. The competition regulations shall stipulate that all documents shall be submitted anonymously. Each competitor shall place a secret code on all entry documents. The brief will give specifications concerning the form of the code. Name, logo or any other mark that may identify the competitor, must not appear under any form.
 
In order to maintain anonymity in two stage competitions a person of confidence not connected with the jury, for instance a notary should open the envelopes containing the identity of the authors of the designs retained for the second stage and be in charge to communicate them this intermediate result. The envelopes are then sealed until the final evaluation has been carried out at the end of the second stage. Any communication with the authors of the projects chosen to participate at the second stage will be done through the notary.
 
Submission per post
 
If according to the competition regulations the entries must be submitted in person, by post or courier, the identification of the competitor will be placed in a sealed identification envelope carrying the code on its front and containing the identity and complete contact details of the competitor, including also the names of other possible team members and collaborators. A person of confidence, who is not related to and does not get in contact with the jury will receive the entries and unpack the parcels. He/she will be responsible for ensuring that anonymity is maintained and will destroy the outer wrapping, which might have the address of the expeditor required by post offices and courier services. Upon reception of the entries the identification envelopes will be taken apart and kept by the professional advisor in a safe until the jury has awarded the prizes and signed its report.
 
Digital submission
 
If according to the competition regulations the entries must be submitted digitally the registration and submission system must be specially constructed to ensure anonymity of the competitors through the competition from registration to the end of the evaluation process. At registration competitors receive a number which they will use to log into the system and then upload their entries directly on the competition website.
 
 
 

Author / Authors

 
The responsible persons who designed the submitted project. The author may be a single person or a team, a firm or a team of firms.
 
Identification
 
The names of the author/authors and their collaborators and in multidisciplinary competitions the names of all team members must be mentioned in the identification envelope.
 
In digital submissions an opportunity must be given to the competitors to actualize the data concerning the author's identification, for instance with information concerning an enlarged composition of the team at the time of the submission of the entries. This can be done in following way: the competitors will submit in addition their actualized identification sheet including identity and complete contact details of the competitor, as well as the names of other possible team members and collaborators, the code they used on all entry panels and the registration number of the competitor, to a mail address of a person of confidence, who is not related to and does not get in contact with the jury, for instance a notary. He will keep the information secret until the jury has awarded the prizes and signed its report. Then he/she will transmit the identification sheets to the president of the jury who will reveal the identity of the authors.
 
 
 

Award

 
An acknowledgment or recognition of merit in a realized project, whose authors are known (unlike a competition).
 
 
 

Brief

 
A complete document providing:
a) an introduction explaining briefly the task and the objectives of the competition
b) the regulations of the competition
c) the programme (design charge)
d) any necessary attachments giving additional information and useful documents.
 
 
 

Client

 
The organizer of the competition, who is usually also the contracting entity. Clients may be private or public persons, companies or institutions. Often referred to as the Sponsor or the Promotor.
 
 
 

Code (alphanumeric)

 
For instance x digits + x letters, is a means used by the competition organizers in the regulations to ensure the anonymity of competition participants, while permitting eventual tracking of entries with their authors.
 
 
 

Code (deontological)

 
Ethical rules of conduct concerning all involved parties in a competition. Examples in regard to jury members: In the case of a juror having knowledge of an entry he/she must withdraw from the jury. No member of the jury shall take part either directly or indirectly in that competition, or be entrusted directly or indirectly with a commission connected with the carrying out of the object of the competition. Jury members are bound to confidentiality regarding the jury proceedings and the opinion of other members.
 
 
 

Competition

 
A formalised procedure for evaluating design proposals in architecture, town-planning, landscape and other related fields, for which qualified persons or teams propose ideas, concepts or project solutions for a required task und submit anonymously entries to be evaluated by a professional and independent jury.
 
Design competitions
 
Competitions addressed to architects and specialists of related fields. In project competitions the author of the first prize is commissioned with design services.
 
Design + built competitions
 
Usually organized as two-stage project competitions these competitions combine the design with the bid for the realization of the project. They are addressed to teams of architects and specialists of related fields together with general contractors. The winner team is awarded the design services and the contract for the construction. The UIA neither promotes nor recommends design + built competitions. The cost of the construction becomes a criterion of evaluation. It is recommended to first evaluate the quality and only leave qualitative good projects compete on the prize.
 
Ideas competition
 
Ideas competitions demonstrate numerous conceptual proposals and elucidate architectural, urban planning and related design challenges. The winning project is in general not destined for realization and its author is therefore not commissioned as architect. In certain cases winners may however be retained as consultants for later works. Ideas competitions are usually organized in one stage, but may also be the first stage of a two-stage competition.
 
International competition
 
Designates a competition open to competing architects, town planners and professionals of related fields, who are of different nationalities and reside in different countries, to be evaluated by a jury also composed of members of different nationalities. Such competitions may be organized according to the UNESCO Regulations under the aegis of UIA. One jury member will be appointed by UIA as its representative.
 
