Glossary on the Romanian ADC system

Definition

Anonymity refers to maintaining the confidentiality of the identity of teams participating in an ongoing competition. Anonymity is one of the most important criteria for ensuring the objectivity of selection in design competitions.

Description of the practical application / context

The anonymization procedure must be strictly followed in accordance with the procedures of the Reception Secretariat and the Technical Commission and clearly mentioned in the Competition Rules. The participants’ identity shall be known only after all members of the Jury sign the Jury Report, by opening the sealed envelopes (according to art. 109 paragraph (3) of Law no. 98/2016 on public procurement). Ensuring anonymity is a fundamental principle of competitions. The anonymization procedure must be rigorously followed both by the participants (by strictly following the requirements of the competition rules) and by the Organizer (by clearly stating the anonymization requirements in the competition rules and by following the procedures of the Reception Secretariat and the Technical Committee). Thus, the participants in the competition will be informed by the Competition Rules of the following requirements: •To preserve anonymity, each project will have an alphanumeric identity symbol. It will be composed of 2 letters followed by 4 digits of the participant’s choice •The identity symbol will be inscribed on the front of each sheet and the Financial Proposal in the top right-hand corner, in a rectangle covered with 5x3 cm black paper, glued only on the outline on both sides •The identity symbol will be placed, uncovered by the black paper, on a white, perfectly opaque A4 envelope •The envelope must be delivered sealed and must not be placed in another envelope, but directly in the package / tube containing the sheets •The identity symbol will be written on the USB memory stick in permanent black marker. The USB memory stick will be enclosed in the sealed envelope •The Technical Committee ensures anonymity by assigning a random three-digit number to each project, which will be used throughout the jury sessions (competition number) •Under sanction of elimination from the jury sessions, the competition entries must not contain any indication of the identity of the contestant •Highly personalized graphic presentations, such as company logos, which could jeopardize anonymity, shall be avoided •Anonymity will be lifted only after the members of the jury have signed the Jury’s Report by opening the sealed envelopes •The identification data of the authors of the awarded and mentioned projects will be made public once the results of the jury sessions are announced •Note: The Financial Proposal (anonymized) shall not be signed or stamped After submission, the registered projects go through a double anonymization procedure: •The reception secretariat removes any distinguishing marks from the outside of the delivered package and provides a registration number •The Technical Committee separates the envelopes marked with the alphanumeric symbol from the competition sheets and ensures anonymity by assigning each project a random two- or three-digit number to be used throughout the jury assessment (other than the registration number, called the competition number) Anonymity will be lifted only after the members of the jury have signed the Jury Report, by opening the sealed envelopes (according to Art. 109 para. (3) of Law no. 98/2016 on public procurement). The identification data of the authors of the awarded and mentioned projects will be made public once the jury assessment results are announced. The identification data of the participants who did not win prizes or mentions will be made public only if the authors have given their consent to the disclosure of their identity.

Professional political contextualization

Ensuring anonymity is a fundamental principle of competitions, which contributes to ensuring the transparency of the procedure by ensuring equal opportunities and a non-discriminatory evaluation of the submitted projects.

Legal basis

Art. 109. para. (3) of Law nr. 98/2016 on public procurement (3) Anonymity is maintained until the jury adopts a decision or formulates an opinion; in this regard, the provisions of Article 63(2) regarding the obligation to publish electronically the name and identification data of the tenderer/candidate/proposed subcontractor/supporting third party are not applicable.

Definition

The official document by which the design competition is launched, containing the essential information regarding the investment objective: the title of the competition, the name of the CA and the name of the Organizer (if applicable), the purpose of the competition, the services contracted with the winning team, the presentation of the jury members, the competition calendar, and the Competition package with the possibility to download. Optionally, the notice may also contain a poster for promotion.

Description of the practical application / context

The organizer posts on the official competition website the competition notice and the Competition package (it is recommended that they are available only in electronic format). The official website uploads and manages information about the competition during the entire procedure (secretariat activities, registrations, visits, etc.). The competition is launched on the website at the same time as the competition notice is published on SEAP (Electronic System of Public Procurements).

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016 Article 106 (1)“A design competition shall be initiated by the contracting authority through the publication of a design competition notice, by which it invites interested economic operators to submit projects

Definition

The competition results must be announced to the public and to the participating teams the day after the signing of the Jury report, on the date announced in the schedule published in the Competition Rules. The announcement is made first through a public conference in the presence of the Jury members and the Contracting Authority. Afterwards, the results are published on the Electronic System of Public Procurements (SEAP) platform (by the AC) and the official competition website, and all participants in the procedure are notified in writing (by the Organiser). The announcement of the competition result triggers the contestation period in accordance with the schedule published in the Competition Rules.

Description of the practical application / context

The results are communicated to all participants, as well as to the public, by the Contracting Authority (CA) and the Organizer on the date announced in the Competition Rules. The CA uploads the results document to the Electronic System of Public Procurements (SEAP), where a contract award notice will later be published (after the conclusion of the negotiation), and the Organizer uploads the results to the official competition website. The following documents shall be published: Jury Report, awarding criteria table, the names of the winners and the correspondence table between the registration number, competition number, and the alphanumeric identity symbol of the project It is recommended that, in addition to being published on the official competition website, all projects included in the Jury Sessions be made accessible to the general public through an exhibition (with the names of participants who have given consent for the disclosure of their identities indicated). Following the communication of the results, appeals may be submitted.

Professional political contextualization

Given the OAR's mission and priority to promote high-quality cultural products, educate and engage the public on quality architecture, the exhibition of participating projects and the conference announcing the winner and results play an essential role in raising awareness about the practice of architecture and urban planning competitions. These are public cultural events, with diverse and increased participation in the capital and throughout the country, which attract attention and raise citizens' awareness of high-quality architectural products commissioned by the public sector.

Legal basis

Art. 100 of HG 395/2016 Article 100 The contracting authority that organized a design competition shall submit for publication in SEAP a notice regarding the results of the competition.

Definition

A contracting authority is a public institution that has contractually awarded or intends to award a contract for the provision of services in return for payment, in the context of a design competition organised as a public procurement procedure. The CA is any public authority that initiates the organization of an architectural design competition and commits to covering the costs associated with this procedure: organization, prizes or awards, remuneration of the Jury, etc. The CA can also be the Competition Organizer when it has an internal department or staff specialized in organizing competitions, or it can delegate this responsibility to a professional entity with expertise/qualification in the fields involved. Even in the case of delegating the organization procedure, the CA, as a public authority, has the right and responsibility to review and approve the documentation contained in the Competition Package (according to art. 2 para. (2) lit. f) of Law no. 98/2016). The CA is also responsible for uploading to SEAP (Electronic System of Public Procurements) both the Competition Package and the „Questions and Answers” documents, the Jury Report, etc.

Description of the practical application / context

For design competitions, the Contracting Authority will assume the obligation to award the design services contract to the winner to carry out the objective, which is the subject of the procedure, according to the specifications indicated in the Competition Rules.

Definition

The process of estimating the value of the design services contract to be awarded following the design competition, carried out by the professional advisor and approved by the contracting authority

Description of the practical application / context

According to national legislation, the estimated value for the procurement of design services shall be determined before the launch of the procurement procedure (competition) and shall be made public when it is launched. The professional advisor (an independent expert, in accordance with international design competition organization standards) estimates the value of the execution works and of the design services for the objective aimed at by the competition. The estimation of the maximum investment cost and the estimated cost for the design service contract (the value of the design contract that is awarded through the design competition, not the value of the execution) can be made through a comparative study of similar investments and other specialty surveys. The document containing this study is provided to the participants as part of the Competition package and becomes the basis for the completion of the Financial Proposal. The full publication of the justification study is, on the one hand, a guarantee of transparency as to how the contract price has been estimated and, on the other hand, it provides participants with essential information for the development of projects that can be successfully implemented without affecting the architectural design.

Professional political contextualization

In line with international recommendations, the OAR does not accept the requirement, as a competition material, of a cost estimate for the implementation of the winning project, as this cannot be accurately determined at the competition stage and should not be part of the requirements submitted to the participants. The cost estimate could affect the evaluation of design proposals in the absence of a consistent method of calculating it. The CA should consider a realistic budget (as determined in the Estimate Supporting Document) for the realization of the project when launching the competition.

Definition

The product (the best architectural design proposal of the design team as a service provider) that is procured through the competition has a specific nature, characterized by the artistic way in which it meets the purpose. This specific nature derives from the fact that architecture is the art of responding aesthetically to the practical (functional and constructive) and symbolic requirements, both inherent and/or deriving from the surrounding built environment, as exposed in the design brief, composing them together to give them an artistic form. All these intertwine and define the architectural quality, which cannot be appreciated outside of this determining aesthetic dimension.

Description of the practical application / context

The competition Brief will list the criteria against which projects are evaluated, defined according to the type and requirements of the competition. As part of the Contracting Strategy, the CA has the obligation to justify each established evaluation factor, as well as the weights assigned to them in accordance with Art. 9 para. (3) lit.f) of the HG 395/2016, concerning the importance of each of these factors in the evaluation of the submissions, with a specific indication of the advantages of each one of their scores. Therefore, it is recommended that for each criterion, the following should be expressed: justification of the criterion, justification of its percentage, and the advantages of its scoring. The criteria/factors valid for the correct evaluation of an architectural / urban planning project have a particular specificity deriving from the specific nature of the product to be procured through this procedure. In this respect, we should mention: 1. The product (the best architectural design proposal of the design team as a service provider) that is procured through the competition has a specific nature, characterized by the artistic way in which it meets the purpose. This specific nature derives from the fact that architecture is the art of responding aesthetically to the practical (functional and constructive) and symbolic requirements, both inherent and/or deriving from the surrounding built environment, as exposed in the design brief, composing them together to give them an artistic form. All these intertwine and define the architectural quality, which cannot be appreciated outside of this determining aesthetic dimension. 2. An architectural object does not exist apart from satisfying the functional and structural conditions of the building, but these do not have a single universally valid answer, nor do they automatically provide aesthetic quality. 3. The selection of an architectural/urban planning design proposal cannot be based solely on mathematically quantifiable, objectively measurable data, as in the case of construction services procurement or exclusively technical projects. The artistic dimension involves specific evaluation factors that contribute synergistically to the overall assessment of the design. The jury of specialists assesses them globally to select the best design, of the highest artistic quality, for the specific case, in response to the objective conditions of the brief/documentation.

Professional political contextualization

The design competition is a public procurement procedure for design services for a specific investment, which, as international experience has proven, offers the most reliable guarantee of architectural and urban quality. The competition is highly recommended as the most appropriate procedure for public investments of an architectural and urban planning nature, provided that it is well-organized, from the substantiation and drafting of the brief to the actual procedure

Legal basis

Art. 9 para. (3) lit.f) of the HG 395/2016

Definition

A requirement established in the competition documentation that must be fulfilled for a proposal to be admitted to the evaluation process.

