CIRCULAR

ON GUIDELINES FOR ORGANIZATION OF CONTEST AND SELECTION OF ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNS

Pursuant to the Construction Law 2014;

Pursuant to Decree No.62/2013/ND-CP dated June 25, 2013 of the Government on functions, duties, rights and organizational structure of the Ministry of Construction;

Pursuant to Decree No.59/2015/ND-CP dated June 18, 2015 of the Government on management of construction investment projects; 

At the request of Director General of the Department of Planning and Architecture;

The Minister of Construction promulgates a Circular provides guidelines for the contest and selection of architectural designs.

Chapter I

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Article 1. Purpose

Contest and selection of the architectural designs is aimed at selecting the best design plan meeting requirements for planning, architecture, functions, economic efficiency and environmental protection.

Article 2. Scope and regulated entities

1. Scope: To provide guidelines for the contest and selection of architectural designs as prescribed in Article 15 of Decree No.59/2015/ND-CP dated June 18, 2015 of the Government on management of construction investment projects.

2. Regulated entities: organizations and individuals involved in the contest and selection for architectural designs

Article 3. Construction works requiring a contest and selection of architectural design plans

1. Construction works prescribed in Clause 1 in Article 15 of Decree No.59/2015/ND-CP dated June 18, 2015 of the Government on management of construction investment project

2. Mandatory construction works in cities and on main roads which are specified in the construction planning project, urban design, planning management regulations and urban architecture approved by competent authorities

3. Contest and selection of architectural design plans for construction works other than those prescribed in Clause 1 and 2 in this Article are encouraged.

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Selection of architectural design plan refers to selection of the best design plan from at least 3 plans proposed by organizations or individuals providing the design consultancy service (hereinafter referred to as “design consultants”) who have capacity to perform their job in accordance with provisions of laws in force and are selected by the person deciding on investment or the investor, agency, organization or individual assigned to organize the contest or selection (hereinafter referred to as “the organizer”)

Article 5. Forms of contest

1. Contest for architectural designs refers to a contest with many contestants that are design consultants having capacity to perform their job in accordance with provisions of the law in force for the purpose of selecting the best design plan for the construction works.  A contest may be restricted or unrestricted.

2. Unrestricted contest is a form of contest with unlimited number of contestants that may be domestic or foreign organizations and/or individuals (if necessary) publicized on mass media. 

3. Restricted contest is a contest with limited number of contestants that may be organizations and/or individuals.  The organizer shall invite at least 5 domestic or foreign organizations and/or individuals (if necessary) having appropriate professional qualifications to compete in the contest.

4. Restricted contest is organized in case of construction works with high technical requirements or having particular characteristics that are satisfied by certain organizations or individuals or in cases of unfavorable conditions for holding unrestricted contest.

Chapter II

ORGANIZATION OF CONTEST AND SELECTION OF ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNS

Article 6. Requirements for organizing the contest and selection

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2. The organizer must establish a council for the contest and selection of architectural designs (hereinafter referred to as “the council”). The organizer shall establish a technical team to assist the council and the organization committee (if necessary).

Article 7. Costs of the contest and selection

1. Costs of the contest and selection include costs for the council, prizes, supporting for the submitted designs (if any) and other costs.

2. For construction works funded by the budget or PPP investment capital, the investor shall make a cost estimate and submit it to the person deciding on investment for ratification.

3. The organizer shall take responsibility to cover costs for the contest and selection.

Article 8. Organization of the contest and selection

1. Preparation before the contest and selection:

a) Carrying out all procedures required and collecting data and legal documents as well as information on architecture and planning relating to the land for construction of works.

b) Preparing and ratifying the plan and funding to organize the contest and selection, contest regulations and design tasks.