Multidisciplinary competition
 
Teams representing two or more design disciplines, at the behest of the client, who wishes to impose the collaboration of a combination of disciplines in a given team (such as architectural and landscape design). Participating architects may be asked to involve professionals from another discipline (ecology, energy or traffic, for example) as consultants. The architect is the leader of such collaborations. The names of all team members and consultants must be included in the identification envelope. The multidisciplinarity of the team should be reflected in the composition of the jury. However a holistic approach must be guaranteed. When the client asks for interdisciplinary collaboration he/she is committed to commission all the team members of the winning project. Such specifications must be stated in the brief. Architects and professionals in related field can only participate in one team. Specialists in a certain field may however consult more than one team if their field is highly rare and if their contribution is not decisive for the project. Such specialists are bound by confidentiality.
 
One-stage competition
 
One-stage (single stage) competitions are advised for most architectural design tasks. For competitions organized in one-stage only the relevant plans in an appropriate scale should be required. A competition launched as a one-stage competition should not proceed to a second stage because this violates the principle of transparency. In exceptional cases the possibility to proceed with a second stage could be stated in the brief of one-stage competition as an option. This would meet the requirements of transparency but should preferably be avoided since it leaves some uncertainty to the competitors.
 
Project competition
 
A project competition demonstrates numerous solutions for the intended realization of a project. The aim of a project competition is to find the best solution for a project that will be realized, the author of the first prize being commissioned as architect for the design services in view of the realisation of the project. Project competitions can be organized as one or two stage competitions. Wherever possible project competitions should be organized as one-stage competitions.
 
Student competition
 
Intended solely for students enrolled in accredited architecture programmes (or in related fields, where appropriate) and mainly for training purposes. These competitions are usually ideas competitions without a concrete project commission for the first prize winner.
 
Competitions open to both students and professionals are not recommended. They compromise the principle of equal treatment in regard to eligibility requirements as well as the notion of professionalism.
 
Young architects competition
 
Intended solely for architects up to a certain age, aiming mainly to help young professionals start their career.
 
Two-stage competition
 
A two-stage competition is generally suited only for particularly complex architectural tasks, as these involve heavy commitments and expenses for both clients and participants. Reasonable honoraria shall be paid to each of the competitors whose projects are selected by the jury for the second stage if they submit an entry. This remuneration is intended for the additional work carried out in the second stage and shall be in addition to the prizes awarded. The sum of this remuneration must be stated in the regulations of the competition and correspond to the work required.
 
In two-stage competitions the first stage may be an ideas competition and the second stage a project competition or both stages may be a project competitions. In both cases the second stage may be restricted to only part of the subject matter dealt within the first stage. In two-stage competitions the first stage should have reasonably light requirements.
 
Any communication with the authors of the projects chosen to participate at the second stage will be done through a notary.
 
It is not recommended to make the names of those competitors selected to proceed to the second stage public. Each competitor who participates at the second stage receives an individual critique of the jury for his project of the first stage. The jury might also make general remarks, which will be communicated to all participants of the second stage. If necessary, at the end of the first stage with the agreement of the client, the jury may clarify or amplify points in the competition conditions for the benefit of the second stage.
 
Stage two entries shall carry the same code as in stage one. Anonymity must be respected until after the final evaluation, at the end of the second stage. The same jury evaluates both stages. The ranking and the awarding of prizes will take place at the end of the second stage.
 
It is not recommended to consult the opinion of third parties or the public between the two stages. This can compromise the principle of anonymity, influence the jury and falsify the professional judgement.
 
The period between the two stages must be compatible with the work to be submitted by the competitors in the second stage and may not be less than two months. Publication and exhibition of all the projects submitted, including first stage projects, will take place at the end of the second stage.
 
 
 

Competitor

 
Refers to the participants in a competition who submit an entry. Competitor can be a single participant, a single office or an association of single professionals or an association of offices. In case of an association it is recommended to define a leader in advance.
 
 
 

Conflicts of interest

 
Eventual conflicts of interest between client and competitors or jury members and competitors must be recognized at the beginning of the procedure, declared and in any case avoided. Anyone employed by the client or a jury member, anyone closely related to the client, a jury member or the professional adviser and anyone involved in the preparation of the competition will not be eligible to compete or to assist competitors. In open procedures competitors are responsible for identifying conflicts of interest that would prohibit them from participating in the competition. In restricted procedures and procedures upon invitation, both competitors and jury members are responsible for signalling any potential conflict of interest that would oblige either the participant or the jury member to withdraw. These rules should be stated in the competition brief in order to remind the involved parties of their responsibilities.
 
 
 

Registration fee

 
Inscription fee the client may ask competitors to pay in form of a deposit in order to register for the competition. Registration fees should be avoided. Electronic documents can be made accessible on a website and reproduction costs avoided. The payment of a deposit is only justified when a base model is delivered to the competitors. As a general rule where a payment of a deposit is required, this deposit shall be promptly returned to competitors who submit an entry.
 
 
 

Design services

 
As a general rule, the design services cover the standard mission of the respective disciplinary field and imperatively include the architectural direction of the project. The scope of services to be awarded must be explicitly defined in the brief.
 
