The regulations of the ongoing competition organized by the Prof. Jan Sehn Institute of Forensic Expertise in Krakow for the design of a new laboratory and office building raise doubts in the Council of the Małopolska Regional Chamber of Architects of the Republic of Poland and the Professional Conditions Team at the Council of the Małopolska OIA of the Republic of Poland. The Council issued a warning today against participating in the competition proceedings.
The two-stage competition for the architectural concept for the building of the Prof. Jan Sehn Institute of Forensic Expertise in Krakow concerns the design of a new laboratory and office building. The building, which will be the Institute's second headquarters, is to be built in the area of the urban and architectural complex of the Wesoła district, which is entered in the register of monuments.
However, the competition rules do not meet the principles recommended by the Council of the Malopolska District Chamber of Architects of the Republic of Poland.
content of the appeal
Below we publish the content of the warning by Piotr Chuchacz (Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Małopolska Regional Chamber of Architects of the Republic of Poland, Team of Conditions of Practice of the Profession at the Council of the MPOIA of the Republic of Poland) and Marek Tarko (Chairman of the Council of the Małopolska Regional Chamber of Architects of the Republic of Poland).
The most important issues (excerpts from the regulations have been marked * ):
composition of the competition court
Of the six members of the Competition Jury, only two persons have the right to practice architecture (M.Sc. arch. Daniel Meryszczakowski - member of the Wielkopolska OIARP, mgr inż. arch. Bogna Gostyńska - member of the Małopolska OIA RP). These individuals were not recommended by the Malopolska OIA RP, nor were they recommended by SARP o. Krakow.
*III. COMPETITION COURT:
1) Composition of the Competition Jury: The Competition Jury consists of 6 persons and includes:
- Daniel Meryszczakowski - Chairman of the Competition Court,
- mec. Jerzy Bacz - representative of the Prof. Dr. Jan Sehn Institute of Forensic Expertise in Cracow, member of the Competition Jury,
- Prof. Grzegorz Zadora - head of the Laboratory of Microtrace Studies of the Prof. Jan Sehn Institute of Forensic Expertise in Cracow, member of the Competition Jury,
- Dr. Tomasz Kupiec - head of the Forensic Genetics Laboratory of the Prof. Jan Sehn Institute of Forensic Expertise in Kraków, member of the Competition Jury,
- Edyta Rzeszuto - head of the Organization and Management Department of the Prof. Jan Sehn Institute of Forensic Expertise in Cracow, member of the Competition Jury,
- Bogna Gostyńska - member of the Competition Jury.
amount of awards
The amount of awards provided for in the competition is inadequate for the scale of complexity of the design studies and the scope of the competition works.
*VI. METHOD OF DEVELOPMENT AND SUBMISSION OF THE STUDY:
(...)
2) The content of the Study Study and the thematic scope of the Study:
(a) The Study Study should consist of: graphic part - charts, 2 pieces pasted on a rigid lightweight backing of 100 x 70 cm in vertical arrangement - 1 copy,
(...)
*VIII. METHOD OF DEVELOPMENT AND SUBMISSION OF THE COMPETITION WORKS:
(...)
2) The content of the Competition Work and the manner and form of elaboration: a) The Competition Work should consist of: the graphic part - charts, up to 6 pieces pasted on a rigid, lightweight backing with dimensions of 100x70 cm in vertical arrangement - 1 copy,
(...)
*X. PRIZES AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF COMPETITION RESULTS:
1) Prizes:
b) The total amount allocated by the Organizer for cash prizes for the Competition Works complying with the Regulations is 35,000 PLN gross.
c) In the Contest, the Organizer expects to award the following Prizes:
1st Prize: cash in the amount of 20,000 PLN gross and an invitation to negotiate in the mode of a sole-source contract for the execution of the Design Documentation based on the selected Competition Work. This Prize is awarded to the Competition Participant whose Competition Work received the highest number of points,
II Prize, monetary in the amount of PLN 10,000 gross,
Third Prize, monetary in the amount of PLN 5,000 gross.
author's rights
The condition of transferring the author's economic rights, including subsidiary rights to the solutions presented in the competition works at the stage of settling the competition, does not correspond to the principles that should apply in the realization competition. It is also controversial to link the payment of the prize to the transfer of rights. The condition of transferring copyrights at this stage of the proceedings, puts the winner of the competition in a particularly unfavorable position during negotiations with the Employer. Thus, the Organizer does not guarantee the authors of the works the right to participate in any future design work on the subject of the competition.