Description of the practical application / context

The deviations detected by the Technical Committee before the Jury assessment phase and which may entail the Jury’s decision to reject a project from the Jury assessment phase, are the following: - the absence of the sealed envelope or its non-insertion into the packaging/tube, as stated by the Competition Rules; - the missing identity symbol on the competition materials, and on the sealed envelope, or the absence of the black paper cover from the competition materials (Technical Proposal – project sheets and Financial Proposal); - the absence of the Financial Proposal (template in Annex 2.3 – 2.3.1 Financial Proposal – Template); - exceeding the maximum cost estimate of the design services contract (as stated by Annex 2.6 Cost estimate).

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016 Article 154 (1) The contracting authority has the obligation to prepare the procurement documentation, which shall include all the information necessary to ensure that economic operators are fully, correctly and accurately informed about the requirements of the procurement, the subject-matter of the contract, and the manner in which the award procedure is conducted.

Definition

Before the participating projects enter the jurying process, the contents of the packages will be checked, and a formal review of the submitted and registered entries will be conducted (to verify the presence of all items required by the rules or theme, the manner in which they are presented, compliance with anonymity requirements, etc.). For this purpose, the Organizer will appoint a Technical Committee consisting of at least three professionals with the same specialization as that required of the participants. The Technical Committee will submit its findings and observations to the Jury so that the Jury may decide on them.

Description of the practical application / context

The reception secretariat hands over to the chair person of the Technical Committee the packages containing the projects and the Receipt Report, which lists the registration numbers of the projects. The Technical Committee opens the packages on the date and time specified in the competition schedule. Competition numbers are assigned in random order (two or three digits, a number that will be written both on the package and on all items contained therein: drawings, sealed envelope, anonymous financial proposal) and the registration numbers are removed from the package. The sealed envelopes are separated from the boards. The sealed envelopes containing the verified projects will be placed by the Chair of the Technical Committee into a sealed box, which will be kept in a location inaccessible to the public. In this way, upon completion of the Technical Committee’s work, all projects can be identified solely by their competition number. The competition number, the alphanumeric symbol (found on the sealed envelope containing the documents), and the registration number are recorded in a correspondence table (template in the Procedures and Templates File, Chapter 2.4.4) to which only the Chair of the Technical Committee has access. Formal compliance with the Competition Brief and the Rules, as well as the manner of their presentation in accordance with the Competition Brief and the Rules (missing drawings, failure to comply with the specified format, etc.), is verified.

Definition

The competition is a complex, transparent process that relies on the clear communication of information about the competition documentation, objectives and requirements.

Description of the practical application / context

Communication between candidates and the Competition Secretariat shall be made exclusively in writing by e-mail or through the official page of the competition. Any other type of communication (by telephone or in writing, through channels other than those indicated in the Competition Rules) with any structures of the Organizer or the Contracting Authority is considered a breach of anonymity. The official website ensures communication about the competition within the professional community, allows competitors to register electronically and ask questions, publishes answers to questions and relevant announcements, uploads the gallery of participating projects after the judging process is complete, and communicates the final results of the competition.

Professional political contextualization

The organizer shall publish and promote the competition by posting it on the OAR website, informing OAR members via electronic communications, promoting the competition at events organized by the OAR and, where applicable, by its regional branches, etc., ensuring effective promotion and visibility within the architectural community at national and international level, as appropriate.

Legal basis

As per art. 106 para. 3 and 4 of Law no. 98/2016: (3) The contracting authority that organized a design competition shall publish a notice on the results of the competition and must be able to prove the date of publication of the notice. (4) By way of derogation from the provisions of paragraph (3), if the communication of information on the outcome of the would prevent the application of legal provisions, would be contrary to the public interest, would harm the legitimate commercial interests of a public or private undertaking, or could harm fair competition between service providers, the publication of such information shall not be mandatory.

Definition

The transmission and exchange of information between the organizer, the contracting authority and the participants, carried out through digital means, ensuring equal, rapid and transparent access to information relevant to the competition. These include access to the competition documentation, participant registration, the submission of clarifications, and the publication of announcements and results

Description of the practical application / context

The official website of the competition ensures the communication of the competition within the professional community. It allows competitors to register electronically, submit questions, access published Q&A documents, view relevant announcements, and, after the jury sessions are completed, access the gallery of submitted projects and the final competition results. If OAR is the Organizer of the competition or provides official endorsement, the website https://www.oar.archi/concursuri serves as the official competition platform. The Competition Coordinator oversees the communication process, which is implemented by the Competition Secretariat in support to the Contracting Authority (CA). Communication between candidates and the Competition Secretariat shall be made exclusively in writing by e-mail at concursuri@oar.archi, or through the official page of the competition. Any other type of communication (by telephone or in writing, through channels other than those indicated in the Competition Rules) with any structures of the Organizer or the Contracting Authority is considered a breach of anonymity. The Secretariat has the following duties: - To ensure the registration of the candidates - To register the written questions of the candidates, and to send them to the Contracting Authority, to the Competition’s Professional Consultant, and to the Competition Coordinator, depending on the question’s topic - To publish on the Competition website the documents entitled „Questions and Answers” from each round, according to the Competition schedule; the questions and answers shall also be published on SEAP - To support the candidates in downloading the documentation, by providing written technical assistance by e-mail - To provide the communication and the announcement of the Jury deliberations results.

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016 Article 150 (1)The contracting authority shall ensure, by electronic means, through SEAP, direct, full, unrestricted and free access for economic operators to the procurement documents starting from the date of publication of the contract notice. (2)The contracting authority shall indicate in the contract notice the internet address where the procurement documents are available.

Definition

The stage of developing the winning competition solution, consisting of the detailing and consolidation of the proposed concept through the integration of the jury’s observations and recommendations

Description of the practical application / context

The preliminary design includes the preparation of written documents (technical report) and drawings, at appropriate scales, necessary for the coherent definition of the planning or design solution. The transition to the subsequent design stages shall take place only after the approval of the preliminary design by the contracting authority.

Professional political contextualization

Design missions for the investment objective: 1. Definitive concept / Preliminary project (ANTP) - Documentation for concept finalization, in accordance with the design that won the design competition

Legal basis

HG no. 907/2016 on the stages of elaboration and the framework content of the technical-economic documentation related to investment objectives/projects financed from public funds

Definition

A competition organized with limited participation, in which only candidates invited in advance by the contracting authority are entitled to submit proposals

Description of the practical application / context

The recommended procedure for public authorities is the open design competition, open to all architects, urban planners, and professionals working in association with them. The Romanian Order of Architects and the International Union of Architects encourage and promote the organization of open design competition procedures. The competitions by invitation (which allows the CA to determine which participants will be invited to take part in the competition) will be avoided by public authorities, because they do not respect the principle of equal treatment and opportunities between competitors which is one of the fundamental principles of the Law 98/2016 for public acquisitions.

Professional political contextualization

The Romanian Order of Architects (OAR) does not organize competitions by invitations, as it considers them contrary to the international professional standards by which it is guided and which it promotes, as well as to the principles and spirit of Law no. 98/2016

Legal basis

As per art. 2 of Law no. 98/2016: (2)The principles underlying the award of public procurement contracts and the organization of design competitions are: a) non-discrimination; b) equal treatment; c) mutual recognition; d) transparency; e) proportionality; f) accountability.

Definition

The ideas competition, which demonstrates numerous conceptual approaches and proposals, without the intention of directly realizing the task or project.

Description of the practical application / context

OAR admits the following as objectives of ideas competitions, which support a clearer understanding of this definition: • An imagined on-site scenario1 or future situation2 that can be explored through the anticipations that the ideas of architects, interdisciplinary teams, or student architects bring. • The stepwise development of a design brief or design competition brief for a complex, as yet undefined objective, for the definition of which it is necessary to study several possible strategies - in this case, the winning idea can be developed either as a design brief or as a design competition brief. If this is the intention, the Contracting Authority or the Promoter of the competition will assume, from the outset, a subsequent form of collaboration with the winning architect. • Testing a strategy applicable to a site chosen by the participants, involving a large-scale3 intervention. If the competition takes place on a real site, it must be for an urban development strategy that the city or region could adopt.

Professional political contextualization

Suppose an ideas competition is to be implemented in any form. In that case, it is essential to protect the winner’s copyright regarding the winning design and to involve them in the development of a future design brief or design competition brief

Legal basis

According to the Competition Rules of the International Union of Architects UIA: “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 architectconsultant may be envisaged.”

Definition

A design competition whose main subject concerns the planning and design of public spaces

Definition

The design competition is a public procurement procedure for design services for a specific investment, which offers the most reliable guarantee of architectural and urban quality. The design competition is the most appropriate procedure for public investments of an architectural and urban planning nature, provided that it is well-organized, from the substantiation and drafting of the brief to the actual procedure.

Description of the practical application / context

According to the UIA Guidelines for Competitions in Architecture and Related Fields, interpreting and implementing the „UNESCO Standard Rules for International Competitions in Architecture and Urban Planning” (updated 2017), chapter 2.2, there are two main types of competitions: • The ideas competition, which demonstrates numerous conceptual approaches and proposals, without the intention of directly realizing the task or project. • The (project) design competition, where the best design is chosen for the implementation of a project from all those submitted.

Professional political contextualization

The specificity of the competition (as opposed to the tendering procedure) lies in the fact that any architectural or urban planning design is also an act of creation, which involves translating rational (constructive and functional) responses to the given situation into artistic form. The competition procedure aims, through a specific professional procedure, to precisely identify, evaluate, and highlight this artistic dimension, the only one that can confer quality to the built environment, in addition to functional and constructive solutions. Both the local public administration and the Romanian Order of Architects (OAR) share the common goal of increasing the quality of the built environment. It is only possible to increase the quality of the architectural product if design contracts are awarded primarily based on the quality of the submitted projects (of course, within the established cost limits). At the same time, the architectural and/or urban planning competition is the optimal, effective, and transparent way of procuring design services, based on the decision of a professional jury. In this respect, OAR seeks to ensure that the procurement procedure through a design competition complies with certain professional quality standards, thus aligning itself with the international standards supported by UNESCO’s Regulations for organizing competitions in Architecture and Urban Planning, the Regulations of the International Union of Architects (UIA), and the regulations of the Architects’ Council of Europe.

Legal basis

The design competition is organized in compliance with the provisions of national public procurement legislation as well as Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC, which regulates the applicability of the architectural design competition as a public procurement procedure. The Design Competition is defined under art. 3 para. (1) letter j) of Law no. 98/2016 on public procurement, as being “the procedure which enables the contracting authority to acquire, mainly in the fields of urban planning and design, architecture and engineering or data processing, a plan or design selected by a jury in competitional circumstances, with or without awarding prizes.”

Definition

A competition in which no candidate selection stage is applied, and all persons or entities that meet the participation requirements may submit design proposals

Description of the practical application / context

The recommended procedure for public authorities is the open design competition, open to all architects, urban planners, and professionals working in association with them. The Romanian Order of Architects and the International Union of Architects encourage and promote the organization of open design competition procedures for several reasons, all of which are designed to stimulate the overall quality of the built environment in the long term: more accessible participation and selection from a wide variety of design solutions, facilitating access to architectural commissions for younger but professionally qualified teams, the transparency of the procedure, as well as creating a context for the promotion of quality architecture in the public space.

