PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

ASSIGNMENT

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY:

PROF. A. K. JAIN BHUMIKA MEHTA
4TH YEAR B
13
WHY COMPETITIONS ARE HELD?
Architectural Competitions have a long history, and have produced many extremely successful buildings.
A competition will cost the promoter a little more than if he had commissioned an architect privately
and it will take a little more time, but this must be balanced against the chance to draw upon an
outstanding design. Purpose And Benefits Of These Competitions:
•Building attracts great public interest .
•Client's desire to see the sketch designs of several architects is fulfilled at affordable cost.
•Architects who would not have been considered in the normal way have an opportunity to prove their
talent and ability. To many competitors it is the first step to a successful career.
•Opportunity for research, perhaps for the study of a new building type, or for exploring the possibilities
of new technical ideas and concepts.
•Even if the architect is not successful in competition, his taking part in it forms an added qualification
for the jobs and also offer valuable opportunities to gain experience which will be useful later in their
practice,

Purpose of architectural competition guidelines:

•Protect and safeguard the interest of both the promoter and the
competitor
•Ensuring the promoter a design of high standard and adjudged by
prominent architects acting as assessors.
•It ensures that each competitor competes on like conditions and
within same limitations.
•it ensures that entries will be judged only by people qualified for the
job and thus also define the requirements to be an assessor.

It includes 6 articles and 6 schedules: Article 1 : eligibility to compete article 2 : competition article 3 :
board of assessors article 4 : prizes, honoraria & mentions article 5 : copyright & right of ownership
article 6 : exhibition of entries

SCHEDULE 1---TYPE OF COMPETITIONS

SCHEDULE 2---ADVISERS
SCHEDULE 3---CONDITIONS FOR CONDUCTING ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS
SCHEDULE 4---BOARD OF ASSESSORS
SCHEDULE 5--- PRIZE MONEY
SCHEDULE 6--- ASSESSOR FEES

WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF COMPETITIONS?

TYPE OF COMPETITIONS
1.PROJECT AND IDEAS COMPETITIONS Competitions may be either "Projects" or "Ideas" competitions or
in certain circumstances a combination of both. The aim of a Project competition is to find the best
solution for an actual building project and to appoint its author to carry out the commission.
Competitions of Ideas are set as an exercise to elucidate certain aspects of architectural and town
planning problems. The winner of such a competition may not be commissioned to carry out the project,
and hence students of architecture may participate at the discretion of the promoter.
2. CLASSIFICATION OF COMPETITIONS
(I) OPEN COMPETITIONS Competitions in which all Architects are invited to participate through an
announcement by advertisements in suitable media and through circulars which may be issued by
the promoters. Open competitions for projects estimated at less than Rs. 10,00,000/-may be
restricted to Architects who have their main or branch office in the State of the project site.
(II) LIMITED COMPETITIONS FOR COMPETITIONS BY INVITATION Competitions in which limited
amount of Architects (approx. 5 to 8) selected by the promoter on the advice of the Senior Architect
Assessor or Board of Assessors, are invited to participate. Each participant who submits his designs
shall receive an honorarium.
(III) SPECIAL COMPETITIONS Besides competitions described in (i) and (ii) above a competition may also
combine town planning as well as design problem, and may involve the use of industrial
components or participation of developers. In such competitions participation may be required to be
limited to professionals or group of professionals wire certain definite expertise. In such cases the
competition announcement shall clearly define the field of expertise.
After the end of the first stage, the Board of Assessors, may, if found necessary and with the
approval of the Promoter, clarify or amplify points in the competition conditions for the benefit of
the second stage competitions. Such clarification or amplification shall not in any way disclose
directly or indirectly or even inadvertently any of the designs submitted in the first stage to those
invited for the second stage. The period between the Assessors award for the first stage and
submission of designs for the second stage shall not exceed six months. Only under exceptional
circumstances period may be extended. The second stage of the competition may be limited to only
a part of the subject dealt with in the first stage. Members of the Board of Assessors shall be the
same for first stage and second stage of the competition. The designs submitted for both the first
stage and the second stage shall be exhibited and/or published only after the final award of the
second stage competition. If any design selected for the second stage is published or exhibited
before the final award of the second stage has been declared, it will be disqualified. Two stage
competitions are recommended for town planning and for large scale or complex project.
(IV)REGIONAL SPECIAL CATEGORY COMPETITIONS This type of competition is intended for small
projects of charitable organizations in which four to six local firms will compete for the appointment as
the Architect. No premiums are given and the winner shall be appointed to carry out the project.