 
 

Evaluation

 
Analytical process by which the jury shall examine the entries submitted anonymously on the basis of the criteria indicated in the brief. It is the interaction of all criteria and not an isolated criterion, which is decisive for the final evaluation of a project. The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
 
Evaluation Process
 
The jury is autonomous and sovereign in matters of evaluation. At the opening session all jurors shall declare that they have not seen nor been involved in any of the projects before the meeting. In the case of a juror having knowledge of an entry he/she must withdraw from the jury. The alternate will replace him/her.
 
Jury members are obliged to judge objectively and to respect the regulations of the competition. Jury members are bound to confidentiality regarding jury proceedings and personal opinions of other members. The jury shall document and explain its rationale in the jury report.
 
All entries for the competition must be presented to the jury and evaluated under identical conditions. The physical presence of the submitted materials is obligatory. It is not recommended to organize the evaluation process in two stages, the first stage being conducted on line for initial short listing and the second in the physical presence of the projects. The evaluation process is a group dynamic opinion making process. The opinion of other jury members and the exchange of arguments are important aspects of the evaluation process. Jury members should be physically present during the evaluation process meetings.
 
The jury shall disqualify any entry that does not conform to the mandatory requirements or regulations of the competitions. The jury examines the entries in succession, eliminates projects with obvious faults and shortlists the projects with evident qualities to be re-examined in depth. The professional members of the jury should explain the attributes of each project to non-professional members, make a clear analysis and justify their arguments. The jury must attribute the prizes thoughtfully and decisively. The final decision of the jury must include a ranking of the finalists and the allocation of the announced prizes. It is recommended to make a control tour before allocating the prizes.
 
The client will provide adequate premises and translation if necessary to facilitate communication between jury members. During the jury meeting it is not allowed that external people (for instance representatives of the client, journalists etc.) enter the premises where the projects are exhibited. Any kind of disturbance or interference of the work of the jury must be avoided. The amount of time that the client provides the jury (generally three to five days) for the evaluation process is largely dependent on the number of entries.
 
Evaluation Criteria
 
The brief shall clearly state the evaluation criteria, defined in relation to the task and the requirements of the competition. Evaluation criteria of architectural design competitions usually concern: the integration of the project in the site, its functionality, the clarity of the organisation of the programme elements, the quality of the architectural concept, the quality of the proposed spaces, the quality of the aesthetical and architectural expression, the adequacy of the proposed materiality and construction, aspects of environmental and social sustainability, and coherence of the project.
 
 
 

Expert

 
The jury may consult experts for specific advice in specialized fields. Experts are consultants the jury retains only in an advisory capacity and do not have the right to vote. The client pays an adequate honorarium to the experts.
 
 
 

Honorarium

 
A remuneration competitors may receive to cover partially the cost of work to be done in the competition. This is the case in following situations: – In the second stage of a two-stage competition each competitor who submits an entry in that stage shall be remunerated equally. – In a restricted procedure an appropriate sum of the total prize-money can be distributed equally between the competitors. – In a procedure by invitation each competitor shall receive an equal remuneration in relation to the work required for the competition in addition to the prizes awarded.
 
Honoraria are not constituent elements of a later fee; they are paid in addition to the fees.
 
 
 

Jury

 
The panel in charge of approving the brief, the Questions + Answers Document, evaluating and ranking the entries.
 
The jury is composed of a majority of well-respected and renowned professionals (architects, landscape architects, town-planers, interior designers) with professional experience relevant to the task. The jury professionals should hold “at least equivalent qualifications” in their respective disciplines as is required of the participants. The majority of the professionals shall be professionals in the main discipline of the competition task. The majority of the jury members must also be independent from the client. All jury members must be independent from the participants.
 
For international competitions conducted according to UNESCO Regulations, the majority of the jury must also be composed of members of different nationalities.
 
As a general rule in competitions endorsed by the UIA the members of the jury are appointed by the client after approval by the UIA. The UIA appoints one jury member and one alternate jury member as its representatives in the jury.60
____________
60 UNESCO Regulations Art. 50.
 
The jury is independent, autonomous and sovereign. A jury should be composed of an uneven number, not to exceed nine. The jury members meet in person and exchange opinions during the evaluation process. The Jury's decisions are taken by majority vote.
 
Members of the jury are appointed by the client and are often recommended by the professional adviser or by professional organizations. The composition of the jury and the profile of the jury members are decisive factors for success and in encouraging participation in the competition. When composing the jury, consideration should be given to include generalists who are capable of providing a balanced and holistic evaluation, especially in competitions involving multidisciplinary teams.
 
The jury shall be established before the launch of the competition, with names of the jury members announced in the brief. This is in order to avoid conflicts of interest, or the appearance thereof. No jury member shall take part either directly or indirectly in the competition, or be entrusted directly or indirectly with any commission resulting from the competition.
 
The client is to pay an adequate honorarium to each jury member and alternate member as well as all travel expenses and accommodation.
 
