Conditions for conducting architectural competitions

Careful preparation of the competition conditions including schedule of requirement shall be of primary importance for the success of the competition and as such adequate time shall be allowed for this phase of the competition.

1. CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION

1. The publication of competition shall constitute an offer of a contract by the promoter, and, by submission of design for the competition, the competitor accepts this contract.
   
   
2. The competition condition together with any replay to the competitor's questions constitute a legal basis for this contract which is legally binding on both the promoter and competitors.

2. GENERAL CONDITIONS

1. The competition project brief and the conditions of the competition may be prepared by the promoter in consultation with the Senior Architect Assessor. They shall however be approved by the Senior Architect Assessor and the Board of Assessors before publication and issue to the competitors.
   
   
2. The conditions including the programme of requirement of the competition shall be identical for all competitors. A copy of complete competition conditions shall be filed with the Council of Architecture. Answers to the competitor's questions shall also be sent to the Council of Architecture for their record.
   
   
3. The conditions shall clearly indicate which of the requirements are mandatory and which could be freely interpreted by the competitor.
   
   The freedom in case of the latter shall be as wide as possible.
   
   
4. The information supplied to the competitors shall be specific and shall not be open to misinterpretation. Supplementary information if any issued by the Board of Assessors shall be sent to all the competitors simultaneously.
   
   
5. Draft of the conditions of competitions approved as per (i) above shall be submitted to the Council of Architecture for information before publication and issue to the competitors.
   
   
6. The conditions of the competition shall indicate the promoter's priorities with reference to the solution of the problem (e.g. functional aspects, economy of construction or in use, solution to technical or circulation problems etc).
   
   
7. The condition of the competition shall state the exact use to which the promoter will put the winning design. Designs shall not be put to any other use or altered in any way except by agreement with the author.
   
   
8. Where a fixed amount is required to be remitted to with the promoters by the applicants for the 'Conditions of the Competition', it shall be refunded in full to the applicant if he decides not to compete and return the "Conditions of the Competition" in full within four weeks prior to the date of submission of the design.
   
   Submission of design in Competition shall imply acceptance, by the competitor, of the conditions of competition.
   
   
9. Each design shall be accompanied by a declaration on the prescribed form signed by the competitor in a properly sealed envelope that the design is his bonafide work and that the drawings have been prepared under his supervision and that he undertakes to accept the award of the Assessors as final and binding.
   
   
10. In case two or more architects form an association for the purpose of the competition then there shall exist a partnership deed for the purpose of carrying out the project in the event the said association wins the competition. Reference to this partnership must be made in the form of declaration.
    
    
11. The Board of Assessors must make awards which shall be final and binding and shall be made public by a date stated in the conditions.
    
    
12. The Board of Assessors when making an award may at its discretion adopt "promoters' choice".

In this procedure the Board of Assessors shall select not more than three designs which in their opinion are of equal merit and the selection of the winning design from the designs so selected by the Assessors could be made by the promoter.

The promoter may for making the final selection discuss with the authors of the selected designs their respective entries.

3. PRIZE MONEY & HONORARIA

1. The condition for any competition must state the number of prizes and the amount of each prize money. This must be related to the size of the project, the amount of work involved for the competitors and the expenses he would incur for the preparation for the competition.
   
   
2. In Ideas competition and in competitions such as those for Town planning, where subsequently the work is generally carried out by official bodies, it is particularly important to allot adequate prize money to recompensate the competitors for the ideas and the work they have done.
   
   
3. The promoter shall undertake to accept the decision of the Board of Assessors and to pay the prize monies within one month of the announcement of the competition results.
   
   
4. Each participant in a limited competition (or competition by invitation) shall receive an honorarium.
   
   
5. In a two stage competition a reasonable honorarium shall be paid to each of the competitors selected to take part in second stage. This sum which is intended to be reimbursed to them for the additional work carried out in the second stage shall be stated in the conditions for the competition.

4. ANONYMITY

The anonymity of the competitors shall be maintained until the final award of the Board of Assessors and in the interest of the competition, rigorous measures shall be taken to ensure that this principle is adhered to. No competitor shall terminate his anonymity in any way whatsoever till the final award. The anonymity of each competitor shall be guaranteed by adopting suitable measures.

5. COPYRIGHT & RIGHT OF OWNERSHIP

1. Each competitor shall retain copyright in his own competition design.
   
   
2. The competition design awarded the first prize only shall be used by the promoter upon commissioning by him the author of the said design to render professional services to carry out the project.
   
   
3. No other design whether premiated or not shall be used wholly or in part by the promoter.
   
   
4. The promoter's right on the design awarded the first prize or the designs selected covers one execution only. The competition conditions however may provide for repetitive work and shall specify the terms thereof.
   
