Architectural Design Competition Guidelines

• Purpose
• Guidelines
• Registration Procedure
• Type of competition
• Schedule 1 :
1. Project and idea competition.
2. Classification of competition
i. Open competition
ii. limited competition or competition by invitation
iii. Special competition
3. Competition organisation. Competition can be organized one or two stages
i. single stage competition
ii. Two stage competition
iii. Regional special category competition
• Schedule 2 :- Advisors
• i. Technical Advisors
• Ii. Professional Advisors
• Schedule3:- condition for conducting Architectural
competition
1. Contractual obligations.
2. General conditions
3. Prize money and Honoraria
4. Anonymity
5. Copy right and right of ownership
6. Insurance
7. Competition time table
8. Cost estimate
9. Termination of competition
10. Appointment of Architect
11. Exhibition of entries
12. Return of design drawings
• Schedule 4:- Board of Assessors

• Schedule 5:- prize and Honoraria

• Schedule 6:- Cost of conducting Architectural competition

•Purpose  
•Architectural Competitions give the promoters a choice from the
best viable project of high standard with variety of approaches.

•Competition brings out a wide range of ideas and concepts and

gives the promoter the choice of selecting his specific
requirements.
•The aim of competition is to explore hidden talents among
younger Architects. It often is the first step to a successful career.
•Competition Guidelines as laid down by the Council of Architecture
protect and safeguard the interests both of the promoter and the
competitor.
• Ensuring the promoter a design of high standard and judged by
prominent Architects acting as Assessors, it also ensures that each
competitor competes on like conditions and within the same
limitations.
• Both the promoter and the competitor are assured that the
entries will be judged only by those who are qualified to
interpret the competitors.

• The promoter,{if requested the president, COA} may suggest a

panel of names experienced in this type of project proposed,
for appointment as Senior Assessors/Assessors.

• This responsibility of the Senior Assessor to advise the

promoter on all matters connected with the competition.
• Briefly the Assessors (or the Senior Assessor) will:

• 1. Assist in the preparation and approval of the brief.

• 2. Study and understand the requirements of the Local
Authorities
• 3. Visit and examine the project site, if necessary.
• 4. Advise on the appointment of the Technical Advisers, if
necessary.
• 5. Finalise the competition conditions.
• 6. Prepare the final report/award.

• The project brief is the most important document. The

success of the competition will depend upon the clarity and
the completeness of the brief.
• For complicated projects such as Hospitals, Airports etc.
and projects required highly technical elements, a
Technical Adviser would be considered in the initial stage
to help the Promoter and the Assessors

• The Assessors (or the Senior Assessor) can advise the

promoter on the type of competition that should be
promoted.

• Response from well established Architects as

well as large number of young Architects to an
open competition can be assured by wide
publicity.
• GUIDELINES  
• INTRODUCTION
• The purpose of these guidelines is to ensure competitions
are conducted based on the rules and regulations prescribed
by COA

• These guidelines protect the interest of both the promoter

and the competitor and to ensure that the architectural
competitions are properly conducted and selection of the
design will be on merit alone and will satisfy the promoter's
requirements.

• The Code of Professional Conduct of the Council of

Architecture does not allow Architects to give unpaid
services in competition
• GUIDELINES :
• ARTICLE 1 : ELIGIBILITY TO COMPETE:
• Participation in any and all competitions shall be open to:
Architects, those who are registered with the Council of
Architecture under the Architects Act, 1972 on the date of
announcement of the competition.
• Firms in which all the partners shall be registered with the
Council of Architecture under the Architects Act, 1972 on the
date of announcement of the competition.
• Students of a Teaching Institution, the qualifying examination
of which is recognised by the Council of Architecture provided
that no member of the staff of the said institution is the sole
Assessor or in a jury of three or more Assessors, only one
Assessor is from the staff of the said institution.
• The Promoter, assessors or other persons
interested or related to promoters or assessors
in one way or other are debarred from
competition.

• Competitor requested to submit a proof of

qualification, copy of his valid Registration
certificate issued by the Council of
Architecture, and in case of a student, a
certificate from the head of his institution
• ARTICLE 2 :Competition
• The draft competition conditions including time table,
registration fees, prize monies/honoraria, board of assessors,
the programme etc. of competitions shall have been finalised
within the framework of the guidelines prescribed by the
Council of Architecture

• ARTICLE 3 :BOARD OF ASSESSORS:

• The Board of Assessors shall at all times include Architects
who are registered with the Council of Architecture and shall
be in a majority of at least one.
• ARTICLE 4 : Prizes, Honoraria & Mentions :
• No competition shall be conducted without adequate
premium/honoraria and the competition conditions and the
media announcements must state the amounts and number of
prizes for the open competition and the amount of premium or
honorarium to each competitor in a limited competition and in
the second stage of a two stage competition.
• ARTICLE 5 : Copyright & Right of ownership :
• Each competitor shall retain Copyright in his own competition
design.
• Each competitor shall retain the right of reproduction of his own
competition design
• ARTICLE.6 :
All competition designs including those disqualified by the Board
of Assessors shall be exhibited for at least 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.
• Registration Procedure  
• The competitors who may be asked to pay substantial
registration fees.
• Publicity:- 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 ,etc.
• 3. The prizes (or honoraria)

• 4. Names of Assessors

• 5. Persons eligible to compete

• 6. An approximate time table

• The procedure for registration, the last date for registration

• TYPE OF COMPETITION
• Schedule 1
• 1. PROJECT AND IDEAS COMPETITIONS
• Competitions may be either "Projects" or "Ideas"
competitions or in certain circumstances a combination of
both.
• 2. CLASSIFICATION OF COMPETITIONS