Alternate jurors
 
Also known as Deputy Members, are appointed by the client (preferably in the proportion of one alternate to four jury members) to replace regular jury members who may unexpectedly be unable to perform their duties and responsibilities. Alternates must attend all jury meeting, without having the right to vote, in order to replace a member in the event of illness or unavoidable absence that may occur during the evaluation process. The alternate will then officially replace the absent member. In multidisciplinary competitions alternate members should be provided for all concerned disciplines.
 
If a voting jury member misses the first meeting, the alternate shall acquire his or her vote for the entire period of evaluation. If for any reason a voting jury member has to absent him or herself for a brief period of time, the alternate jury member shall acquire the vote for that period, and any decision taken in that time shall be binding. If a voting jury member is absent for a prolonged period, or leaves before the conclusion of the evaluation, the alternate shall acquire his or her vote for the remainder of the evaluation period.
 
Independent jury member
 
is neither an employee of the client nor depends financially on the client. The majority of jury members must be independent from the client. All jury members must be independent from the competitors.
 
Chair
 
Also known as president of the jury. Appointed by the client or elected by the jury at its first meeting, the chair directs the jury sessions, checks that competition regulations are respected, processes the casting vote in a tied jury and represents the jury if needed after the competition is terminated. The chair is ideally an independent professional in the main discipline of the task of the competition.
 
Decisions
 
Jury's decisions are binding for the client. The jury acts independently and is autonomous in its decisions. Jury's decisions are taken by majority vote. The chairman has the casing vote in a tie.
 
Report
 
The jury documents its evaluation process and its decisions in the final “Report of the Jury”. The report, signed by all jury members and alternates who have participated in the evaluation process, is then distributed or made available to the competitors and the public at the end of the competition. The report usually includes:
- discussion of the general criteria of the competition, broad assessment of the competition entries, documentation of the general evaluation process and explanation of conclusions
- descriptions and critics of shortlisted competition entries taking under consideration all requested disciplines
- decisions made respectively to exclusion or entries, award of prizes and mentions
- recommendations addressed to the client and the winner for the further development of the winning entry
 
Secretariat
 
Provided by the client for the jury to keep the minutes of the meeting, record the decisions and help with the composition of the jury's report. The Professional Advisor may assume the role of the Secretariat.
 
 
 

Language, official

 
In order to ensure equal conditions all competitors must use the same language for the entry documents. For this purpose one language must be declared as the official language for the competition. The brief and all competition documents must be written in the declared official language. The jury must use the official language of the competition. The client must provide translation if necessary so that all jury members understand the comments of other jury members.
 
 
 

Mention

 
Mention, sometimes called purchase, is recognition (special commendation) for an entry proposal, which presents a particular merit. The jury allocates prize-money to projects, which receive a mention as stated in the brief.
 
A competition entry, which substantially deviates from the terms specified in the competitions and does not conform to the mandatory requirements or regulations of the competition may, if it presents a particular merit, receive a honorary mention. Projects distinguished as honorary mentions do not receive prize-money.
 
 
 

Parties, involved

 
The term “involved parties” includes principally the client, the jury and the competitors but also the professional advisor and technical committee. For a competition to be successful, all involved parties must assume their role and responsibilities to their best endeavours.
 
 
 

Prequalification (PQ)

 
Procedure used to select candidates who are interested to participate in restricted competitions. The selection process is a preliminary step and not a first stage of a competition.
 
PQ Procedure
 
The client first issues an open call for candidatures. In this case all interested professionals who are eligible to take part may submit a request to participate accompanied with the required qualification documents. Interested architects will be required to respond to a number of criteria set by the client based on the topic and complexity of the task.
 
A competent panel, including architects who are experienced jurors, or the jury of the competition, which has already been constituted, will examine the candidatures and select a certain number of candidates to participate in the competition. The majority of evaluation panel members should be professionals with professional experience similar to that required of competitors. On the basis of set criteria will be selected those professionals who seem to be more capable of providing a successful solution to the task of the competition.
 
PQ Selection criteria
 
Selection criteria should not be too exclusive, set up too narrow requiring very specific references. It is recommended to avoid selection criteria concerning the financial capacity of the candidates and to focus on the quality of the work they can provide and their references, taking under consideration the architectural quality of both realized and unrealized reference projects. Required references should be reasonable, in relation with or analogous to the task of the competition.
 
 
 

Prizes and Prize-money

 
The reward for submitted projects in the competition consists of prize-money plus, in the case of a project competition, the right of the winner to be awarded the commission to realize the project design. Prizes are recognitions and do not cover the work done by the competitors for the competition. Competition prizes are not constituent elements of a later fee; they are paid in addition to the fees.
 
The total sum allocated for prizes and mentions must be determined in relation to the task, the size of the project, the amount of work required by the competitors as well as the resulting expenses incurred by them.
 
In order to have widespread participation in international competitions, the prize-money should be attractive to competitors from all countries.
 