WHO ARE THE JURY MEMBERS?

BOARD OF ASSESSORS
• The Board of Assessors shall be set up before the promotion of the competition. Their names and
those of the reserve members of the board, if any shall be stated in the competition conditions.
• The Board of Assessors shall be composed of a smallest reasonable number of assessors which
number shall be an odd figure.
• The size of the Board shall depend upon the size of the competition project and preferably the
number of Assessors shall not exceed seven.
• Of the total number of Assessors the number of Assessors who shall be Architects and registered
with the Council of Architecture shall be in a majority of at least one.
• The number of Assessors representing the promoters shall not exceed two.
• Each member of the Board shall examine and approve the competition conditions before they are
made available to the competitors.
• The Board of Assessors may invite Technical Advisers as experts in specialized fields to assist in the
assessment of competition entries. Such Technical Advisors shall not have any voting rights.
• it is essential that at least 2/3rd of the voting members of the Board shall be present at all meetings of
the Board. The Board shall elect a Chairman from among its members.
• to the event of death of an Assessor before or during the assessment of the competition or his
inability to continue to act on account of illness or any other cause, another Assessor shall be
appointed in his place by the promoters without affecting the majority of atleast one, of the Assessors
who are Architects and registered with the Council of Architecture.
• No promoter of the competition and no assessors engage: upon it nor any partner, associate, or
employee of either shall compete or assist a competitor, or act as architect or joint architect for the
project. This regulation shall not be applicable to: a. Staff or present students of an Institution of which
a member of the regular teaching staff is on the Board of Assessors provided he is rot the sole
Assessor and the Board consists of two or more Assessors of whom only one is a member of the
teaching staff of this or any other Institution. b. Employees of a Government, Semi-Government or a
Public Sector organization of which one of its employees is on the Board of Assessors provided he is
not the sole Assessor and the Board consists of three or more Assessors of whom only one is such an
employee.
• In two stage competitions, the same members of the Board shall judge both stages of the
competition. In no case may a competition as a single stage competition proceed to a second stage
except with knowledge of the Council of Architecture and arrangement for payment of appropriate
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 Assessors appointed for
the original competition must be reappointed by the promoters.
• Any drawings, photographs, models or other documents not required by the competition condition
shall be excluded by the Assessors before examining the competitors entries.
• The Assessors shall disqualify any design which does not conform to any of the conditions,
instructions or requirements of the competition.
• The Board of Assessors must make an award. The award shall be final and shall be made public in
open competitions. and intimated individually to all those participating in limited competition, by a
date stated in the conditions. The Board of Assessors when distributing the award money shall make
full use of the amounts set aside for prizes in the competition conditions. In an ideas competition, a
first prize shall be awarded.
• The decision of the Board of Assessors shall be taken by a majority vote with a separate vote on each
entry. The award including the Assessors report to the promoter, shall be signed by all the members of
the Board before they disperse.
• The decision of the Board of Assessors regarding selection and placement of competition design shall
be final and binding on the promoter and all competitors and shall be reached by a majority.
• The Board of Assessors will make its award known to the promoter in a formal statement signed by
atleast a simple majority of its members. The statement will indicate the number of designs examined
and the order of the prizes awarded. This statement must be completed before the envelopes are
opened and the Assessors disperse.
• The fees, travel expenses and out of pocket expenses of the members of the Board shall be paid by
the promoter.