(I) OPEN COMPETITIONS

• Competitions in which all Architects are invited to participate
through an announcement by advertisements in suitable
media
• 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 OR COMPETITIONS BY
INVITATION
Competitions in which limited number 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 COMPETITION
Competitions may also combine town planning as well as
design problem, and may involve the use of industrial
components . In such competitions participation may be
required to be limited to professionals or group of
professionals with certain definite expertise.
• 3. COMPETITION ORGANISATION
Competitions may be organised 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

• 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 ideas and the
competition entries at this stage 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 selected competitors will be invited
to take part in the second stage of the competition, and each
architect so invited would be paid a specified sum.
• The period between the Assessors award for the first stage
and for the second stage shall not exceed six months. Only
under exceptional circumstances period may be extended.
• 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.
• III. REGIONAL SPECIAL CATEGORY COMPETITIONS

• This type of competition is intended for small projects of

charitable organisations 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.
• Schedule 2  
• Advisers
• (I) TECHNICAL ADVISER
• The promoter shall in consultation with the Senior Architect
Assessor/Board of Assessors appoint one or more technical
advisers to assist in the preparation of the brief for the
competition project and to advise the Board of Assessors
• The advise of the technical adviser will be limited to his
expertise and he will have no voting rights.

• (II) PROFESSIONAL ADVISER

• For a two stage competition a Professional Adviser who shall
be an Architect registered with the Council of Architecture.
.
• Schedule 3
• Conditions for conducting architectural
competitions
• 1. CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION
• 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.
• This contract which is legally binding on both
the promoter and competitors.
• 2. GENERAL CONDITIONS
• The competition project brief and the conditions of the competition issued to the
competitors.
• A copy of complete competition conditions shall be filed with the Council of Architecture.
• The condition of the competition shall state the exact use of the winning design. Designs
shall not be put to any other use or altered in any way except by agreement with the
author.
•
Each design shall be accompanied by a declaration on the prescribed form 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.
• The board of assessors must make award which shall be final and binding
• Promotors choice:- The Board of Assessors shall select not more than three designs which
are of equal merit and the selection of the winning design 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
• 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 for the
preparation for the competition.

• Each participant in a limited competition (or competition by invitation) shall

receive an honorarium.

• In a two stage competition a reasonable honorarium shall be paid to each of the

competitors selected to take part in second stage.

• 4. ANONYMITY
The anonymity of the competitors shall be maintained until the final award of the
Board of Assessors.
• 5. COPYRIGHT & RIGHT OF OWNERSHIP
• i. Each competitor shall retain copyright in his own competition
design.
• ii. 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.
• iii. No other design shall not be used wholly or in part by the
promoter.
• iv. The promoter's right on the design awarded the first prize or
the designs selected covers one execution only. The competition
conditions provide for repetitive work and shall specify the
terms thereof.
• v. 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. The amount of
such insurance shall be stated in the competition
conditions.

• 7. COMPETITION TIME TABLE

The notice of competition shall clearly indicate the
last date for application for the competition and the
last date for submission of the design drawings.
• 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.
• 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.
• 10. APPOINTMENT OF ARCHITECT
• i. The award of the first prize to the competition to appoint
its author as the architect of the project.
• ii. 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
• 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 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.
• 11. EXHIBITION OF ENTRIES
• All competition designs including those disqualified by the Board
of Assessors shall be exhibited for at least 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.

• The promoters shall submit to the Council of Architecture a copy

of the signed report of the jury

• 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.
 • Prizes and honoraria  .
• Note : The current value of M is 1000
Project with built up Project with built up
Project with built up
Project upto built up area above 5000 area above 10000
Award area above 25000
area 5000 sq.m(Rs.) sq.m and upto sq.m and upto
sq.m(Rs.)
10000 sq.(Rs.) 250000 sq.m(Rs.)

1. OPEN COMPETITION

i. First prize (To

be adjusted in 125M 250 M 500 M 1000M
professional fees)

ii. Second prize  75 M 150 M 300 M 600 M

iii. Third prize 50 M 100 M 200 M 400 M

iv. Merit prizes

10 M each 20 M each 40 M each 80 M
upto 5 each

2. LIMITED COMPETITION

Minimum
honoraria to be
50 M 100 M 200 M 300 M
paid to
each competitor
• Schedule 6
• Cost of conducting Architectural Competitions 

Project with built-up Project with built-up

Description area upto 10,000 area above 10,000
Sq.m( Rs.) Sq.m.( Rs.)
Pre-assessment 10 M Pre-assessment 10 M
i. Assessors' Fee and assessment 10 M and assessment 10 M
 per day or part thereof.  per day or part thereof.

ii. Professional Advisor/

100 M 200 M
Project Coordinator's Fee

iii. Contingent
As per estimate* As per estimate*
Expenditure

Note 1: For a two stage competition, the above fees for Professional Advisor/Project
Coordinator be increased by 50%.

Note 2: For a two stage competition, the above fees for Professional Advisor/Project
Coordinator be increased by 50%.
• * Sub-heads for contingent expenditure :
• 1. Land Survey.
• 2. Photographs of site.
• 3. Printing of Brochure.
• 4. Advertisement.
• 5. Communication Expenses.
• 6. Administrative and Legal Expenses.
• 7. Exhibition.
• 8. Publication of competition/select entries.
• 9. Contingent travel, conveyance, boarding, lodging
etc. for Professional Advisor / Project Coordinator,
assessors and others.
• 10.Other incidental expenses.
THANK YOU