There shall be minimum 3 and maximum 10 prizes and 1 to 4 mentions (purchases) awarded. Tie (ex aequo) prizes should be avoided. The sum set aside for mentions should not exceed 30% of the total prize-money. The sum to be given to each prize shall be clearly stated in the brief. The number of prizes announced in the brief must be awarded. The total prize-money shall be paid out in full in any case.
 
 
In ideas competitions, when there is no intention to realize the task, the value of prize-money shall take into consideration that the first prize should recompense the winner for the work he/she has done for the competition.
 
In the exceptional case the number of participants unexpectedly turns out to be equal or less than the number of prizes announced in the brief, the jury can reduce the total-prize-money sum up to fifty percent and the number of prizes. At least three prizes must be awarded.
 
The currency prizes and eventual honoraria will be paid must be clearly stated in the brief. It must also be stated if taxes have to be withhold on prizes and honoraria from foreign competitors. The client must pay the prizes within a specified period, usually one month, after the announcement of the competition results.
 
 
 

Procedure

 
The type of procedure refers to the access interested participants have to the competition.
 
Open
 
Any eligible architect (and/or professional in related fields, where appropriate) is permitted to register and submit an entry.
 
The UIA encourages and recommends open competition procedures.
 
Restricted
 
The client applies some restrictions to participation in regard to a field of expertise or a specific experience. Restricted procedure enables the client to select a number of architects (and /or professionals in related fields, where appropriate) who will then be authorized to participate in the competition. Through an appropriate prequalification procedure will be selected the candidates who seem to be more capable for providing a successful solution to the task of the competition. Selected competitors will be paid an adequate honorarium in relation to the work required for the competition in addition to the prizes awarded.
 
By Invitation
 
The client determines which participants will be directly invited to take part to the competition. Each competitor shall receive an equal honorarium in relation to the work required for the competition in addition to the prizes awarded.
 
Combined
 
Open competitions that also include a few invited competitors do not respect the principle of equal treatment and are not advised.
 
 
 

Professional Advisor

 
Sometimes called also Technical Advisor. Preferably an architect appointed by the client to prepare the competition, formulate the conditions and the programme, supervise the conduct of the competition and the Technical Committee. He/she ensures that the competition timetable is respected, supervises the reception of the competitors' questions, dispatches the clients' replies (after the approval of the jury) to all competitors, receives competition entries (that will in fact be carried out by a person of confidence not connected with the jury) and respects the competitors' anonymity at all times. He/she will supervise and control the work of the technical committee, present the report of the technical committee to the jury, assist the Jury and be present during the evaluation process, but will not have a vote. The Professional Advisor also often assumes the role of the secretariat of the competition, keeps the minutes of the jury meetings, records the decisions of the jury and helps with the preparation and redaction of the jury report. The responsibilities of the Professional Advisor concern the organization of the competition.
 
 
 

Programme

 
Is part of the brief and should contain the following basic information, the clarity and organisation of which is a decisive factor for the success of a competition (the list is not exhaustive):
-A brief account of the client's objectives in relation to the project and intentions concerning the competition result.
-A site description accompanied by urban development plans as well as by relevant local parameters, such as climatic or economic and social conditions etc.
-Relevant legal parameters regarding the site and building regulations.
-The client's expectations in terms of architectural, urban or landscape philosophy and performance.
-Environmental constraints in terms of construction, management, comfort, health.
-The list of spaces to plan, their size and their relation to each other (organizational diagram).
-A description of the functions and activities as well as technical and architectural specifications of the various spaces.
-The estimated cost of construction and the elements on which the estimation is based.
-Clear distinction between mandatory requirements for the project and those open to interpretation. Mandatory requirements shall be restricted to the minimum.
-The criteria of evaluation, which indicate to competitors the client's priorities. Ranking of criteria should be avoided.
 
 
 

Questions + Answers

 
Competitors may submit questions regarding the brief, anonymously and in writing, up to a specified date. The Professional Advisor shall prepare the answers after consulting the Client. The answers shall be approved by the Jury and be delivered or made available to all participants on a specified date, minimum two months before the submission deadline. Answers can provide further detail or modify provisions of the competition. One or two opportunities shall be given to the competitors to ask questions regarding the brief.
 
 
 

Ranking

 
The final decision of the jury must include a ranking of the entries and the allocation of the announced prizes. A first prize must be awarded. Tie (ex-aequo) prizes should be avoided. The number of prizes and mentions announced in the brief must be awarded. In two stage competitions, the ranking and the awarding of prizes will take place at the end of the second stage.
 
