The Public Procurement Service (PPS) has initiated measures to enhance fairness and expertise in public building design competitions. On the 26th, PPS announced its “Architectural Design Competition Innovation Plan,” which includes revising the composition of judging panels and expanding the disclosure of materials during the evaluation process.
This innovation plan was devised to alleviate concerns about unfair judging and to enhance professionalism. It incorporates feedback from industry discussions with organizations like the Korean Institute of Architects and ideas for system improvement from the PPS itself.
The key aspects of the innovation plan focus on diversifying the judges, strengthening the management of judges’ backgrounds, and expanding the transparency of the judging process. To ensure practical expertise in evaluations, judges will now include private architects with winning experience in design competitions. This diversity aims to enhance fairness.
Private architect judges will be selected from those who have won domestic or international certified design competitions in the last five years. About 50 judges will be appointed based on recommendations from the Korean Institute of Architects and verification by the PPS.
These reform initiatives will start with the newly formed design competition committees next year, with an impact analysis after a one-year trial to decide on their continuation. Additionally, a “judging record management” system will be newly implemented using the PPS evaluation history management system to verify judges’ fairness, expertise, and integrity. The “reverse evaluation system,” where participating companies assess the judges, will also be piloted.
The scope of material disclosure during the judging process will be expanded to foster understanding and provide a fair competitive environment. Materials currently disclosed according to the guidelines of the Ministry of Land and PPS will now include additional information on the National Procurement Service website, within the bounds of not affecting judging fairness, to minimize unfairness concerns.
However, cost estimation documents prepared by each client agency and identities of participating companies before the judging will remain undisclosed to maintain confidentiality and fairness. In response to rising social issues over construction safety, safety-related items in design competition evaluations will be consolidated under “structural methods and user safety plans,” ensuring safety and public responsibility are secured from the early design stages for public buildings.
The innovation plan will take effect in mid-September following the completion of the amendment procedures for the “PPS Architecture Design Competition Operation Standards.” Baek Seung-bo, Commissioner of the PPS, stated, “The operation of design competitions with secured fairness and professionalism is the first step toward constructing safe and high-quality public buildings. We will foster an ecosystem where skilled architects actively participate in the design competition market with excellent ideas through a well-structured judging committee and transparent information disclosure.”