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2. Contest regulations shall at least contain:

a) Form, size, nature, purpose and requirement of the contest

b) Regulations on conditions for competing in the contest, content and process of organization, time and place of the contest, application for the contest and validity of such application

c) Composition of the organization committee and the council as well as fundamental information on professional skills and experiences of the council's members

d) Costs for the contest and bases for calculating costs for design of construction works

dd) Structure and value of prize (if any)

e) Rights and responsibilities of relevant parties and copyrights

g) Contest entry form

h) Other issues as required by each contest such as regulations on contest round if no optimal plan is found at the end of the contest

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4. Application for the contest includes explanation, drawing, film, picture and model (if any) and finance proposal.  The application must be unified in terms of the language use (Vietnamese or bilingual), measurement unit, currency and anonymous rule which means name and logo of the consultant cannot be found on the drawing or explanation.

Article 9. The council

1. The council shall assist the organizer in assessing and ranking the submitted designs and selecting the best design.

2. Composition of the council:

a) The council consists of a Chairperson and its members.  The number of the council’s members must be an odd number and there must be at least 11 members.

b) Two thirds of the council's members are architects who have knowledge and experiences regarding the type of construction works in the contest.  The council must have at least 1 representative of the state management agency for planning, architecture and construction and 1 representative of the central or provincial architect group.

c) The Chairperson must be an expert who has experiences in construction works design and has professional prestige in the architecture field.  The Chairperson shall be elected by the council.  The council’s secretary shall be appointed by the organizer and Chairperson of the council.

d) Members of the council are people who have professional skills and experiences in planning, architecture, construction and other relevant fields and work in an objective and upright manner.  The organizer may invite foreign experts to take part in the council (if necessary).

3. Working rules of the council:

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b) The council shall only assess and rank the submitted designs in the presence of at least three-fourths of its members.

4. Responsibilities of the council:

a) Members of the council shall take legal responsibility for keeping the results as confidential, assessing and ranking plans in an objective and honest manner and not taking any action that produces negative effects on the assessing and ranking results.

b) Chairperson of the council must be present and preside over the council during the working of the council.

Article 10. Assessing and ranking designs

1. Submitted designs shall be assessed and ranked according to the method and criteria prescribed in the council regulations and secret ballot rule for selecting the first-ranked plan.

2. All council’s members involved in the assessment and ranking must sign the report on such assessment and ranking and send it to the organizer which is then consolidated and submitted to the person deciding on investment for ratification.

3. In case there is no plan meeting requirements such as target and rules in the contest regulations, the organizer shall send a report to the person deciding on investment for consideration and re-organization of the contest.

Article 11. Disclosure of the results

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2. According to nature, size of construction works and particular conditions, the person deciding on investment may consider whether to organize the contest in the form of exhibition or ask for public opinions about the submitted designs.

3. At the end of the contest and selection, the organizer shall send the contest results to the provincial state management agency in construction.

Article 12. Rights and responsibilities of contestants

The author of the first-ranked architectural plan may be selected to negotiate or sign the contract for taking next steps.  In case the negotiation is unsuccessful or the selected author decides not to enter the contract, the author of the second-ranked plan shall be selected to negotiate or sign the contract.

Article 13. Responsibilities of the organizer

1. Comply with the approved contest regulations

2. Enable the council to perform and complete its tasks. Abusing of power to falsify the results of the contest and selection is prohibited.

3. Negotiate or sign the contract with the selected author as prescribed in Clause 1 in Article 12 herein

Chapter III

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Article 14. Effect

1. This Circular comes into force from August 15, 2016 and replaces Circular No.23/2009/TT-BXD dated July 16, 2009 of the Ministry of Construction which provides guidelines for contest and selection of architectural designs.

2. If any question arises during the implementation, ministries, local authorities, relevant organizations and individuals shall notify such question to the Ministry of Construction for solution.

PP. MINISTER
DEPUTY MINISTER




Nguyen Dinh Toan

Thông tư 13/2016/TT-BXD hướng dẫn về thi tuyển, tuyển chọn phương án thiết kế kiến trúc công trình xây dựng do Bộ trưởng Bộ Xây dựng ban hành