Professional political contextualization

The Romanian Order of Architects (OAR) exclusively organizes open design competitions, in accordance with international standards

Definition

A competition in which the first stage consists of selecting participants who meet a set of specific conditions, based on applications, and in which the CA remunerates participation in the competition

Description of the practical application / context

The restricted competition (in which the first stage consists of selecting participants who meet a set of specific conditions, based on applications, and in which the CA remunerates participation in the competition) and the competition by invitation (which allows the CA to determine which participants will be invited to take part in the competition) will be avoided by public authorities. Other procedures that may still be encountered and that combine the typologies such as, open competitions that also include some invitees, do not respect the principle of equal treatment and opportunities between competitors.

Professional political contextualization

The Romanian Order of Architects (OAR) does not organize restricted competitions, as it considers them contrary to the international professional standards by which it is guided and which it promotes, as well as to the principles and spirit of Law no. 98/2016

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016 Article 107 Where the contracting authority intends to limit the number of participants in a design competition, it shall establish clear, objective and non-discriminatory qualification and selection criteria, which must be explicitly specified in the procurement documents.

Definition

The professional advisor is the specialist who drafts the competition brief.

Description of the practical application / context

• prepares the list of documents and materials required to support the brief and prepare the competition documentation, after analyzing the nature of the competition (type and subject) and its purpose • actively participates in meetings with the Client to clarify objectives, set deadlines, etc.; • provides clarification regarding the required documents listed provided, verifies the received documents to ensure their professional standard, and, if necessary, requests additional information; • estimates the maximum investment limit for contracting design services (the value of the design contract being put out to competition, not the construction cost) through a comparative study of and other specialized expert opinions; • develops, together with the Competition Coordinator, the evaluation criteria and their justification; • participates in the site visit and answers questions related to the competition theme; • in cases where the involvement of other experts is necessary (such as specialists in conservation-restoration, seismic engineering, etc.), the Professional Advisor identifies the experts relevant to the specific nature of the competition and requests their collaboration to fully compile the list of information required from the AC. • provides answers related to the Theme during the “Q&A” sessions; • participates in the jurying of the competition, provides clarification regarding the competition brief, but does not have the right to vote. • The selection and hiring of the Professional Advisor is carried out by the Organizer, through the Competition Coordinator, based on the specific nature of the competition, using criteria such as: relevant experience, professional achievements in the specific topic of the competition, and availability during the estimated period of the activities related to the role.

Definition

The process by which the contracting authority, with the support of the organizer, appoints the members of the jury, ensuring its professional competence, independence, and balanced composition

Description of the practical application / context

Jury members are nominated based on their professional achievements and competence in the field and are mandated by the CA. In addition to personalities from the national and international architectural practice, the OAR recommends the inclusion of representatives from the architectural academic world (theorists, architectural historians, or developers of methodologies relevant to the competition’s objective) and winners of national and/or international design competitions. To ensure that the objectives of the CA are achieved, the CA may be represented in the Jury by a full member and an alternate member. The other members of the Jury are completely independent from the CA.

Professional political contextualization

Most members of the jury must have a degree in architecture/urban planning, or, if the subject of the competition requires it, specialists in the field of the competition (geographers, landscape architects, architectural historians, designers, psychologists, sociologists, etc.) will be invited. According to the legislation in force (art. 108 para. (2) of L 98/2016), at least one third of the number of jury members must hold the qualification requested from the participants or an equivalent one. However, to ensure the quality of the competition, it is recommended that more than half of the number of jury members should be professionals in the field, as the composition of the jury and the professional profiles of the jury members contribute decisively to the quality of the selection and constitute a confidence factor for the participants (increases the number and quality of entries).

Legal basis

Law 98/2016 Article 108 (1)For the purpose of evaluating the projects submitted within a design competition, the contracting authority shall appoint a jury composed exclusively of natural persons who are independent of the participants in the competition. (2)Where a specific professional qualification is required from participants in the competition, at least one third of the members of the jury must hold that qualification or an equivalent qualification.

Definition

The process of including citizens and relevant stakeholders in discussion and decision-making processes whilst elaborating the competition documentation

Description of the practical application / context

During the consultation phases involving all stakeholders, the advantages and disadvantages of various possible approaches to a specific investment objective are explained. In this way, the competition ensures an integrated vision in which the community’s interests are taken into account and promoted by the administration’s urban policy.

Definition

The commissioning by the contracting authority (CA) refers to the awarding of the design services contract to the winning team of a design competition, following a negotiation procedure without prior publication of a participation notice.

Description of the practical application / context

The winner of the competition, to whom the contract for design services will be awarded, will be invited by the CA to the negotiation procedure without prior publication of a participation notice, according to the provisions of Article 104, paragraph (7) of Law No. 98/2016 on public procurement. Along with the invitation to negotiate without prior publication of a participation notice, the CA will request the winning competitor to submit, if applicable, documents specified at the start of the procedure, legally translated into Romanian, proving their capacity to conclude and execute a design services contract on Romanian territory, in accordance with the law. The negotiation focuses on adjusting the offered price, duration, and phases of execution, and cannot address the architectural qualities of the design that led to the award. The Contracting Authority (CA) will announce the final result of the awarding procedure after completing the phase of negotiation without prior publication.

Professional political contextualization

The first of OAR's minimum requirements for a properly organized competition is the procurement of the design services. The contract for the design services by which the procedure’s objective shall be achieved will be awarded to the winner of the competition. The contract clauses shall be consistently adapted for the design services and correlated with the Competition Documentation (Competition Brief, Competition Rules, Financial Proposal, etc.).

Legal basis

The Design Competition is defined under art. 3 para. (1) letter j) of Law no. 98/2016 on public procurement, as being “the procedure which enables the contracting authority to acquire, mainly in the fields of urban planning and design, architecture and engineering or data processing, a plan or design selected by a jury in competitional circumstances, with or without awarding prizes.” According to art. 96 para. (2) of Government Decision 395/2016: (2) The competition documentation must contain at least the following information: f) the contracting authority's commitment to conclude the public service procurement contract with the winner or with one of the winners of the competition, if the competition is organized as part of another procedure for the award of a public service procurement contract;

Definition

The set of quantitative and qualitative parameters defined in the competition documentation, on the basis of which the jury examines the projects and establishes their ranking

Description of the practical application / context

As part of the Contracting Strategy, the CA has the obligation to justify each established evaluation factor, as well as the weights assigned to them in accordance with Art. 9 para. (3) lit.f) of the HG 395/2016, concerning the importance of each of these factors in the evaluation of the submissions, with a specific indication of the advantages of each one of their scores. Therefore, it is recommended that for each criterion, the following should be expressed: justification of the criterion, justification of its percentage, and the advantages of its scoring. The jury of specialists considers the proposals as a whole (comparatively) to select the design that best responds to the requirements formulated in the brief. Projects submitted to the competition are judged contextually, comparatively, and not in abstract/absolute terms. The jury awards points to each project, considering the interpretations and answers to all specific aspects, grading the project in terms of the two categories of criteria proposed and the evaluation factors presented for each criterion. The jury awards points for each sub-criterion and then presents the final score (sum of points) that the project receives. This final score represents the Jury’s common position, which will be substantiated in the written Jury Report.

Professional political contextualization

The evaluation factors in an architectural competition usually relate to: the site integration of the project, its functionality, the clarity of organization of program elements, the quality of the architectural concept, the quality of the proposed spaces, the aesthetic quality and architectural expression, the adequacy of the proposed building system and materials, the aspects of social and environmental sustainability, and the overall coherence of the project. Thus, for an architectural and/or urban design competition, the evaluation criteria include: A. Quantifiable elements (minimum specifications): functional data of the brief (functional areas, specific functional layouts, obligatory paths, necessary relations between them, etc.), urban restrictions (land configuration, surroundings, accesses, regulatory limitations, etc.), structural and technical restrictions (geotechnical conditions, principles of structural statics, seismicity, coordination with previous structures, etc.), heritage restrictions (restrictions related to interventions on a historical monument and/or in a protected area or protected site), economic restrictions (funding upper limits), financial criteria (failure to meet the maximum estimated value leads to disqualification of the project). Although the OAR does not support giving significant weight to the financial criterion (design services price) at the expense of an assessment of architectural/urban design quality, the requirement to include the financial criterion derives from the public procurement legislation in force. Another constraint deriving from the legislation regarding the financial criterion, any Financial Proposal (a compulsory part of the competition, which must be submitted and elaborated by the participants based on the cost estimate provided in the competition documentation) that does not comply with the maximum estimated value for design services requires the disqualification of the project, as stated in Art. 133, para. (3) and art. 137 of HG395/2016. B. Artistic elements (added value): how all these mandatory data/conditions/constraints set by the brief are interpreted by the project in such a way as to achieve both interior spaces with a high artistic value, as well as a representative and qualitative urban image. The architectural quality arises precisely from how the designer manages to interpret these technical-functional obligations/constraints (the minimum specifications - the factors in point A) and to compose them into spaces/forms with artistic characteristics (the added value - the factors in point B), which can become representative for the object itself and for the city.

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016 Article 154 (1)The contracting authority has the obligation to prepare the procurement documentation, which shall include all the information necessary to ensure that economic operators are fully, correctly and accurately informed about the requirements of the procurement, the subject-matter of the contract, and the manner in which the award procedure is conducted. --------------- Art. 9 para. (3) lit.f) of the HG 395/2016 f) the justifications for the choice of the award procedure in the situations provided for in Article 69, paragraphs (2)-(5) of the Law and, where applicable, the decision to shorten the time limits in accordance with the law, the decision not to use division into lots, the qualification criteria regarding capacity and, where applicable, the selection criteria, the award criterion, and the evaluation factors used;

Definition

The requirements established by the contracting authority regarding the capacity and eligibility of economic operators or participants

Description of the practical application / context

The competitors may be individual architecture offices, partnerships formed by individual architecture offices, or other legal forms of exercising the profession of architect, according to the national legislation of the state of origin or legal persons (design companies) in Romania or in other countries, either individually or as a joint venture. In the case of a joint venture, its leader will register the project in the competition. The candidates entering the Competition as legal entities shall have as an associate or employee a certified architect, member of the Order of Architects in Romania or of a similar organization in his or her country of origin, legally practicing and having the required qualification as an architect, in compliance with the national legislation of his or her country of origin. The candidates, whether individually or as joint ventures, must have the legal capacity to conclude a design services contract in Romania, which will have to be proven to the Contracting Authority, should they win the Competition. Foreign legal entities and individuals from outside Romania, the European Union, the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation may take part in the competition only in association with one of the above-mentioned legal forms of practice.

