Principles and guidelines for competitions in the areas of spatial planning, town planning and construction

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The principles and guidelines for competitions in the areas of spatial planning, urban planning and construction (GRW) are a set of rules that are used in Germany for the announcement and implementation of architectural competitions to develop designs and ideas for the design of buildings, in urban planning and in landscape planning. The GRW was replaced by the guidelines for planning competitions (RPW) by decree of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development (BMVBS) in 2009 and the federal states and municipalities were asked to introduce these as well, but the GRW are still partly in the federal states and with non-governmental clients Use.

The GRW is used by both private and public clients. Public clients must also take into account the European Service Directives and the procurement regulations for professional services . It primarily regulates the competition between architects , town planners , landscape architects , interior designers and consulting engineers , but also allows processes that include other engineering disciplines, such as civil engineers , supply engineers , traffic planners and other specialist planners or even artists. In appropriate cases, graduates or students from universities in the relevant subject areas can also be admitted.

The basis is the equality of opportunity and anonymity of the participants, the independence of the jury and the uniformity and binding nature of the rules.

scope of application

In principle, the GRW could be applied to any type of planning task, provided that it fell into the area of ​​spatial planning, urban planning or construction. Usually, however, it is only used for larger projects by private builders and the public sector. The use of comparative procedures, including the GRW, is mandatory for public construction projects above a certain size. For private builders, the application is voluntary but can be contractually agreed in other contexts, e.g. when selling a property. For the federal government and the states that have introduced the RPW, these are each mandatory as builders.

Types of competition

The GRW differentiates between ideas and implementation competitions.

Ideas competitions

An ideas competition serves to determine basic solutions for a task without receiving directly realizable drafts. The specifications for this are more general and the proposed solutions are not worked through in detail. Often a model is not submitted.

Ideas competitions can also be used to prepare a realization competition.

Realization competitions

The aim of a realization competition is to obtain a feasible design for the task at hand. This is not to be understood as a plan that can be implemented directly, but rather a proposal that is coordinated and further developed in further steps with the client. In this context, the GRW speaks of the "planning options for implementation" .

Types of procedure

The GRW provides different procedures for holding the competitions.

The open competition

The open competition allows anyone with a specific professional qualification to participate. In general, this is the qualification and entry in the list of the competent chamber of architects as an architect, landscape architect or urban planner. Registration as a freelance architect, freelance landscape architect or freelance urban planner is often required. For competitions that are carried out in accordance with the European service guidelines, the technical requirements applicable in the respective country apply.

Another restriction can be a spatially restricted area of ​​approval. In the case of public tenders, a Europe-wide invitation to tender is mandatory for a given order volume.

Open competitions lead to the largest number of participants and solutions.

The open competition in two processing phases

In the case of a two-phase procedure, the conditions of admission correspond to those of the open competition. In the first processing phase, however, only basic proposed solutions, similar to those of an ideas competition, are required. From the proposals submitted, a predetermined number will be anonymously selected in a jury meeting, which will be further processed by the respective authors.

The number of participants is the same in the first processing phase or - due to the reduced requirements - higher than in an open competition, the number of proposed solutions is lower. The two processing phases reduce the workload for participants and sponsors.

The limited open competition

All architects and planners who meet the prerequisites for participation can apply to participate in a competition that is open to a limited extent - in accordance with the open competition. A predetermined number of participants will be selected from these applicants. As a rule, this is done by drawing lots or on the basis of defined criteria of professional suitability and experience or a combination of both. This can be preceded by a division into several lottery pots, with which a distinction is made between young professionals and experienced planners. The assessment and selection is carried out by an independent committee, which must not be identical with the jury. The drawing of lots takes place under the supervision of a notary .

The invitation competition

It is carried out if a certain qualification, economic ability or experience is required for the task. For this purpose, qualified planners are asked to apply, from which a selection committee will select the participants. The number of participants must not be less than three.

The cooperative process

The cooperative procedure is a special form of the invitation competition. They are carried out if the task requires that a dialogue between the sponsor, participants, judges and other participants takes place in the context of colloquia. It also allows the specifications or tasks to be changed during processing. Since the participants have a right to have their ideas protected from the other participants, it is very time-consuming. The solutions are also assessed anonymously.

The simplified procedure

The simplified procedure is used when the task is limited to a few features and the proposed solutions are only to be presented in outline. In this case, the GRW allows a jury with no more than five judges.

The participants in a GRW procedure

The sponsor

The sponsor is usually identical to the future client of the construction project. In suitable cases, e.g. in the case of ideas competitions, this can also be a higher-level public planning authority or the like.

The competition supervisor

The competition supervisor is the trustee of the sponsor and prepares the competition, organizes the process and - normally - also takes over the preliminary examination. The competition supervisor and the organizer can be identical, provided that the organizer himself has the appropriate staff. He is the official contact person in all matters.