   
5. Each competitor shall retain the right of reproduction of his design.

6. INSURANCE

The promoter shall insure for damage or loss by fire, floods, or by any other reason Competitor's design drawings submitted in competition when he assumes responsibility for them and for the duration of his responsibility and also for loss during transit when the design drawings are being returned to the competitor. The amount of such insurance shall be stated in the competition conditions.

7. COMPETITION TIME TABLE

1. The notice of competition shall clearly indicate the last date for application for the competition conditions and the last date for submission of the design drawings.
   
   
2. The conditions of the competition shall clearly indicate:
   The last date for submission of questions.
   Approximate date when the answers to the questions will be sent to the competitors.
   The final date for the despatch of entries by the competitors and for the receipt of the same by the promoter.
   Sufficient time shall be allowed for transport, more particularly for open competitions where the competitors will be from all over the country.
   The interval between the date of despatch and the date of delivery of the entries to the promoter should be between five and ten days.
   In case of late delivery of the entry despatched before the last date for despatch, it will be the responsibility of the Board of Assessors to decide whether the entry was despatched in accordance with the competition time table and if circumstances can permit its admission for judging.
   
   
3. The competition time table shall under no circumstances be shortened.
   
   
4. The Board of Assessors shall decide upon the judging dates at the early stage of the competition and the date of announcement of the awards shall also be included in the conditions of the competition.
   
   In case of two stage competitions however the conditions of competition shall indicate dates limited to the first stage only.
   
   All the dates in respect of the second stage shall form part of the conditions with reference to the second stage.
   
   
5. In case of unavoidable delay in judging, a new date shall be fixed by the Board of Assessors which shall be confirmed by all its members and publicly announced.

8. COST ESTIMATES

The competitors may be required to submit cost estimate of their design on areas or volume basis. The cost estimate shall however not be a determining factor in the Assessors' decision except where cost limits have to be rigidly imposed and is so stated in the competition conditions.

9. TERMINATION OF THE COMPETITION

The promoter may terminate the competition if in the opinion of the Board of Assessors none of the competition designs could be declared as a winning entry. In this event the promoter under the advice of the Board of Assessors shall award second, third and additional prizes as declared and none of the competitors will be considered for appointment as the architect for the project and the promoter will not be liable to make any further payments to any of the competitors.

10. APPOINTMENT OF ARCHITECT

1. The award of the first prize to the competition design places the promoter under an obligation to appoint its author as the architect for the commissioning of the project.
   
   
2. If the Board of Assessors shall be satisfied that there is a valid objection to the appointment of the author of the winning design as the architect he may be required to associate with a senior architect or a firm of architects of his choice whose qualifications shall be approved by the Board of Assessors. Failing this the design placed next on merit shall be selected for commissioning and its author shall be appointed as the architect subject to similar conditions.
   
   The award of the Board of Assessors shall not be varied for any reasons.
   
   
3. If no instructions are given to the author of the design selected by the Assessor to proceed within twelve months from the date of the award, then he shall receive payment for his services in connection with the preparation of the Competition drawings of a sum equal to 1.00 percent on the amount of the estimated cost. The first premium shall be deducted from the sum so paid. If the work is subsequently proceeded with, this sum shall from part of his ultimate fee.
   
   If within twelve months of the award, the promoters shall decide to proceed with part of the work only, the author of the selected design shall be paid including the premium and in addition to the scale of fees on the work, which is being carried out a sum equal to 1.00 percent on the difference between the cost of the work carried out and his estimate of cost of the total project which sum shall also merge into the commission when the remainder of the work is subsequently executed.
   
   
4. The selected Architect having been appointed to carry out the work shall be paid in accordance with the Schedule of Charges determined and published by the Council of Architecture in consultation with the Promoters, and the premium already paid shall be deemed to be a payment on account.

11. EXHIBITION OF ENTRIES

1. All competition designs including those disqualified by the Board of Assessors shall be exhibited for atleast one week together with a copy of the signed report of the Board of Assessors. The exhibition shall be open to public free of charge.
   
   
2. The promoter shall notify all the competitors and shall also announce in suitable media the days and place of the public exhibition of the competition.
   
   
3. The promoters shall submit to the Council of Architecture a copy of the signed report of the jury and if requested photographs of the premiated designs for possible publication.

12. RETURN OF DESIGN DRAWINGS

All drawings, plans, models etc. submitted by the competitor except those of the winning design shall be returned by the promoter at the end of the public exhibition at his own cost. The drawings, plans, models of the winning design shall be returned to its author on being appointed as the Architect for the Project or after six months from the date of announcement of the award by the Board of Assessors whichever is early.