Definition

The result of the jury’s collective deliberation, through which the ranking of the projects and the awarded solutions are established, based on the evaluation criteria defined in the competition documentation

Description of the practical application / context

The Jury is sovereign. The Jury will justify its decision in the Jury Report and the scoring table annexed to the Jury Report. The Jury's decision is the result of the professional debate sessions. The Jury’s decisions shall be adopted by consensus. In the case consensus cannot be reached on the ranking order through professional debate, the decisions shall be taken by a majority vote. Each Jury member is entitled to one vote. In case of a tie, the Chairperson of the Jury shall have the casting vote. The jury will give points to the projects that have been ranked after the professional debate, based on the award criteria. In the case of equal scores, the difference will be made considering the score sobtained for the evaluation factors in descending order of their weights.

Professional political contextualization

The Contracting Authority (CA will assume the obligation to award the design services contract to the winner to carry out the objective, which is the subject of the procedure, according to the specifications indicated in the Competition Rules. The Jury’s decision in the competition is binding for the CA regarding the selection of the projects submitted, the design proposal designated as the winner, and the design proposals that will be awarded. Following the communication of the results, appeals may be submitted. The Jury’s decision regarding the evaluation of the projects cannot be contested and does not constitute a subject of legal dispute

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016 Article 104 (7)The contracting authority has the right to apply the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice for the award of public service contracts where, following a design competition, the public service contract is to be awarded, in accordance with the rules laid down in that design competition, to the winner or to one of the winners of the competition; in the latter case, the contracting authority shall invite all winners to participate in the negotiations. Article 109 (1) The jury shall be autonomous in the decisions and opinions it issues.

Definition

A stage of a design competition that takes place between the official launch of the competition and the signing of the design contract with the winner.

Description of the practical application / context

For the organiser, this involves carrying out the following activities: • Organizing the competition secretariat, which will be active throughout the duration of the competition (assisting with competitor registration, recording and compiling competitors’ written questions for publication on SEAP, and publishing the “Questions and Answers” documents on the competition website). • Promoting the competition within professional circles and during specific activities organized by the AC (if applicable)—including through the creation of graphic materials, brochures, posters, and press conferences. • Organizing a guided tour of the competition site led by the Professional Advisor. • Organizing “Questions and Answers” sessions on the dates specified in the competition calendar (compiling questions, forwarding them to the responsible parties, publishing the answers). Submission of Projects and Preparation for Judging • Organizing the presentation of projects for judging and the final exhibition of participating projects. • Ensuring the Secretariat’s reception procedures, guaranteeing compliance with all rules regarding anonymity. • Forming the Technical Committee and preparing its work, under the supervision of the Professional Advisor. Judging + Opening of Envelopes + Public Announcement • Preparing for the Jury meeting: arranging transportation and accommodations for Jury members from other locations, setting up the jury venue and the exhibition of participating projects, providing logistics (printer, internet, cleaning services, etc.), as well as refreshments and lunch. • Providing secretarial services during the jury sessions; appointing a Jury Secretary with a background similar to that of the majority of Jury members. • Preparing the press kit (press release on competition results, excerpts of relevant quotes from the Jury Report, low-resolution (72 dpi) images of winning projects for online publication and high-resolution (150 dpi) images for print media, competition poster (optional)). • Communicating the competition results by organizing a press conference and publishing the Jury Report and the correspondence table on the website, notifying the competitors, and promoting the winning solutions. • Preparing the gallery of participating projects on the contest website (compiling a list of participants, resizing and formatting project boards, selecting and extracting 3 images per project for each participating project, creating a dedicated article with the authors’ details and project description, uploading to the site).

Definition

A document issued within the competition procedure, through which the contracting authority, the professional advisers and the organizer provide official responses to participants’ requests for clarification, such responses becoming an integral part of the competition documentation

Description of the practical application / context

Any interested candidate is entitled to request clarifications in writing, with regards to the Competition documentation. The requests or questions can be sent only in writing, by means of the competition website www.oar.archi, by accessing the “Add a question” Section. The candidate must comply with the deadline indicated in the Competition Rules and must ensure that the requests for clarification or the questions were received at the Competition Secretariat. The questions raised during the site visit shall be recorded and shall be included in the Round I “Questions and answers” document. The Contracting Authority shall provide the answers to the requests for clarification or the questions asked, together with the corresponding questions, on https://www.e-licitatie.ro/pub, and by means of the Organizer on the Competition webpage www.oar.archi, in a clear, complete, and unambiguous manner, while complying with the deadline indicated in the Competition schedule, and protecting the anonymity of the those who requested clarifications. The answers to the questions or requests for clarification may offer details or supplement certain provisions of the Competition documentation and shall become an integral part of the Competition documentation.

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016 Art. 160 para. (1): Any interested economic operator has the right to request clarifications or additional information in relation to the procurement documentation. Art. 161 (1) To the extent that requests for clarifications or additional information have been submitted within the deadline set in the contract notice/design contest notice, the contracting authority’s response to such requests must be communicated at least 10 days, or 5 days in duly substantiated cases of urgency by the contracting authority, as provided for in Art. 74 para. (3) and Art. 79 para. (5), before the deadline set for the submission of tenders or requests to participate.

Definition

The set of documents, studies, and information made available to participants, prepared by the contracting authority together with the competition organizer and the professional advisor, which support the competition brief and rules and establish the framework necessary for the development and evaluation of competition proposals.

Description of the practical application / context

The competition package includes all the necessary documents, studies, and information for participants to prepare their design competition design. In the organization process, the Competition package is built together with the Competition Brief and the files, including the Competition Rules and its annexes. Initially, the Professional Advisor prepares a List of documents and documentation necessary for the correct drafting of the Competition Brief and the Competition package, after analysing the nature of the competition (type and subject) and its purpose. If not otherwise agreed at the beginning of the organization, the CA is responsible for providing the documentation, studies, and plans; if they do not exist, the CA will arrange for their drafting. The Professional Advisor is also responsible for checking the documents provided by the CA to ensure their professional standard. If the documents provided are incomplete, contain outdated information, or are below the required quality standard, the Professional Advisor is responsible for bringing the problems to the attention of the CA, so they can be resolved. Depending on the type of competition and the envisioned objective, the list of documents and documentation requested from the CA to support the competition brief and prepare the Competition package may contain: studies, Technical expertises, professional points of view, suppoting documentation, urban planning documentation and permits, etc.

Definition

The conditions established in the competition rules that must be fulfilled by a candidate or a team in order to be considered eligible

Description of the practical application / context

The competitors may be individual architecture offices, partnerships formed by individual architecture offices, or other legal forms of exercising the profession of architect, according to the national legislation of the state of origin or legal persons (design companies) in Romania or in other countries, either individually or as a joint venture. In the case of a joint venture, its leader will register the project in the competition. The candidates entering the Competition as legal entities shall have as an associate or employee a certified architect, member of the Order of Architects in Romania or of a similar organization in his or her country of origin, legally practicing and having the required qualification as an architect, in compliance with the national legislation of his or her country of origin. The candidates, whether individually or as joint ventures, must have the legal capacity to conclude a design services contract in Romania, which will have to be proven to the Contracting Authority, should they win the Competition.

Definition

The set of patrimonial and moral rights over the projects developed within the competition, exercised under the conditions established by law

Description of the practical application / context

Participants are recognized both moral rights and patrimonial rights over the accomplished works. Following the competition and the award of the public procurement contract, the realization of the project will be conducted in collaboration with the AC. The project may change, but without affecting the architectural-urbanistic design in its essence. The CA and the Competition Organizer do not assume any responsibility for possible copyright infringements by the participants in the competition. The sole responsibility lies with the submitting party.

Professional political contextualization

Suppose an ideas competition is to be implemented in any form. In that case, it is essential to protect the winner’s copyright regarding the winning design and to involve them in the development of a future design brief or design competition brief. According to the Competition Rules of the International Union of Architects UIA: “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 architectconsultant may be envisaged.”

Legal basis

All projects submitted in the competition are subject to copyright within the meaning of Law no. 8/1996 on copyright and related rights, with subsequent amendments and additions. Winners of the competition may transfer their patrimonial copyrights through a copyright assignment contract, as regulated by Article 39 of Law no. 8/1996. According to art. 13 of the same law, the use of the work gives rise to patrimonial copyrights, distinct and exclusive rights of the author to authorize or prohibit: •The reproduction of the work. •The distribution of the work. •The import for commercialization on the domestic market of copies made, with the author’s consent, from the work. •The rental of the work. •The lending of the work. •Communication of the work to the public, directly or indirectly, by any means, including making the work available to the public so that members of the public may access it individually at any chosen place and at any time. •The broadcasting of the work. •Cable retransmission of the work. •Creating derivative works. Regarding moral copyrights, these will continue to belong to the authors and cannot be subject to cession. The moral rights recognized by Romanian law are: •The right to decide whether, in what manner, and when the work will be made public •The right of authorship, being able to claim authorship of the work. •The right to decide under what name the work will be made known to the public. •The right to claim respect for the integrity of the work and to object to any alteration of or any interference with the work if it is prejudicial to its honour or reputation. • The right to withdraw the work, compensating the holders of the rights of use prejudiced by the exercise of the right of withdrawal.

Definition

The optimal use of financial resources in relation to the results obtained. In the context of design competitions, this refers to the capacity of a solution to meet the requirements of the brief within the established budget, ensuring an optimal balance between architectural quality and the costs of implementation and operation

Description of the practical application / context

In Romania, economic efficiency in design competitions is framed by Law no. 98/2016, which establishes the principles of proportionality and responsible use of public funds, and by HG no. 907/2016, which defines the technical-economic documentation (such as feasibility studies and technical-economic indicators) that substantiates investment costs and ensures the realism of the investment. These technical-economic indicators and documents are approved by the CA (Contracting Authority). Within the competition procedure, economic efficiency is embedded in the competition documentation through the establishment of a maximum estimated investment value, and the estimated value of design services. This financial framework, defined by the contracting authority with the support of the organizer, sets the budgetary limits within which proposals must be developed. During evaluation, economic aspects are considered by the jury as part of the quantitative and calitative assessment by examining the coherence of proposals in relation to the available budget, as well as their implications for operation, and maintenance costs.

Professional political contextualization

Both the local public administration and the Romanian Order of Architects (OAR) share the common goal of increasing the quality of the built environment. It is only possible to increase the quality of the architectural product if design contracts are awarded primarily based on the quality of the submitted projects (of course, within the established cost limits). At the same time, the architectural and/or urban planning competition is the optimal, effective, and transparent way of procuring design services, based on the decision of a professional jury.

Legal basis

Law 98/2016 Article 187 (1) Without prejudice to legal or administrative provisions regarding the price of certain products or the remuneration for certain services, the contracting authority shall award the public procurement contract or framework agreement to the bidder who has submitted the most economically advantageous tender. (2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), the contracting authority shall determine the most economically advantageous offer on the basis of the award criterion and the evaluation factors set forth in the procurement documents. (3) To determine the most economically advantageous offer in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (2), the contracting authority shall have the right to apply one of the following award criteria: a) the best quality-price balance; b) the best quality-cost balance; c) the lowest cost; d) the lowest price.

