Art. 154. Organizing design contests and selection of participants

1. When organizing design contests, contracting authorities or contracting entities shall apply procedures which are in line with the provisions of Titles I, II, III and IV of Part II and this Chapter.

2. The admission of participants to design contests shall not be limited:

a) by reference to the territory of the Republic or a part thereof;

b) on the grounds that participants shall be either natural or legal persons.

3 The subjects possessing the requirements established in the decree referred to in Article 24, paragraph 2 are admitted to participate to design contests for works. The qualification requirements shall however allow conditions of access and participation for small and medium economic operators in the technical area and for young professionals.

4. In case of work of particular relevance and complexity, the contracting authority may proceed with the experiment of a design competition divided into two grades. The second degree, concerning the acquisition of the feasibility project, takes place among the subjects identified through the evaluation of proposals for ideas presented in the first degree and selected without the formation of merit rankings and awarding of prizes. The winner of the competition, if in possession of the requisites envisaged, can be entrusted with the task of definitive and executive design, on the condition that said possibility and the relative fee are foreseen in the announcement.

5. The contracting stations, after adequate justification, may proceed with the experiment of a two-stage competition, the first having the object of the presentation of a feasibility project and the second having as object the presentation of a definitive project at an architectural level and feasibility project level for the structural and plant engineering part. The announcement may also provide for the direct assignment of the assignment relative to the executive design to the person who presented the best definitive project.

see Decree of the MIT no. 263 of December 2, 2016, published in the Italian Official Gazette no. 36 of February 13, 2017 regarding the requirements for the operators in architectural and engineering services