 
 

Regulations

 
Competition Regulations are part of the brief (see also document “Briefs for UIA Competitions in Architecture and related fields“) and should contain information about following aspects:
-The type of competition and form of procedure
-The name of the Client and the Professional Advisor
-The names and profession of the Jury and Deputy members
-The participation conditions for candidates (eligibility criteria)
-The registration modalities
-The question and answer deadlines and modalities
-The submission modalities
-The number of prizes and mentions to be awarded
-The total prize-money and the prize-money to be allocated to each prize and mention
-The timeline of the competition with all relevant deadlines
-The timeline for the realization of the project in the case of a project competition
-Declaration of intend of the client to commission the winner
-The scope of the commission (services) to be awarded
-Proposed key parameters concerning the following mandate, the contract and the fees
- Declaration concerning a possible required partnership between the winning architect and a local architect (project competition)
-The binding character of relative national legislation and /or professional regulations
-Declaration on how the results of the competition will serve in the case of an idea competition
-The respect of the author's rights
-Publication right of the Client
-Dispute resolution
-Information about the exhibition and return of models
-The list of media outlets to which the client intends to send the press release with the competition results
 
In the case of a UIA endorsed competition the regulations should also include:
-A declaration that the competition will be conducted under the UNESCO Regulations and UIA Guidelines and that the competition has achieved UIA approval
-Information about the nationality of the jury members and the official language
-Publication right of the entries also by UIA
 
 
 

Rights

 
The winner of a project competition has the right to be awarded the commission to realize the project design.
 
Authors' rights
 
Also referred to as Copyright although term is more inclusive.
 
Authors' rights are internationally protected by the Berne Convention. The author is the person or team whose creativity led to the protected work being created.
 
Authors' rights have two distinct components: the economic rights in the work and the moral rights of the author, which are personal and cannot be transferred.
 
Author's rights include several rights like for instance:
- the right to be identified as the author of the work
- the right to object to any distortion or mutilation of the work
- the right to define when, if and how the work can be modified
- the right to realise the work
- the right to publicise the work
 
All competition entries remain the intellectual property of the competitors, who maintain all author rights on their projects. The client can only use the first prize design if he commissions its author to carry out the project. The right to use the design generally covers only one execution, unless the competition regulations provide for repetitive work and specify the terms. No other design, whether it has been awarded a prize or not, may be used wholly or in part by the client except by agreement with its author.
 
Publication right
 
Following a mutually assumed agreement, the client and the competitors have the right to publicise competition entries after the competition is concluded, provided that the authors and the client are mentioned. The brief may include particular specifications regarding publication of the entries. In UIA approved competitions the UIA possesses also the publication rights over the entries. Neither competitors, nor jury members, nor clients have the right to publish or disclose submitted projects in magazines, books or websites before the official release of the competition results.
 
 
 

Technical Committee

 
Appointed by the client and composed of professionals who check, on the basis of a checklist approved by the jury, that entries fulfil the mandatory requirements of the competition and make a report showing the results of this formal examination. The number of members varies according to the number of entries submitted; a large expected number of participants indicates that a larger committee should be in place. The composition of the technical committee should take under consideration that skills in the main discipline of the competition as well as in informatics and secretariat work are needed. Members of the Technical Committee do not enter in contact with the jury and cannot take part in the evaluation process or eliminate an entry. A technical committee is recommended when a large participation of competitors is anticipated.
 
 
 

Two-envelope method

 
In Design and Build (D+B) competitions, which are not recommended by UIA, the offer with the bid for the construction of the project shall be submitted anonymously in a separate envelope in the second stage. This procedure is known as the “two envelopes method”. Only the envelopes containing the bid of the short listed projects, the projects, which will be awarded a prize, shall be opened and compared.
 
 
 

Winner

 
The winner of a competition is the author of the project awarded with the first prize.
 

 

 

APPENDIX B

 

UNESCO STANDARD REGULATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS IN ARCHITECTURE AND TOWN PLANNING

 

INTRODUCTION

 
The purpose of these Standard Regulations is to state the principles upon which international competitions are based and by which promoters should be guided in organizing a competition. They have been drawn up in the interest of both promoters and competitors.
 
 

GENERAL PROVISIONS

 
ARTICLE 1
 
The designation “international” shall apply to any competition in which participation is open to architects, town planners or teams of specialists led by an architect or town planner who are of different nationalities and reside in different countries, as well as to members of other professions working in association with them. Competitions which are open to architects, town planners and professionals working in associations are termed “open”. These Regulations cover both open competitions and restricted competitions (where some form of restriction is imposed) and sometimes special competitions.
 
 
ARTICLE 2
 
International competitions may be classified into “Project” or “Ideas” competitions.
 
 
ARTICLE 3
 
International competitions may be organized in one or two stages.
 
 
ARTICLE 4
 
The regulations and conditions for an international competition shall be identical for all competitors.
 
 
ARTICLE 5
 
A copy of the regulations and full set of conditions for any competition shall be filed with the International Union of Architects, hereinafter referred to as the UIA, and sent free of charge at the same time to all the UIA Member Sections concerned. The answers to the competitors' questions shall also be sent to the UIA and to all UIA Member Sections.
 
 
ARTICLE 6
 
Any set of conditions which is not published in one of the official languages of the International Union of Architects (English, French, Russian and Spanish) shall be accompanied by a translation into at least one of these languages. Such translations shall be issued at the same time as the original language version. Competitions shall not be required to submit material in more than one UIA language.
 
 
ARTICLE 7
 
All competitors' designs shall be submitted and judged anonymously.
 