Definition

A design competition conducted in a single phase, where all participants submit complete proposals and the jury evaluates them without a prior selection stage

Description of the practical application / context

Given the substantial additional commitment that two-stage competitions require from both the Contracting Authority (CA) and the participants, the Romanian Order of Architects (OAR) organizes competitions exclusively as single-stage competitions

Professional political contextualization

International experience recommends that, when possible, project competitions should be organized as one-stage competitions (according to UIA competition Guidelines). This recommendation arises because of the substantial additional commitment that the two-stage competition requires from both the Contracting Authority (CA) and the participants.

Definition

A design competition structured in successive stages of selection and evaluation, in which the number of participants is progressively reduced until the winners are determined

Description of the practical application / context

The Romanian Order of Architects (OAR), in line with international standards, does not organize multi-stage competitions; the use of two-stage competitions is recommended only for particularly complex projects.

Professional political contextualization

In two-stage competitions, the first stage should call for designs consisting of a general approach with minimum requirements, and participants selected for the second stage of the competition should be remunerated for their work through participation fees.

Definition

The structured process by which the jury analyses the submitted projects, on the basis of the evaluation criteria set out in the competition documentation, in order to establish their ranking

Description of the practical application / context

All members of the Jury (including deputy members) participate in all Jury sessions. Deputy members participate without voting rights, except in cases where they are called upon to replace a full member of the Jury, in which case they assume all responsibilities and rights of full Jury members. The Jury is sovereign. The Jury’s decision cannot be contested and is binding for the Contracting Authority. Each member of the Jury has one vote. Jury decisions are made by majority vote. In the event of a tie, the President of the Jury has the casting vote. 1. During the first judging session, the Jury elects a President by vote, reviews and decides on the Report of the Technical Committee presented by its President (the Jury is the only body authorized to decide on the possible disqualification of a contestant as proposed in this Report), and jointly establishes its working methodology. 2. The Jury evaluates all submitted projects to determine the winning roject, based on the evaluation criteria specified in the competition brief and the call for entries, as well as the requirements provided to the participants. 3. The Jury establishes a final ranking and selects a single winner of the competition. A clear ranking of the contestants will be established, and exaequo prizes are not permitted. The jury of specialists considers the proposals as a whole (comparatively) to select the design that best responds to the requirements formulated in the brief. Projects submitted to the competition are judged contextually, comparatively, and not in abstract/absolute terms. The jury awards points to each project, considering the interpretations and answers to all specific aspects, grading the project in terms of the two categories of criteria proposed and the evaluation factors presented for each criterion. The jury awards points for each sub-criterion and then presents the final score (sum of points) that the project receives. This final score represents the Jury’s common position, which will be substantiated in the written Jury Report.

Professional political contextualization

The product (the best architectural design proposal of the design team as a service provider) that is procured through the competition has a specific nature, characterized by the artistic way in which it meets the purpose. This specific nature derives from the fact that architecture is the art of responding aesthetically to the practical (functional and constructive) and symbolic requirements, both inherent and/or deriving from the surrounding built environment, as exposed in the design brief, composing them together to give them an artistic form. All these intertwine and define the architectural quality, which cannot be appreciated outside of this determining aesthetic dimension. An architectural object does not exist apart from satisfying the functional and structural conditions of the building, but these do not have a single,universally valid answer, nor do they automatically provide aesthetic quality. The selection of an architectural/urban planning design proposal cannot be based solely on mathematically quantifiable, objectively measurable data, as in the case of construction services procurement or exclusively technical projects. The artistic dimension involves specific evaluation factors that contribute synergistically to the overall assessment of the design. The jury of specialists assesses them globally to select the best design, of the highest artistic quality, for the specific case, in response to the objective conditions of the brief/documentation. The evaluation factors in an architectural competition usually relate to: the site integration of the project, its functionality, the clarity of organization of program elements, the quality of the architectural concept, the quality of the proposed spaces, the aesthetic quality and architectural expression, the adequacy of the proposed building system and materials, the aspects of social and environmental sustainability, and the overall coherence of the project.

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016 Article 109 (2)The jury shall evaluate, anonymously and exclusively on the basis of the criteria indicated in the design competition notice, the plans and projects submitted by the candidates. (...) (4) On the basis of the qualitative evaluation of each project, the jury shall establish the ranking of the projects, as well as the observations and aspects that should be clarified, in a report signed by all members of the jury. Article 154 (1)The contracting authority has the obligation to prepare the procurement documentation, which shall include all the information necessary to ensure that economic operators are fully, correctly and accurately informed about the requirements of the procurement, the subject-matter of the contract, and the manner in which the award procedure is conducted.

Definition

The cumulative value of all prizes and payments awarded to participants in a design competition, used, among other things, in determining the total estimated value of the procedure

Description of the practical application / context

In accordance with the standards for International Design Competitions, the prize fund amounts to 5% of the value of the design contract

Professional political contextualization

Although Law 98/2016 stipulates that competitions can take place without the awarding of prizes, the Romanian Order of Architects only supports competitions with the awarding of a minimum of three prizes, for several reasons that are decisive for the quality of the competition: • Given that working for a competition is a great effort for the participants, the existence of prizes is also a moral recognition of that effort and a prospect of reward that encourages wider participation •The existence of the prizes attracts more recognized professionals in the field, for whom the incentive is not only the design contract, but also the professional ranking that the prizes offer as a measure of the solutions to a particular problem •The wider and higher quality participation stimulated by the existence of several prizes makes the selection more relevant both in terms of the larger number of projects and the variety of ideas submitted

Legal basis

Art. 105 of Law nr. 98/2016 on public procurement The design competition may be organized in one of the following ways: a) as part of a procedure for awarding a public service contract; b) as a separate award procedure, with prizes or payments awarded to participants. Law no. 98/2016, Article 13 (...) (2) In the case of a design competition provided for in Art. 105 letter (b), the estimated value shall be calculated by reference to the total value of the prizes or payments to participants and shall include the estimated value, excluding VAT, of the public service contract that may be awarded pursuant to the provisions of Art. 104 para. (7), where the contracting authority has expressed, in the competition notice, its intention to award that contract.

Definition

The sum of form templates that the organiser makes available to facilitate the standardised, legally compliant preparation of competition documents.

Definition

The condition under which jury members perform their duties without influences, interests or circumstances that could affect the objectivity of the evaluation, being required to abstain or withdraw from the jury process in any situation where there is a risk of a conflict of interest or indications that they may have, directly or indirectly, a personal, financial, economic or other interest

Description of the practical application / context

Jury members have the obligation to withdraw from the jury if there is a risk of a conflict of interest or in any situation where there are reasonable indications or concrete information that they may have, directly or indirectly, a personal, financial, economic, or other interest, or are in a situation that could affect their independence and impartiality during the evaluation process

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016 Article 109 (1)The jury shall be autonomous in its decisions and opinions. (2)The jury shall evaluate, anonymously and exclusively on the basis of the criteria indicated in the design competition notice, the plans and projects submitted by the candidates. (3)Anonymity shall be maintained until the moment when the jury adopts a decision or formulates an opinion; for this purpose, the provisions of Article 63 para. (2) regarding the obligation to publish, by electronic means, the name and identification details of the tenderer/candidate/proposed subcontractor/supporting third party shall not apply. As amended on 22 December 2017 by Emergency Ordinance no. 107 of 20 December 2017, published in the Official Gazette no. 1022 of 22 December 2017. (4)On the basis of the qualitative evaluation of each project, the jury shall establish the ranking of the projects, as well as the observations and aspects that should be clarified, in a report signed by all members of the jury. (5)Candidates may be invited, where necessary, to respond to the questions recorded in the report drawn up by the jury, in order to clarify any aspects concerning the projects. (6)The jury shall draw up complete minutes of the dialogue between the members of the jury and the candidates.

Definition

The condition whereby the members of the jury have no relationships, interests or influences that could affect their impartiality, evaluating the projects objectively and on the basis of the criteria set out in the competition documentation

Description of the practical application / context

Jury members have the obligation to withdraw from the jury if there is a risk of a conflict of interest or in any situation where there are reasonable indications or concrete information that they may have, directly or indirectly, a personal, financial, economic, or other interest, or are in a situation that could affect their independence and impartiality during the evaluation process

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016 Article 108 (1)For the purpose of evaluating the projects submitted within a design competition, the contracting authority shall appoint a jury composed exclusively of natural persons independent of the participants in the competition. Article 59 For the purposes of this law, a conflict of interest shall mean any situation in which members of the staff of the contracting authority or of a procurement service provider acting on behalf of the contracting authority, who are involved in the conduct of the award procedure or who may influence its outcome, have, directly or indirectly, a financial, economic or other personal interest which might be perceived as compromising their impartiality or independence in the context of the award procedure.

Definition

The ability of a proposal to provide new, original and relevant responses to the requirements of the brief, through the creative integration of qualitative, quantitative, and economic criteria

Definition

The process through which participants may request clarifications regarding the competition documentation, and the organizers provide official responses that are communicated equally to all participants

Description of the practical application / context

Competitions organized by OAR have tipically 2 rounds of Q&A. A third round might be necessary for longer competitions. 1st round: Round 1 of Questions&Answers must also contain the questions asked by participants during the site visit (noted by the secretariat). It is recommended that the deadline for receiving Round 1 questions is as close as possible to the date of the site visit (max 1-3 days after), so that all participants receive the same information at the same time, regardless of whether or not they were present at the site visit. A minimum of 5 working days is recommended for the preparation, compilation, and publication of responses. Possible additional round of „Questions and Answers”.In the cases mentioned in the chapter. 3.5. Requests for Clarification and Answers, an additional round may be organized, but this must be announced at least 5 days before the deadline for receiving questions. 2nd round: The deadline for receiving questions: 2nd round of Q&A has to be at least 17 days before the deadline for project submission. The deadline for submitting answers: 2nd round of Q&A has to be at least 10 days before the deadline for project submission

Legal basis

Art. 161 of Law 98/2016

Definition

An independent body mandated by the contracting authority, composed of professionals recognized and respected at national and/or international level, which is independent, autonomous and sovereign in the evaluation of the projects and in establishing their ranking, in accordance with the criteria set out in the competition documentation

Description of the practical application / context

The jury is composed of full members and alternate members. Depending on the complexity and specificity of the competition, it may have 5+2, 7+2, or 9+2 full members and alternate members. The number of full members must be odd. It is not recommended to appoint a jury with a larger number of members, as it makes it more difficult to reach decisions and consensus in the time allotted for the jury sessions. In international competitions, the OAR recommends the inclusion of at least two foreign members, recognized for their expertise in the type of program that is the subject of the 25 competition. Each Jury must have designated deputy members who participate in the jury without the right to vote and who can replace a full member of the Jury in the event of their absence (for whatever reason), thus receiving all the duties of a full member. Deputy members must be present and involved in the debate throughout the jury sessions because if they must replace a full member, they must have gone through and analysed the projects and participated in all the jury deliberations. Having similar tasks and investing the same effort in the jury process, the deputy members will be remunerated equally to the full members of the jury. All members of the jury, full and deputy, take part in the proceedings. A deputy member does not have the right to vote unless he or she is permanently or temporarily replacing a full member (more details on the jury procedure in chap. 3.9. Jury evaluation of the projects). The jury for the competition is designated before its launch and announced simultaneously with the launch on the official competition website and in the Procurement Datasheet published on SEAP (Electronic System of Public Procurements). The jury is specified in the competition rules and cannot be modified after the competition has been launched. The members of the jury have the right to withdraw (formal withdrawal from the jury competition). Jury members have the obligation to withdraw from the jury if there is a risk of a conflict of interest or in any situation where there are reasonable indications or concrete information that they may have, directly or indirectly, a personal, financial, economic, or other interest, or are in a situation that could affect their independence and impartiality during the evaluation process.