*XI. COPYRIGHTS:
(...)
4) The Competition Participant who has received the Cash Prize shall be obliged to sign an agreement with the Competition Organizer concerning the transfer of the author's economic rights, as well as the right to exercise and permit the exercise of derivative rights, to the works within the meaning of the provisions of the Act of February 4, 1994. on Copyright and Related Rights, created in connection with participation in the Contest in the fields of exploitation and principles listed in Appendix No. 2 to the Regulations, i.e. the provisions of this agreement.
5) A commitment to conclude an agreement transferring copyrights shall be submitted by the Competition Participant in the application for admission to the Competition.
deadline for completion of the documentation
The deadline for completion of the design documentation presented in the Competition Regulations is unrealistic, does not correspond to the scope and scale of complexity of the design task.
*XII. OTHER PROVISIONS OF THE REGULATIONS:
5) Approximate term of service: The approximate term of execution of the Subject of the service is 8 months from the date of signing the contract.
Provisions concerning the author's rights in the model contract - IPU
The rules adopted in the Important Provisions of the Agreement for the transfer of author's rights raise reasonable doubts about the security of the conduct of the design process and investment. Allowing a third party to make changes to the design documentation without the control of the author - designer during the investment process, may lead to a rupture of the relationship between the designer and the project, the related warranties and guarantees and insurance of the designer.
§ 9 Copyright
As of the moment of acceptance of individual Works by the Ordering Party and payment by the Ordering Party for completion of individual parts of the Subject of the Contract of the appropriate part of the remuneration due to the Contractor in accordance with the Contract and applicable regulations, the Contractor shall transfer to the Ordering Party, without the necessity of making separate declarations of will in this respect, the author's economic rights to individual Works to the extent of disposal and use of the Works in the fields of exploitation specified in sec. As of the moment of acquiring author's economic rights to Works, the Ordering Party acquires, without the necessity of submitting separate declarations of will in this respect by the Contractor, ownership of copies of Works and carriers on which the Works have been recorded.
We would like to emphasize that the purpose of the activities of the Council of MPOIA RP is to watch over the merits of the proceedings, to ensure that the competition proceedings are in compliance with applicable regulations, including the Public Procurement Law, and to prevent conditions that may raise doubts among potential participants. This makes it more likely that future optimal design and implementation decisions will be made. Our activities are undertaken in connection with the social interest of optimizing the expenditure of public funds and in an effort to achieve the right conditions for the realization of tasks set before the architectural profession," declares the Council of the Malopolska Regional Chamber of Architects of the Republic of Poland.
The basis is the provisions of the Act of December 15, 2000 on professional self-governments of architects and construction engineers (Journal of Laws of 2014, item 1946, as amended):
Article 2.1 The practice of the architectural profession consists in the co-creation of culture through architectural design of buildings, their spatial environment and their implementation, supervision of the process of their creation and architectural education.
Article 8 The tasks of the professional self-government include, in particular:
1) to supervise the proper and conscientious practice of the profession by members of the chambers; 2) to represent and protect the professional interests of their members;
(...)
6) cooperating with government administration bodies and local government bodies, as well as with other professional self-governments and professional associations.
Meanwhile, according to § 6 of the Statute, Chamber of Architects of the Republic of Poland:
The primary objective of the Chamber is to protect space and architecture as a public good. (2) The Chamber pursues this objective by ensuring the proper performance of independent technical functions in the construction industry by its members and by exercising supervision over the performance of construction expertise in the field of architecture.
