Design competitions are a quality-based and project-orientated selection procedure which enable the contracting authority through an independent jury to acquire a plan or design in the fields of architecture and engineering, urban and landscape planning.

Architectural design competitions (ADCs) provide the opportunity for architects to compare their own creative power with that of other architects in a fair and targeted procedure. They are consequently the perfect source for innovative, economic and sustainable solutions, for everyday planning tasks as well as for particularly complex projects. Due to the anonymity of participants, the design contest offers an ideal way of awarding planning contracts in a retraceable manner, based solely on quality criteria published in advance. It provides a unique possibility to benefit from competition by exploiting the vast knowledge of the market. Through the deliberations of an independent and qualified jury, the best design concepts can be selected in a concentrated and transparent procedure which provides a basis for further decisions by the contracting authority. Thus, the design contest provides a means to meet the economic, social and aesthetic aims of the awarding entity and simultaneously boost the quality of the built environment. In view of the great intellectual efforts and economic investment by all parties involved, the design contest must be carefully prepared. Its results must serve to solve set tasks and must lead to the realisation of the winning project.

The Kamra tal-Periti, in line with the international community of architects, promotes the design contest as a procedure perfectly tailored for the awarding of architects’ services. To facilitate the organisation and management of ADCs, the Kamra is offering to help exploit the full potential of the design contest and facilitate its application as a procedure, by supporting contracting authorities in organising ADCs on their behalf.

It is pertinent to note that the Code of Professional Conduct published through Subsidiary Legislation 390.01 states that periti “should not take part in an architectural and civil engineering competition in respect of which the Chamber has declared that members must not take part”.