WHAT IS THE PROCESS OF ORGANIZING A COMPETITION AND WHO

ALL CAN PARTICIPATE?
3. COMPETITION ORGANISATION Competitions may be organized in one or two stages.
(I)SINGLE STAGE COMPETITION In single stage competition the competition entries shall be fairly
complete drawings i.e. plans, section, elevations, etc. to a suitable scale and sufficient to explain the
scheme as set out in the competition conditions. The designs so submitted shall be assessed by the
Assessors for the award of the prizes and the appointment of the architect. Such competitions are
recommended for small and simple project.
(II) TWO STAGE COMPETITIONS In two stage competition, the first stage is for soliciting ideas and
therefore the competition entries at this stage would be limited to planning on broad basis and drawings
to a suitable scale sufficient to indicate the intentions of the competitor. Designs submitted in the first
stage shall be assessed by the Assessors for selecting a small number of competitors (between 5 and 10).
The author of these selected designs will be invited to take part in the Second stage of the
competition, and each architect so invited would be paid a specified sum. In order to maintain
anonymity, each competitor will be informed individually whether he has been or has not been invited
to participate in the second stage. Correspondence in this respect will be the responsibility of the
Promoter or Professional Adviser, if appointed. It will also be his responsibility to ensure that the names
of those invited and those rejected are not revealed either to the assessor or to any person. To ensure
this anonymity the envelopes containing the names of the competitors shall be ripened by the Promoter
or Professional Adviser if appointed. After the intimation has been sent to each competitor they shall be
resealed until the final award.

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.
• CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION
i. The publication of competition shall constitute an offer of a contract by the promoter, and, by
submission of design for the competition. the competitor accents this contract.
ii. The competition condition together with any replay to the competitors questions constitute a legal
basis for this contract which is legally binding on both the promoter and competitors.
• GENERAL CONDITIONS
i. 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.
ii. The conditions including the program 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.
iii. 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.
iv. The information supplied to the competitors shall be specific and shall not be open to
misinterpretation.
v. Supplementary information if any issued by the Board of Assessors shall be sent to all the competitors
simultaneously.
vi. 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).
vii. 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 if any way except by agreement with
the author.
viii. 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.
ix. 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.
x. 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.
xi. 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.
xii. 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.
REGISTRATION PROCEDURE : It is extremely important for competitors who may be asked to pay
substantial registration fees to know exactly when they are registered and under what conditions the
registration fee will be refunded. It is also important for intending competitors to receive sufficient
information when they are invited to apply for the competition conditions to enable them to judge
whether the competition falls within the guidelines for architectural competition of the Council of
Architecture and whether they are capable of tackling the problem set by the competition.
The Council of Architecture recommends 3 parts Procedure:
PART I A descriptive leaflet and / or an advertisement in general and professional media. These should
include the following information:
1. Name of the Promoter
2. Purpose and nature of the competition. This should be carefully worded to give a clear idea of the
scope of the project whether it is a project or an ideas competition, single or 2 stage competition and
the type of material that a competitor would be asked to submit.
3. The prizes (or honoraria)
4. Names of Assessors
5. Persons eligible to compete
6. An approximate time table
7. The procedure for registration, the last date for registration and the date by which the competition
conditions would be made available by the promoter. Copies of this leaflet with a registration form
attached should be available from the promoter.
PART II An intending competitor makes an application the bodies listed in the advertisement/leaflet for
the registration form, completes the registration form as per the instructions given on the form and
sends it by registered post to the promoter together with the registration fee (if any). The registration
form should be sent by the intending competitor within the time stipulated. It will establish his
eligibility to compete. The registration is only complete when the promoter accepts the competitor's
eligibility by placing his name on the competition register and informs him in writing accordingly.
PART III The competition condition will be sent to the intending competitor by the promoter only when
his eligibility is established and his name is entered in the competition register.