Professional political contextualization

Most members of the jury must have a degree in architecture/urban planning, or, if the subject of the competition requires it, specialists in the field of the competition (geographers, landscape architects, architectural historians, designers, psychologists, sociologists, etc.) will be invited. According to the legislation in force (art. 108 para. (2) of the Law 98/2016), at least one third of the number of jury members must hold the qualification requested from the participants or an equivalent one. However, to ensure the quality of the competition, it is recommended that more than half of the number of jury members should be professionals in the field, as the composition of the jury and the professional profiles of the jury members contribute decisively to the quality of the selection and constitute a confidence factor for the participants (increases the number and quality of entries). Jury members are nominated based on their professional achievements and competence in the field and are mandated by the CA. In addition to personalities from the national and international architectural practice, the OAR recommends the inclusion of representatives from the architectural academic world (theorists, architectural historians, or developers of methodologies relevant to the competition’s objective) and winners of national and/or international design competitions. To ensure that the objectives of the CA are achieved, the CA may be represented in the Jury by a full member and an alternate member. The other members of the Jury are completely independent from the CA.

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016 Article 108 (1)For the purpose of evaluating the projects submitted within a design competition, the contracting authority shall appoint a jury composed exclusively of natural persons who are independent of the participants in the competition. (2)Where a specific professional qualification is required from participants in the competition, at least one third of the members of the jury must hold that qualification or an equivalent qualification. Article 109 (1)The jury shall be autonomous in its decisions and opinions. (2)The jury shall evaluate, anonymously and exclusively on the basis of the criteria indicated in the design competition notice, the plans and projects submitted by the candidates. (3)Anonymity shall be maintained until the moment when the jury adopts a decision or formulates an opinion; for this purpose, the provisions of Article 63 para. (2) regarding the obligation to publish, by electronic means, the name and identification details of the tenderer/candidate/proposed subcontractor/supporting third party shall not apply. (as amended by Emergency Ordinance no. 107 of 20 December 2017, published in the Official Gazette no. 1022 of 22 December 2017) (4)On the basis of the qualitative evaluation of each project, the jury shall establish the ranking of the projects, as well as the observations and aspects that should be clarified, in a report signed by all members of the jury. (5)Candidates may be invited, where necessary, to respond to the questions recorded in the report drawn up by the jury, in order to clarify any aspects concerning the projects. (6)The jury shall draw up complete minutes of the dialogue between the members of the jury and the candidates.

Definition

A Jury composed of nationally and/or internationally recognized and respected professionals, which is independent, autonomous, and sovereign, provides the guarantee of a successful outcome

Description of the practical application / context

The Jury is sovereign. Its decision cannot be challenged, and it is mandatory for the Contracting Authority. The Jury will justify its decision in the Jury Report and the scoring table annexed to the Jury Report. The Jury's decision is the result of the professional debate sessions. The Jury’s decisions shall be adopted by consensus. In the case consensus cannot be reached on the ranking order through professional debate, the decisions shall be taken by a majority vote. Each Jury member is entitled to one vote. In case of a tie, the Chairperson of the Jury shall have the casting vote. The jury will give points to the projects that have been ranked after the professional debate, based on the award criteria. In the case of equal scores, the difference will be made considering the scores obtained for the evaluation factors in descending order of their weights.

Professional political contextualization

The selection of the project of the highest artistic/architectural quality, and consequently, of the most qualified designer for the given brief, is based specifically on the judgment of the Jury composed of competent specialists in the field, with recognized authority

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016, Article 108: (1) For the purpose of evaluating the projects submitted within a design competition, the contracting authority appoints a jury composed exclusively of natural persons who are independent of the participants in the competition. (2) Where a specific professional qualification is required from the participants in the competition, at least one third of the members of the jury must hold that qualification or an equivalent qualification.

Definition

The structured process by which the jury analyses the submitted projects, on the basis of the evaluation criteria set out in the competition documentation, in order to establish their ranking

Description of the practical application / context

All members of the Jury (including deputy members) participate in all Jury sessions. Deputy members participate without voting rights, except in cases where they are called upon to replace a full member of the Jury, in which case they assume all responsibilities and rights of full Jury members. The Jury is sovereign. The Jury’s decision cannot be contested and is binding for the Contracting Authority. Each member of the Jury has one vote. Jury decisions are made by majority vote. In the event of a tie, the President of the Jury has the casting vote. 1. During the first judging session, the Jury elects a President by vote, reviews and decides on the Report of the Technical Committee presented by its President (the Jury is the only body authorized to decide on the possible disqualification of a contestant as proposed in this Report), and jointly establishes its working methodology. 2. The Jury evaluates all submitted projects to determine the winning roject, based on the evaluation criteria specified in the competition brief and the call for entries, as well as the requirements provided to the participants. 3. The Jury establishes a final ranking and selects a single winner of the competition. A clear ranking of the contestants will be established, and exaequo prizes are not permitted. The jury of specialists considers the proposals as a whole (comparatively) to select the design that best responds to the requirements formulated in the brief. Projects submitted to the competition are judged contextually, comparatively, and not in abstract/absolute terms. The jury awards points to each project, considering the interpretations and answers to all specific aspects, grading the project in terms of the two categories of criteria proposed and the evaluation factors presented for each criterion. The jury awards points for each sub-criterion and then presents the final score (sum of points) that the project receives. This final score represents the Jury’s common position, which will be substantiated in the written Jury Report.

Professional political contextualization

The product (the best architectural design proposal of the design team as a service provider) that is procured through the competition has a specific nature, characterized by the artistic way in which it meets the purpose. This specific nature derives from the fact that architecture is the art of responding aesthetically to the practical (functional and constructive) and symbolic requirements, both inherent and/or deriving from the surrounding built environment, as exposed in the design brief, composing them together to give them an artistic form. All these intertwine and define the architectural quality, which cannot be appreciated outside of this determining aesthetic dimension. An architectural object does not exist apart from satisfying the functional and structural conditions of the building, but these do not have a single,universally valid answer, nor do they automatically provide aesthetic quality. The selection of an architectural/urban planning design proposal cannot be based solely on mathematically quantifiable, objectively measurable data, as in the case of construction services procurement or exclusively technical projects. The artistic dimension involves specific evaluation factors that contribute synergistically to the overall assessment of the design. The jury of specialists assesses them globally to select the best design, of the highest artistic quality, for the specific case, in response to the objective conditions of the brief/documentation. The evaluation factors in an architectural competition usually relate to: the site integration of the project, its functionality, the clarity of organization of program elements, the quality of the architectural concept, the quality of the propose spaces, the aesthetic quality and architectural expression, the adequacy of the proposed building system and materials, the aspects of social and environmental sustainability, and the overall coherence of the project.

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016 Article 109 (2)The jury shall evaluate, anonymously and exclusively on the basis of the criteria indicated in the design competition notice, the plans and projects submitted by the candidates. (...) (4) On the basis of the qualitative evaluation of each project, the jury shall establish the ranking of the projects, as well as the observations and aspects that should be clarified, in a report signed by all members of the jury. Article 154 (1)The contracting authority has the obligation to prepare the procurement documentation, which shall include all the information necessary to ensure that economic operators are fully, correctly and accurately informed about the requirements of the procurement, the subject-matter of the contract, and the manner in which the award procedure is conducted.

Definition

Situations established by the competition rules or by the applicable legislation that result in the loss of the right to participate or in the elimination of a proposal from the evaluation process

Description of the practical application / context

Article 2.3.4 of the Competition Rules: The deviations detected by the Technical Committee before the Jury assessment phase and which may entail the Jury’s decision to reject a project from the Jury assessment phase, are the following: - the absence of the sealed envelope or its non-insertion into the packaging/tube, as stated by the Competition Rules - the missing identity symbol on the competition materials, and on the sealed envelope, or the absence of the black paper cover from the competition materials (Technical Proposal – project sheets and Financial Proposal) - the absence of the Financial Proposal (template in Annex 2.3 – 2.3.1 Financial Proposal – Template) - exceeding the maximum cost estimate of the design services contract (as stated by Annex 2.6 Cost estimate). - provisions violation regarding anonymity, according to art. 3.7.

Definition

A fundamental principle of public procurement legislation, which prohibits the unjustified restriction or favouring of access to the competition

Description of the practical application / context

Non-discrimination, by requiring the same competition requirements from all participants.

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016, Article 2 Para. (2). The principles underlying the award of public procurement contracts and the organization of design competitions are: a) non-discrimination; b) equal treatment; c) mutual recognition; d) transparency; e) proportionality; f) accountability.”

Definition

The organizer of the competition can be either a specialized department within the CA or a collaborator/expert, or a professional entity with expertise/qualification in the fields involved. For the implementation of the competition procedure, the Organizer has or designates specific technical and organizational structures. The minimum standard is to provide the following functions: Competition Coordinator, Professional Advisor, Competition Secretariat, Technical Committee, and Jury Secretariat - technical and organizational structures explained below. For more efficient management, persons or legal entities may also be appointed as: promotion and communication consultant, graphic designer, etc.

Definition

Competition participant/participating team which, following the jurying process and according to the Jury Report, was ranked in a remunerated position (prize or mention) or obtained an honorable mention.

Description of the practical application / context

The Jury is required to assess the submitted projects based on the selection criteria indicated in the competition brief and competition notice and applied as to establish the winning project and to establish a ranking according to which the competition winner shall be designated, and to award the prizes. At the end of the proceedings, the Jury shall draft the Jury Report regarding the Jury proceedings and the results of the competition, which will then be submitted to the Contracting Authority. The Jury’s decision in the competition is binding for the Contracting Authority (CA) regarding the selection of the projects submitted, the design proposal designated as the winner, and the design proposals that will be awarded. The Organizer shall publish the competition results within the time limit indicated in the competition rules, mentioning the names of the authors of the awarded projects. After the Competition, all the prize-awarded projects shall be subject to copyright provisions under Law no. 8/1996 regarding copyright and related rights, with subsequent amendments and completions.

Professional political contextualization

Although Law 98/2016 stipulates that competitions can take place without the awarding of prizes, the Romanian Order of Architects only supports competitions with the awarding of a minimum of three prizes, for several reasons that are decisive for the quality of the competition: •Given that working for a competition is a great effort for the participants, the existence of prizes is also a moral recognition of that effort and a prospect of reward that encourages wider participation •The existence of the prizes attracts more recognized professionals in the field, for whom the incentive is not only the design contract, but also the professional ranking that the prizes offer as a measure of the solutions to a particular problem •The wider and higher quality participation stimulated by the existence of several prizes makes the selection more relevant both in terms of the larger number of projects and the variety of ideas submitted

Legal basis

As per art. 99 para. 5 of HG395/2016: ”(5) In the case where the design competition is organized with prizes or payments awarded to the participants, the contracting authority shall award prizes or payments to the participants by the provisions of the competition documentation, based on the ranking of the projects drawn up by the jury following the provisions of para. (4). The prizes or payments awarded to the participants shall be reflected as an expense of the same nature as the purchase or shall be reflected as a separate item in the budget and the executive account of the contracting authority, respectively.”