 
ARTICLE 8
 
Notice of an international competition shall be issued by the promoter and/or the UIA General Secretariat to all Member Sections with a request for publication in technical journals or through other media at their disposal, as far as possible simultaneously, to enable those interested to apply for the regulations and full set of conditions in due time. The announcement shall state where and how copies of the conditions may be obtained and specify that the conditions have received UIA approval (see Article 15).
 
 

PROFESSIONAL ADVISOR

 
ARTICLE 9
 
The promoter shall appoint a Professional Advisor, preferably an architect (but who could be a town planner in the case of a town planning competition), to prepare the conditions and supervise the conduct of the competition.
 
 

DRAWING UP OF THE CONDITIONS

 
ARTICLE 10
 
The conditions for international competitions, whether single or two-stage, open or restricted shall state clearly:
(a) the purpose of the competition and intentions of the promoter;
(b) the nature of the problem to be solved;
(c) all the practical requirements to be met by competitors.
 
 
ARTICLE 11
 
A clear distinction shall be made in the conditions between mandatory requirements of an essential nature and those which permit the competitor freedom of interpretation, which should be as wide as possible. All competition entries shall be submitted in conformity with the regulations.
 
 
ARTICLE 12
 
The necessary background information supplied to competitors (social, economic, technical, geographical, topographical, etc.) must be specific and not open to misinterpretation. Supplementary information and instructions approved by the jury may be issued by the promoter to all competitors selected to proceed to the second stage of a two-stage competition.
 
 
ARTICLE 13
 
The regulations shall state the number, nature, scale and dimensions of the documents, plans or models required and the terms of acceptance of such documents, plans or models. Where an estimate of cost is required, this must be presented in standard form as set out in the regulations.
 
 
ARTICLE 14
 
As a general rule, the promoter of an international competition shall use the metric scale. Where this is not done the metric equivalent shall be annexed to the conditions.
 
 
ARTICLE 15
 
The promoter must obtain the UIA's written approval of the requirements for a competition – including the timetable, registration fee and membership fee of the jury – before announcing that it is being held under the UIA auspices.
 
 

REGISTRATION OF COMPETITORS

 
ARTICLE 16
 
As soon as they have received details of the competition, competitors shall register with the promoter. Registration implies acceptance of the regulations for the competition.
 
 
ARTICLE 17
 
The promoter shall issue to competitors all the necessary documentation for preparing their designs. Where the furnishing of such documentation is conditional on payment of a deposit, unless otherwise stated this deposit shall be returned to competitors who submit a bona fide design.
 
 
ARTICLE 18
 
The names of those competitors selected to proceed to the second stage of a two-stage competition shall be made public only under exceptional conditions to be agreed on by the jury before the launching of the competition.
 
 

PRIZE-MONEY, COMPENSATION AND HONORARIA

 
ARTICLE 19
 
The regulations for any competition must state the number of prizes and the amount of prize-money. This must be related to the size of the project, the amount of work involved for competitors and the resulting expenses incurred by them.
 
 
ARTICLE 20
 
Town-planning competitions are, by their nature, ideas competitions, since the work is generally carried out by official bodies, frequently on a long-term basis. It is therefore particularly important for the promoter to allot adequate prize-money to recompense competitors for their ideas and the work they have done.
 
 
ARTICLE 21
 
The promoter undertakes to accept the decisions of the jury and to pay the prize money within one month of the announcement of the competition results.
 
 
ARTICLE 22
 
Each participant in a competition by invitation shall receive an honorarium in addition to the prizes awarded.
 
 
ARTICLE 23
 
In two-stage competitions, a reasonable honorarium shall be paid to each of the competitors selected to take part in the second stage. This sum, which is intended to reimburse them for the additional work carried out in the second stage, shall be stated in the regulations for the competition and shall be in addition to the prizes awarded.
 
 
ARTICLE 24
 
The regulations shall state the exact use to which the promoter will wish to put the winning design. Designs may not be put to any other use or altered in any way except by agreement with the author.
 
 
ARTICLE 25
 
In project competitions the award of the first prize to a design places the promoter under the obligation to entrust the author of the design with the commission of the project. If the winner is unable to satisfy the jury of his ability to carry out the work, the jury may require him to collaborate with another architect or town-planner of his choice appointed by the jury and the promoter.
 
 
ARTICLE 26
 
In project competitions provision shall be made in the regulations for the competition for the first prize winner to receive as compensation a further sum equal to the amount of the first prize if no contract for carrying out the project has been signed within twenty-four months of the announcement of the jury's award. In so compensating the first prize winner the promoter does not acquire the right to carry out the project except with the collaboration of its author.
 
 
ARTICLE 27
 
In ideas competitions the promoter, if he intends to make use of all or part of the winning or any other scheme, shall whenever possible, consider some form of collaboration with its author. The terms of collaboration must be acceptable to the latter.
 
 

INSURANCE

 
ARTICLE 28
 
The promoter shall insure competitors' designs from the time when he assumes responsibility for them and for the duration of his responsibility. The amount of such insurance will be stated in the regulations.
 