The participants

Participants are natural or legal persons who have a defined qualification or working groups of such persons (see also the different competition procedures). The participants may not be in any dependent relationship to the judges, e.g. be employees or employees of the judges' office or be related to them. The identity of the participants is anonymous until the end of the procedure.

The judges

The GRW sees the independence of the jury as one of the pillars of competition. It is made up of technical and specialist judges who should be familiar with the situation. In addition to assessing the work, they are responsible for advising the sponsor, deciding on the admission of the participants and recommending how the process will be continued after the competition has ended.

Specialist judges are specialists who should have at least the same qualifications in the same field of activity as the participants. If, for example, the competition is aimed at architects, these are also architects. They must not have any dependent relationship with the sponsor or the participants. In order to guarantee independence, specialist judges are often appointed from other cities. The specialist judges must be present for the entire duration of the session. If one of them is absent, he will be replaced by a previously appointed deputy who, in turn, must have been permanently present until then and will remain until the end of the meeting.

Material judges do not have to be experts in the field of the task at hand. In the case of municipal construction tasks, these are, for example, representatives of the planning offices, the mayor, representatives of the parties represented in the municipal council or the future users. Material judges can be represented temporarily if the representative is involved in the opinion-forming process.

Material and specialist judges each have one vote in the relevant votes with a total of odd number of recommended seven to eleven judges. The specialist judges make up the majority of the jury, usually one more person than the material judges. The specialist judges also provide the chairman of the jury.

Other participants

If the task requires this, further specialists or experts can be called in as advisors on individual aspects of the planning in all phases.

Procedure of a procedure according to GRW

According to the GRW, there is a basic chronological sequence that varies slightly depending on the type of competition or the type of procedure. In the case of two-phase awards, another jury meeting is scheduled, or there is no extensive preliminary examination in the case of ideas competitions and simplified procedures.

preparation

The preparation of a competition according to GRW is in the hands of the competition supervisor. In coordination with the sponsor, he defines the task, prepares the documents and organizes the process.

The GRW demands that the responsible Chamber of Architects, as a corporation under public law, is involved in the preparation of the competition and gives its consent or gives official approval. For this purpose, the chambers have set up competition committees in the competent chamber districts and areas, which - in coordination with the regional chambers - advise. If other engineering disciplines are involved, the responsible chamber of engineers must also be involved.

As part of the judges 'preliminary meeting (judges' colloquium), all those involved except the participants are involved in the preparation. The judges will be made aware of the task on this occasion, if this has not already been done in advance. They also have an advisory role.

Announcement and announcement

The award defines the task, gives binding specifications and suggestions and regulates all organizational details. It usually remains unchanged until the end of the procedure, but can be added. It should “clearly highlight the requirements” without restricting the “planning scope” too much. In open and limited open competitions it is given to interested parties for a nominal fee, but can be returned to the sponsor within a period of time for reimbursement of the fees.

It consists of several parts.

In Part A , all legal and factual aspects of the competition are defined in writing. These include u. a. the admission area, the required qualifications, the economic framework, the names of the judges, the dates, the required competitive performances with details of the standards, details of the layout or - if applicable - invited participants.

In part B , the actual task is defined in writing. This can include a detailed room program, an organizational chart of the relationships between the rooms, functional processes, historical backgrounds, and urban planning specifications.

The award also includes planning documents in different scales, maps, aerial photographs, photographs of the situation and an operational model that serves as the basis for a model of the design to be created, if required.

It is common nowadays that the documents are also supplied in electronically processable form on a CD for use in CAD programs or others.

The competition will be announced in specialist magazines and in local newspapers, stating the most important dates. In the case of contracts from the public sector, the announcement in the official information organs at the state, federal or European level, such as the EU Official Journal or the Federal Gazette, is mandatory . Nowadays, the additional announcement of the claim via relevant Internet portals is common. They regularly inform interested participants with newsletters . The competition documents are only rarely offered for download in electronic form.

Machining

The participants are given a period of time that can be weeks or months to complete the task.

Written questions can be asked up to a certain date to clarify any questions that arise. They are collected and the answers sent to all participants. In addition, colloquia can be held with those involved, in which questions are asked and answered directly. Participation can be voluntary or compulsory. The anonymity of the participants must be preserved. During the processing, any further exchange about the competition between the participants and the other participants is prohibited.

In the case of cooperative processes, several colloquia and another exchange between the participants can take place.

Internet portals are increasingly being used to exchange information and provide information on the progress of the proceedings. The queries can then be asked and answered in password-protected forums .

Submission

Each participant may only submit one draft if variants are not expressly requested. The required services usually include:

  • The graphic representation
  • A written explanatory report, which can be supplemented with sketches
  • Calculations of areas and volume and - if required - economic efficiency and costs, expected energy consumption or other numerical parameters of the design
  • If required, a model

In order to increase the equality of opportunity and to limit the effort of the participants, the number of plans, their size or the use of color and the shapes of the representations are often restricted.