Definition

Within a design competition, the group of natural or legal persons, or associations of such persons, who meets the participation requirements and submit a proposal in accordance with the provisions of the competition rules.

Description of the practical application / context

The competitors may be individual architecture offices, partnerships formed by individual architecture offices, or other legal forms of exercising the profession of architect, according to the national legislation of the state of origin or legal persons (design companies) in Romania or in other countries, either individually or as a joint venture. In the case of a joint venture, its leader will register the project in the competition. The candidates entering the Competition as legal entities shall have as an associate or employee a certified architect, member of the Order of Architects in Romania or of a similar organization in his or her country of origin, legally practicing and having the required qualification as an architect, in compliance with the national legislation of his or her country of origin. The candidates, whether individually or as joint ventures, must have the legal capacity to conclude a design services contract in Romania, which will have to be proven to the Contracting Authority, should they win the Competition

Definition

The official website ensures the communication of the competition within the professional community. It allows competitors to register electronically, submit questions, access published Q&A documents, view relevant announcements, and, after the jury sessions are completed, access the gallery of submitted projects and the final competition results. If OAR is the Organizer of the competition or provides official endorsement

Description of the practical application / context

The website https://www.oar.archi/concursuri serves as the official competition platform. The official competition website must permit: • Electronic registration of potential participants in order to receive updates on the competition. The initial registration of participants is not compulsory, but it serves for the direct transmission of information relevant to the competition and for the estimation of the number of parcels submitted and is useful to the organizers for the estimation of the capacity of the hall where the question session of the visit will take place (if applicable) or for the organization of the visit in several sessions (if the target is an existing building, for example), for the preparation of the work of the Reception Secretariat, the Technical Commission and the space for the jury sessions. • Centralising answers to participants› questions in «Question and Answer» sessions. • Communicating the final results of the competition and the visualisation of the projects. • Creation of an announcement section to follow the design and execution status, with permanent updates. • Publication of a virtual gallery of participating projects. If the competition is organized by the OAR or is endorsed by the OAR, the official website is the special section dedicated to competitions on the OAR website, which is a guarantee of quality and can attract more participants

Professional political contextualization

The official competition website provides communication of the competition in the professional environment and is designed by the Organizer, if it is a professional entity separate from the CA. Even if the competition is organized directly by the CA, it is recommended to create a separate page from the SEAP platform (Electronic System of Public Procurements), for several reasons, such as: •Ensuring better promotion in the professional environment to attract as many competitors as possible •Increase the degree of accessibility to the Competition Package for potential participants •Structuring the information relevant to each competition specifically •Facilitating communication with potential participants •Increasing transparency by making it easier to follow the progress of the competition (viewing the results, the status of entries after the competition has ended, etc.) •Archiving the competition

Legal basis

Law 98/2016 Article 150 (1)The contracting authority shall ensure, by electronic means, through SEAP, direct, full, unrestricted and free access for economic operators to the procurement documents starting from the date of publication of the contract notice. (2)The contracting authority shall indicate in the contract notice the internet address where the procurement documents are available.

Definition

The conditions that candidates must fulfill in order to be eligible to submit offers within the procedure

Description of the practical application / context

The competitors may be individual architecture offices, partnerships formed by individual architecture offices, or other legal forms of exercising the profession of architect, according to the national legislation of the state of origin or legal persons (design companies) in Romania or in other countries, either individually or as a joint venture. In the case of a joint venture, its leader will register the project in the competition. The candidates entering the Competition as legal entities shall have as an associate or employee a certified architect, member of the Order of Architects in Romania or of a similar organization in his or her country of origin, legally practicing and having the required qualification as an architect, in compliance with the national legislation of his or her country of origin. The candidates, whether individually or as joint ventures, must have the legal capacity to conclude a design services contract in Romania, which will have to be proven to the Contracting Authority, should they win the Competition

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016, Article 178 (1) The contracting authority has the right to establish, through the procurement documents, requirements regarding technical and professional capacity that are necessary and appropriate to ensure that economic operators possess the human and technical resources and the experience required to perform the public procurement contract/framework agreement at an appropriate level of quality. (2) The requirements regarding technical and professional capacity established by the contracting authority may, in particular, concern the existence of an appropriate level of experience, by reference to contracts performed in the past.

Definition

The proposal developed and submitted by a participant within the competition, including the financial proposal and the technical proposal: drawings, written documents, and forms, for the purpose of evaluation during the jury sessions, in accordance with the requirements and conditions set out in the competition documentation.

Description of the practical application / context

To be admitted to the Jury assessment phase, the projects must comply with: - the competition rules; - delivery date; - anonymity.

Definition

The principle according to which the requirements and conditions of a competition must be appropriate and proportionate to its subject matter and complexity, without unjustifiably restricting participation

Description of the practical application / context

In practice, the principle of proportionality in a competition procedure is applied by calibrating all requirements, from participation conditions and the type of competition to the level of detail of submissions and evaluation criteria, so that they are appropriate to the subject matter and complexity of the project, without imposing excessive burdens or unjustifiably restricting participation, while maintaining a fair balance between the effort required and the competition’s scope and value

Professional political contextualization

The principle of proportionality in design competitions derives from the European public procurement framework and is established in national legislation through Law no. 98/2016. In professional practice, it requires that all competition requirements,from participation criteria to the level of detail of submissions, be appropriate and justified in relation to the subject matter and complexity of the project, without unjustifiably restricting access to participation and ensuring a fair balance between the effort required and the competition’s scope and value.

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016 Art. 2 para. (2) The principles underlying the award of public procurement contracts and the organization of design competitions are: a) non-discrimination; b) equal treatment; c) mutual recognition; d) transparency; e) proportionality; f) accountability. Article 178

Definition

The set of legal and procedural provisions that ensure the fair, transparent, and impartial conduct of the competition

Legal basis

Law no. 98 of 19 May 2016 on public procurement and Government Decision no. 395 of 2 June 2016 approving the Methodological Norms for the application of the provisions concerning the award of public procurement contracts/framework agreements under Law no. 98/2016 on public procurement

Definition

A document issued as part of the competition procedure, setting forth the Technical Committee’s observations.

Description of the practical application / context

The Technical Committee prepares a report on compliance with the competition rules for the submitted projects (documenting how the formal requirements for project presentation and the conditions for participation in the competition have been met) and, if necessary, proposes projects for disqualification. The Chair of the Technical Committee submits and presents this Report to the Jury (the only body authorized to decide on the possible disqualification of a competitor), but not before anonymizing the Technical Committee’s table.

Definition

The report of the jury documents the Jury’s proceedings and the competition results, explaining the choices made and providing recommendations to the winners and the CA

Description of the practical application / context

All members of the Jury (both full and deputy members) are required to: • Attend all Jury sessions. • Take part in drawing up the Jury Report and sign it. The report documents the Jury’s proceedings and the competition results, explaining the choices made and providing recommendations to the winners and the CA. The Jury prepares the Jury Report on the conduct and results of the evaluation process, explaining the decisions made and including professional recommendations for the Contracting Authority. The Jury Report is signed by all members of the Jury and is drafted in Romanian or both Romanian and an internationally used language, as specified in the Competition Rules, in the case of international competitions.

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016, Art. 109, para. (4): Based on the qualitative evaluation of each project, the jury establishes the ranking of the projects, as well as the observations and aspects that should be clarified, in a report signed by all members of the jury.

Definition

The observations and suggestions formulated in the jury report, addressed to the winners and the contracting authority, regarding the further development of the project or the implementation of the selected solution

Description of the practical application / context

The jury’s recommendations are recorded in the jury report and constitute the only permissible modifications to the winning project to be implemented.

Professional political contextualization

Following the Competition and the award of the public procurement contract, the execution of the winning project shall be done in collaboration with the Contracting Authority, the project may be subjected to amendments without affecting the architectural part. The only exceptions from this provision are those amendments imposed through the recommendations of the Jury, found within the Jury Report.

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016, Art. 109, para. (4): Based on the qualitative evaluation of each project, the jury establishes the ranking of the projects, as well as the observations and aspects that should be clarified, in a report signed by all members of the jury.

Definition

The competition rules are the document which includes minimum information such as general data about the Organizer and the Contracting Authority, registration, and participation in the competition, how the competition will be conducted, advancement of the competition, processing of personal data, litigation, cases of suspension of the competition, etc.

Description of the practical application / context

The competition package includes all the necessary documents, studies, and information for participants to prepare their design competition design. The competition package will be available on the competition’s website and the Electronic Public Procurement System from the competition’s launch date. In addition to the Competition package, the CA is required by law to upload to SEAP (Electronic System of Public Procurements) the Procurement Datasheet (according to art. 20, para. (1) of HG 395/2016). In the organization process, the Competition package is built together with the Competition Brief and the files, including the Competition Rules and its annexes.

Legal basis

HG 395/2016 Article 20 (1) The procurement documentation shall consist of the following: a) the ESPD (European Single Procurement Document) and the instructions to tenderers/candidates. (...) (3) “The instructions to tenderers/candidates referred to in paragraph (1) letter a) shall include details regarding the formalities to be fulfilled in connection with the award procedure in question, the manner in which economic operators must structure the information to be submitted in order to meet the requirements set out in the contract notice/simplified notice/design competition notice, as well as procedural details such as provisions regarding the required guarantees, the manner in which the technical and financial proposals must be prepared and structured, the award criterion to be applied, as well as the procedural deadlines to be observed and the remedies available. All such information shall form the basis for the automatic generation by SEAP of the contract notice/simplified notice/design competition notice.”

Definition

The conditions established in the competition rules that exclude a candidate from being eligible to participate in the competition

Description of the practical application / context

The following persons are not entitled to participate in the competition: 1. The Jury members and the deputy members 2. The Professional Advisors of the competition 3. The Competition Coordinator 4. The members of the Competition team, Technical Committee, Competition Secretariat 5. Specialized consultants involved in drafting the Competition Brief 6. The persons having decision rights within the Contracting Authority – as stated in the Procurement Data Sheet. 7. The members of the Governing Board of the Romanian Order of Architects (O.A.R.) 8. Spouses, in-laws and relatives of the persons mentioned in sections 1-7 above, up to the third degree of relationship 9. Members of territorial commissions (for example, members of the Technical Commissions for Spatial Planning and Urbanism) who are unable to sign public procurement contracts with the local public authority of the commission of which they are members during their term of office (according to the regulations adopted by the respective commissions). 10. Any other persons who are reasonably or factually presumed to have an interest, directly or indirectly, whether personal, financial, economic, or otherwise, or who are in a situation likely to affect its independence or impartiality during the assessment process and those established as being in conflict of interests according to provisions under Law 98/2016

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016, Article 59 Conflict of interest means any situation in which members of the staff of the contracting authority or of a procurement service provider acting on behalf of the contracting authority who are involved in the conduct of the award procedure or who may influence its outcome have, directly or indirectly, a financial, economic or other personal interest that could be perceived as compromising their impartiality or independence in the context of the award procedure.