 

COPYRIGHT AND RIGHT OF OWNERSHIP

 
ARTICLE 29
 
The author of any design shall retain the copyright of his work; no alterations may be made without his formal consent.
 
 
ARTICLE 30
 
The design awarded first prize can only be used by the promoter upon his commissioning the author to carry out the project. No other design, whether it has been awarded a prize or not, may be used wholly or in part by the promoter except by agreement with the author.
 
 
ARTICLE 31
 
As a general rule, the promoter's right of ownership on a design covers one execution only. However, the regulations for the competition may provide for repetitive work and specify the terms thereof.
 
 
ARTICLE 32
 
In all cases, unless otherwise stated in the regulations, the author of any design shall retain the right of reproduction.
 
 

THE JURY

 
ARTICLE 33
 
The jury shall be set up before the opening of the competition. The names of the members and reserve members of the jury shall be listed in the regulations for the competition.
 
 
ARTICLE 34
 
As a general rule the members of the jury are appointed by the promoter after approval by the UIA. The UIA shall assist promoters in the selection of jury members.
 
 
ARTICLE 35
 
The jury shall be composed of the smallest reasonable number of persons of different nationalities, and in any event should be an odd number and should not exceed seven. The majority of them shall be independent architects, town-planners or, in special circumstances, other professionals working in association with them.
 
 
ARTICLE 36
 
At least, one member of the jury shall be appointed by the UIA and this should be stated in the regulations for the competition.
 
 
ARTICLE 37
 
It is essential that all full – i.e. voting – and reserve i.e. non-voting – members of the jury be present throughout all meetings of the jury.
 
 
ARTICLE 38
 
If a voting jury member misses the first meeting, a non-voting member shall acquire his vote for the whole period of adjudication. If, for any reason, a voting jury member has to absent himself for a brief period of time, a non-voting member shall acquire his vote for that period and any decision taken shall be binding.
 
If a voting jury member is absent for a prolonged period or leaves before the conclusion of the adjudication, his vote shall be acquired by a non-voting member for the remainder of the period of adjudication.
 
 
ARTICLE 39
 
Each member of the jury shall approve the regulations and conditions for the competition before they are made available to competitors.
 
 
ARTICLE 40
 
No member of the jury for a competition shall take part, either directly or indirectly, in that competition, or be entrusted either directly or indirectly with a commission connected with the carrying out of the object of the competition.
 
 
ARTICLE 41
 
No member of the promoting body, nor any associate or employee, nor any person who has been concerned with the preparation or organization of the competition, shall be eligible to compete or assist a competitor.
 
 
ARTICLE 42
 
The decisions of the jury shall be taken by a majority vote, with a separate vote on each design submitted. In the event of a tied vote, the Chairman shall have the casting vote. The list of awards, as well as the jury's report to the promoter, shall be signed by all members of the jury before they disperse and one copy of this document shall be sent to the UIA.
 
 
ARTICLE 43
 
In two stage competitions, the same jury should judge both stages of the competition. In no case may a competition which has received the UIA approval as a single-stage competition proceed to a second stage except with UIA approval of the conditions and the arrangements for payment of the honoraria to the competitors involved, over and above the prize-money provided for in the original competition. In the event of such a secondary competition taking place, the jury appointed for the original competition must be reappointed by the promoter.
 
 
ARTICLE 44
 
Any drawings, photographs, models or other documents not required under the regulations shall be excluded by the jury before it examines a competitor's entry.
 
 
ARTICLE 45
 
The jury shall disqualify any design which does not conform to the mandatory requirements, instructions or regulations for the competition.
 
 
ARTICLE 46
 
The jury must make awards. The awards shall be final and shall be made public by a date agreed on with the UIA and stated in the competitions. The jury, when distributing the awards, shall make full use of the amount set aside for prizes in the competition conditions. In an ideas competition, a first prize shall be awarded.
 
 
ARTICLE 47
 
The fees and travel and subsistence expenses of jury members shall be paid by the promoter.
 
 

EXHIBITIONS AND ENTRIES

 
ARTICLE 48
 
All designs, including those disqualified by the jury, shall be exhibited, as a general rule, for at least two weeks, together with the copy of the signed report of the jury. The exhibition shall be open to the public free of charge.
 
 
ARTICLE 49
 
The promoter shall notify registered competitors in good time of the date and place of the public exhibition and of the results of the competition, and send them a copy of the jury's report. He shall similarly inform the UIA and all National Member Sections. Photographs of the prize-winning designs shall be sent to the UIA with a view to possible publication.
 
 
ARTICLE 50
 
In two-stage competitions, designs submitted in the first stage shall be kept secret until the final results are announced.
 
 

RETURN OF PROJECTS

 
ARTICLE 51
 
All drawings and plans, other than those which have received prizes or been purchased and are retained by the promoter, shall be destroyed at the end of the public exhibition, unless provision is made to the contrary in the regulations for the competition. When the models are required, these will be returned to their author at the expense of the promoter within a month of the close of the public exhibition.
 

 

 
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