# The Utilities Contracts Regulations 1996, Regulation 31: Design contests


(1) This regulation shall apply to a design contest—
(a) if it is organised as part of a procedure leading to the award of a services contract other than a contract excluded from the operation of these Regulations by regulation 6, 7, 8 or 10 above, or
(b) whether or not it is organised as part of a procedure leading to the award of such a contract, if—
(i) The contest is conducted for the purpose of carrying out an activity specified in any Part of Schedule 1 in which the utility is specified, and
(ii) the aggregate of the value of the prizes or payments for the contest is not less than 400,000 ECU, unless the utility is one specified in Part T of Schedule 1 in which case the aggregated value shall be not less than 600,000 ECU.
(2) The utility shall publicise its intention to hold a design contest by sending to the Official Journal a notice in a form substantially corresponding to that set out in Part G of Schedule 5 and containing the information therein specified.
(3) The utility shall make the rules of the design contest available to services providers who wish to participate in the contest.
(4) The utility may restrict the number of persons invited to participate in the design contest, but it shall make the selection on the basis of clear and non-discrimatory criteria.
(5) The utility shall take account of the need to ensure adequate competition in determining the number of persons invited to participate in the design contest.
(6) Paragraphs (2), (4) and (5) of regulation 20 apply to design contests as they apply to the seeking of offers in relation to a proposed services contract.
(7) The utility shall provide for the participants' proposals to be submitted to the jury without any indication as to the authorship of each proposal.
(8) The utility shall ensure that the members of the jury are all individuals who are independent of participants in the design contest and, when the participants are required to possess a particular professional qualification, that at least one third of the members of the jury also possess that qualification or an equivalent qualification.
(9) The utility shall ensure that the jury makes its decision independently and solely on the basis of the criteria set out in the notice referred to in paragraph (2) above.
(10) The utility shall, no later than 2 months after the date by which the jury makes its selection, publicise the results of the design contest by sending to the Official Journal a notice substantially corresponding to the form set out in Part H of Schedule 5 and including the information therein specified.

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1996/2911/regulation/31 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/utilities-contracts-regulations-1996/regulation-31
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.