Definition

The set of objectives of an architectural competition, defining what the competition intends to achieve

Description of the practical application / context

The design competition scope is to select the best solution for the realization of the competition objective, in order to award the design services contract

Professional political contextualization

The OAR Standards for a design competition include the award of the design contract: "The contract for the design services by which the procedure’s objective shall be achieved will be awarded to the winner of the competition."

Legal basis

Law 98/2016 Article 105 A design competition may be organized in one of the following ways: a) as part of a procedure for the award of a public services contract; b) as a separate award procedure, with prizes or payments granted to the participants.

Definition

Services based on activities of conception, analysis and professional creativity, characterized by a predominantly intellectual contribution grounded in knowledge, creativity and expertise, such as design services in the fields of architecture, urban planning and landscape architecture.

Definition

The competition brief is the key document of a competition that compiles and summarizes all the information relevant to the preparation of a proposal. Through all the elements it contains, the Competition Brief attracts high-quality participation—beyond the material stakes of the design contract and the prize fund—and motivates competitors to seek innovative solutions that are as attuned as possible to the spirit of the times and the place.

Description of the practical application / context

The competition brief must include the following categories of information: • the objectives pursued by the CA through the launch of the competition; • complete information/data regarding the location where the project will be implemented; • complete information/data regarding the actual “subject matter” proposed by the competition: functional, structural, heritage, artistic, and environmental requirements, specific instructions, etc., as applicable; • the content and presentation format of the proposed solution; • the evaluation/award criteria. The quality of the brief is based on: a) the accuracy and completeness of the information obtained from discussions with the CA and from various studies and specialized documentation (mentioned above); b) the specialized experience and professional expertise of the author of the paper. The brief is developed in constant dialogue with the CA, based on the brief data received (approved by the CA) and on ongoing consultations with CA representatives. Prior to the launch of the competition, the CA approves the content of the Competition Package and, by extension, the Competition Brief.

Professional political contextualization

At first glance, the competition brief appears to be a document similar to the specifications in a tender. Indeed, the brief contains certain specific details that are also found in tender specifications. But unlike a set of specifications, which provides exhaustive guidelines on the characteristics that the “procured product” must possess, a competition brief must also leave participants room for a qualitative (aesthetic, cultural, imaginative) interpretation of the quantitative data and requirements, so that the “best architectural response” to the given situation can be achieved. Also, unlike a set of specifications, the competition brief must be able to convey to participating architects a compelling and intelligible message regarding the broad spectrum of expectations—ranging from professional (aesthetic, functional, and meaningful) to cultural and even emotional—that they are called upon to fulfill through their design. This essential difference between the Competition Brief and a set of specifications stems from the very specific nature of the architectural object and architectural design—that is, the “product” being procured through the competition—the best architectural solution for the given case and the design team as the provider of design services.

Definition

The date and time established for the submission of offers in order for them to be considered in the evaluation and jury process

Description of the practical application / context

In general, a professionally organized competition should allow a minimum of 60 days from launch (2 months), but this can be up to 4 months for highly complex projects. The correct assessment of the work time given to the participants is decisive for the number of participants and the quality of the results.

Definition

The quality of conducting processes in an open and visible manner, allowing participants and the public to trust that they are fair and honest

Description of the practical application / context

Transparency is a key principle of both public procurement legislation in general and the OAR standards for organizing competitions, ensuring equal opportunities for participants. In this sense, all processes related to the conduct of the competition, as well as the information and documentation made available to participants, are clear, accessible, consistent, and equally available to all.

Professional political contextualization

The Romanian Order of Architects encourages and promotes the organization of open design competition procedures for several reasons, all of which are designed to stimulate the overall quality of the built environment in the long term: more accessible participation and selection from a wide variety of design solutions, facilitating access to architectural commissions for younger but professionally qualified teams, the transparency of the procedure, as well as creating a context for the promotion of quality architecture in the public space.

Legal basis

Transparency is one of the fundamental principles governing the award of public procurement contracts and the organization of design competitions, according to Art. 2 para. (2) letter d) of Law no. 98/2016: “The principles underlying the award of public procurement contracts and the organization of design competitions are: a) non-discrimination; b) equal treatment; c) mutual recognition; d) transparency; e) proportionality; f) accountability.”

Definition

The principle according to which all participants are subject to the same rules, requirements and criteria, applied uniformly throughout the procedure

Description of the practical application / context

Equal treatment and non-discrimination shall be ensured by requiring the same competition requirements from all participants and by applying the selection criteria equally. Ensuring anonymity is a fundamental principle of competitions, which contributes to ensuring the transparency of the procedure by ensuring equal opportunities and a non-discriminatory evaluation of the submitted projects. The anonymization procedure must be strictly followed in accordance with the procedures of the Reception Secretariat and the Technical Commission and clearly mentioned in the Competition Rules. The participants’ identity shall be known only after all members of the Jury sign the Jury Report, by opening the sealed envelopes (according to art. 109 paragraph (3) of Law no. 98/2016 on public procurement). Anonymisation procedures shall ensure ”a double process” of anonymisation.

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016 Article 2 (2)The principles underlying the award of public procurement contracts and the organization of design competitions are: a) non-discrimination; b) equal treatment; c) mutual recognition; d) transparency; e) proportionality; f) accountability. Article 109 about anonymity. Article 154 about procurement documentation The procurement documentation shall include all the information necessary to ensure that economic operators are fully, correctly and accurately informed.” Articles 160–161 about clarifications Responses to requests for clarifications must be communicated to all participants. Article 109 about evaluation Evaluation shall be carried out exclusively on the basis of the criteria indicated in the design competition notice to ensure that economic operators are fully, correctly and accurately informed.

Definition

The maximum estimated value of the investment, respectively of the design services, established by the contracting authority with the support of the competition organizers, representing the financial limit within which the solutions proposed in the competition must fall.

Description of the practical application / context

The financial proposal shall not exceed the limit of the maximum cost estimate for the design services, in accordance with Annex 2.6 “Estimated maximum cost of investment and design services” and art. 4.2.4. Exceeding the maximum cost for the design services contract shall lead to disqualification.

Professional political contextualization

The estimation of the maximum investment cost and the estimated cost for the design service contract (the value of the design contract that is awarded through the design competition, not the value of the execution) can be made through a comparative study of similar investments and other specialty surveys. The document containing this study is provided to the participants as part of the Competition package and becomes the basis for the completion of the Financial Proposal (see section 2.3 of this chapter). The full publication of the justification study is, on the one hand, a guarantee of transparency as to how the contract price has been estimated and, on the other hand, it provides participants with essential information for the development of projects that can be successfully implemented without affecting the architectural design.

Legal basis

Law no. 98/2016 Article 12 The estimated value of the procurement shall be determined before the initiation of the award procedure and shall be valid at the time of initiation of the award procedure. The initiation of the award procedure is carried out by one of the following means: a) the transmission for publication of the participation notice; (...) c) the transmission of the invitation to participate in the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a participation notice. Article 13 (1) In the case of the design competition provided for in Article 105(a), the estimated value shall be calculated on the basis of the estimated value, excluding VAT, of the public procurement services contract, including any possible prizes or payments to participants. (2) In the case of the design competition provided for in Article 105(b), the estimated value shall be calculated by reference to the total value of the prizes or payments to participants and shall include the estimated value, excluding VAT, of the public procurement services contract which may be awarded pursuant to Article 104(7), where the contracting authority has expressed in the competition notice its intention to award such a contract.

Definition

The individual value of the prizes awarded to participants ranked in the top positions in a design competition, established by the contracting authority and specified in the competition documentation

Description of the practical application / context

The total value of the prizes depends on the complexity and difficulty of the competition, as well as its objective. The Professional Advisor, together with the Competition Coordinator, proposes the value of the prizes to the CA so that they reflect the difficulty of the objective for which the competition is organized. A minimum of three prizes will be awarded. No ex-aequo (tied) prizes may be awarded. Depending on the complexity and difficulty of the competition, it is recommended to award remunerated mentions. In addition to these, the jury is also entitled to award honorary mentions for outstanding elements or approaches to a project, regardless of the ranking, but these are not included in the prize fund and have only value as a personal portfolio. The remuneration for each prize must be clearly stated in the Competition package. The total amount of the prizes, mentions, or awards must be paid in full within the time limit specified in the Competition Package documents. The Contracting Authority commits to paying the prizes and mentions within 30 calendar days of the submission to the Contracting Authority’s registry of all the relevant documents (request and invoice) by the winners, but no later than 60 calendar days after the announcement of the results6. If the Contracting Authority or the private promoter of the competition fails to sign the design services contract with the winner, for reasons not attributable to it, such as, but not limited to: fortuitous event, force majeure, withdrawal of the competitor from the procedure by not attending the negotiation procedure, the CA or the promoter has the right to invite the next ranked competitor to the negotiation procedure to conclude the contract, in descending order established by the jury.

Professional political contextualization

The prizes must correspond to the requirements of the competition and the objective’s complexity to be attractive for participating in the competition, regardless of the country of origin of the future participants. To ensure a generous participation, at least 3 prizes will be awarded; preferably also mentions, with correctly calibrated values

Legal basis

Art. 105 of Law nr. 98/2016 on public procurement The design competition may be organized in one of the following ways: a) as part of a procedure for awarding a public service contract; b) as a separate award procedure, with prizes or payments awarded to participants. According to Art. 99 para. 5 HG395/2016: ”(5) In the case where the design competition is organized with prizes or payments awarded to the participants, the contracting authority shall award prizes or payments to the participants by the provisions of the competition documentation, based on the ranking of the projects drawn up by the jury following the provisions of para. (4). The prizes or payments awarded to the participants shall be reflected as an expense of the same nature as the purchase or shall be reflected as a separate item in the budget and the executive account of the contracting authority, respectively.”

Definition

The expression of an individual choice within a decision-making process leading to a collective decision taken by majority, during the jury sessions

Description of the practical application / context

The jury’s procedural decisions will be taken by consensus. If consensus cannot be reached on the procedure, procedural decisions will be taken by majority vote. Each member of the jury shall have one vote. In case of a tie, the President of the jury has the casting vote.

Legal basis

The Romanian public procurement law (Law 98/2016) and its subsequent methodological norms (HG 395/2016) do not establish the specific procedures that a jury must follow in order to reach a decision. These procedures are instead defined in the competition rules. A typical formulation used in competitions organized by the Order of Architects of Romania (OAR) is the following: “Jury decisions shall be adopted by consensus. In the event that consensus cannot be reached on the ranking order through professional debate, decisions shall be taken by majority vote. Each Jury member is entitled to one vote. In case of a tie, the Chairperson of the Jury shall have the casting vote.”