A declaration of participation with the name of the author, the employees and other information must be enclosed in a sealed and opaque envelope. All documents must be labeled with an anonymous number.

The submission must be made punctually at a specified date. Exceeding this by just a few minutes leads to exclusion. Instead of handing in the documents in person, they can also be sent by train, post or courier service. In this case, the date of the postmark applies . In order to guarantee anonymity, the address of the sponsor must be given as the sender. A model is submitted at a later point in time, usually a week later.

Preliminary examination

The preliminary check is carried out by the competition supervisor and can take several weeks. The work is examined for compliance with the formal requirements of the award. These are, for example, compliance with the areas specified in the spatial plan, compliance with building limits, timely submission or the completeness of the documents. A report is drawn up of the result, which is presented to the judges. In order to guarantee the anonymity of the participants, the participants' camouflaged numbers are pasted over with their own numbers.

If the participants submit services that are not required, e.g. additional perspectives , these must be covered by the preliminary examination in order to maintain equal opportunities.

Jury meeting

The meeting of the jury is not public, the participants are subject to confidentiality and may not speculate about the identity of the participants. The meetings usually last a day or two. Outside of the meetings, the work may not be discussed.

The jury meeting will be attended by other people who have no voting rights and who can be included in the voting to determine an opinion. This includes the specialists, experts, consultants and the employees entrusted with the preliminary examination by the competition supervisor. They provide information about the result of the preliminary test. Representatives of the judges are present during the entire meeting.

In several rounds, the jury selects the works that best meet the requirements of the award. The works that are shortlisted will continue to be assessed in writing. Work that has already been excluded can be included in the shortlist at a later point in time.

The decisions in the first round can only be made unanimously, after that a simple majority applies.

Award of work

The prices and purchases will be selected from the shortlisted works. Up to five prize ranks and four to five equal purchases are common. The distribution of prizes and purchases can be changed by the jury at a later date, and no first place has to be awarded. Several works of equal value can be selected. With the award, the work becomes the property of the sponsor, who associates certain rights with it, e.g. for publication. The copyright remains with the authors.

The jury can award special prizes for works that violate a binding specification of the award, but suggest a “remarkable suggestion”. This decision must be made unanimously.

The end of the procedure is a recommendation from the jury to the organizer. Normally this is to entrust the author of the first place with the further processing. This can be linked to recommendations for the revision, several works can also be recommended for further revision or - if available - a special price.

After the price ranks and purchases have been determined, the anonymity of the procedure is lifted and the sealed envelopes are opened.

Prize money

Prize money will be awarded to the selected work. A fixed total is distributed according to a key to the graduated prices and several equivalent purchases.

The basis for calculating the prize money is the fee set out in the “ Fee Regulations for Architects and Engineers ” (HOAI) for the required task. It is thus indirectly linked to the expected construction costs. The jury can change the distribution of the funds at its own discretion; the decision must be unanimous.

If the contract is awarded to one of the prize winners, the prize money paid will be offset against the fee due later, provided the design is not fundamentally revised. The first prize is not the sum of money, but the contract.

Exhibition / documentation

The GRW requests the sponsor to publicly display the result of the procedure for at least one week. Usually, all works are presented with the names of the authors mentioned, including those that have not received an award. In practice, the presentation of the results takes place on the day after the jury meeting as part of a press conference in order to involve the judges still present in the presentation of the work.

The award-winning works are published in whole or in part in specialist journals. Publication on the Internet - in appropriate specialist portals but also on the sponsors' websites - is now also common. The sponsors rarely publish the results of a GRW procedure in printed form in brochures or books.

Expense allowance

The GRW also regulates the payment of those involved. Daily rates based on the HoAI apply to judges, experts and preliminary examiners.

Further information on the GRW

According to studies by the Baden-Württemberg Chamber of Architects, the total costs for a procedure according to GRW range from 0.9 to 1.8 percent of the construction costs. The time required from the judges' briefing to the end of the jury session is 20 to 24 weeks.

Competitions based on the GRW

If the GRW is not legally stipulated, competitions can be held based on the GRW. The structure, procedure, composition of the jury and other requirements of the GRW are adopted in the essential points without presupposing the GRW as legally binding. These are, for example, student competitions, but can also be competitions by private builders or companies that are otherwise not subject to any regulations.

Other procedures

The award of public contracts can also take place in accordance with the award regulations for freelance services . It provides for the decision to award an order solely on the basis of the qualifications and capabilities of the contractor, not on the basis of a draft proposal.

Due to criticism of the GRW, the rules for the announcement of competitions were created (RAW 2004). They were only used in the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Lower Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt and Bremen . The application is controversial. In order to resolve the unequal legal situation in the federal states, the guidelines for planning competitions (RPW 2008) were introduced in 2008, but not yet ratified by all federal states.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ BMVBS ( Memento of the original of July 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Guidelines for Design Competitions - RPW 2008  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bmvbs.de