Competition Rules

ASC REGION 8 INTERNATIONAL STUDENT COMPETITION

RULES AND GUIDELINES

  • National Construction Management / QS (Estimating) Competition
  • Open International Construction Management / QS (Estimating)
  • CompetitionOpen International Design Build Competition

Purpose:

To establish detailed procedures and guidelines for implementation of the ASC Region 8 Student Competition, in accordance with the existing procedures as modified at the ASC region 8 Meeting, 11thJune 2018.

The following guidelines are set out to promote the fairness and integrity of the competition event and allow all participants to gain maximum benefit from their involvement.

1. General format

The Competition will usually be held over a 2-day period. On the first day documentation and additional guidance is provided to enable the participating teams to work on their solutions; on the second day, presentations are made by the teams to a panel of industry judges, with the top teams determined thereafter.

2. Definitions

(i) Competition Governance team – typically consisting of the Region 8 Competition Co-ordinator (initially the Regional Director) and the Host representative as appointed by their respective organisations. The team’s responsibility is to:

  • Identify the problem sponsor for the competition and awards.
  • Establish criteria for problem sponsor selection.
  • Establish criteria for sponsor awards to the top three teams.
  • Assist the problem sponsors as necessary to assure a successful competition.
  • Approve sponsor selection and the appointment of judges.
  • Ensure compliance with the competition rules and timeline.

(ii) Sponsors – lead industry representative(s) from a sponsoring organisation. The primary role of the Sponsor is to work with the Governance Team to identify an appropriate problem to present to the Student Team.

Problem sponsors shall be selected by the competition governance team. Problem sponsors shall conform to these General Rules and Guidelines as agreed by the ASC Region 8 competition governance team. Problem sponsors may develop the competition problems and judging criteria for their competition division providing they do not conflict with the General Rules and Guidelines approved by ASC Region 8. A general scoring matrix for each competition will be provided before the competition. The general scoring matrix will include at a minimum the percentage the sponsors will score the proposal (and its associated parts) and presentation. The presentation scoring cannot exceed 30 percent of the total score. Sponsors will submit the Request For Proposal to the competition coordinator for their respective division one week before the competition for content review and feedback.

  • Sponsors shall be provided from within the membership of the Host.
  • Sponsors shall ideally provide a two-year commitment to problem management.
    • Year One: Provide a representative to participate in the competition process as a learning process
    • Years Two: Development and administration of competition.

Where a sponsor indicates a willingness to do a further year this will be agreed by the ASC region 8 competition co-ordinator in consultation with the respective host school.

(iii) Judges – a panel of additional industry representatives, typically numbering 5-6 and Chaired by the lead Problem Sponsor, tasked with determining the competition winners, runners-up, and third place team.

Problem sponsors, in consultation with the host organiser shall select the judges. An effort should be made to choose judges from within Region 8 and who are not alumni of one of the participating schools. Judges shall be restricted from having direct access to competitors before or during the competitions. The ASC region 8 competition coordinator shall be informed of the judges in advance of the competition to confirm judges have knowledge and access to competition information, and should ensure that the judges are fully aware of the competition process, rules, and criteria. It is preferable that judges are owner personnel but regardless, judges are expected to assume the role of the client and score proposal packages as defined in the competition problem package. Each judge will provide a brief bio about themselves and their role in the company/panel for inclusion in the respective competition packets given to competition teams.

(iv) Coach – a designated member of staff from the ASC school providing the team, who is responsible for the transportation, lodging and other logistics of their members, and is the point of contact between the school and the Governance Team in the event of an emergency.

Each regional member shall designate one coach who shall accompany and represent each team at the competition. In the case of a collaborative team one host coach representing the ASC school in Region 8 and one guest coach representing the International school will be permitted. The coach’s job prior to the beginning of the competition is to encourage and support their team in any way deemed appropriate that ensures a teaching and learning environment is achieved. However, once the competition begins with the delivery of the problem, the coach’s role is limited to ensuring the competition rules have been followed. Coaches shall be able to communicate with their teams concerning business or logistics not related to the competition problem. After the beginning of the competition coaches shall not help teams with practice presentations or offer any critique of a team’s problem solution.

(v) Student Team – A maximum of four students, all of whom are currently enrolled on a construction-related programme at an ASC member school.

The following criteria shall apply to all teams:

  • Each participating program shall sponsor no more than three teams across both strands of the competition. For the Construction Management / QS (Estimating) competition one team should consist of not more than four student members per team. For the International Design / Build competition no more than six student members per team. There will be no alternates involved with the team in any way after the competition begins. A team member may only be on one team.
  • All team members shall have been enrolled in an ASC member built environment curriculum as undergraduates, unless they are in their graduating semester at the time of the Regional competition or are representing an international construction programme.
  • To encourage regional competition growth and outreach, teams or team members external to Region 8 may compete and win the regional competition in which they are competing. International programs may join with any ASC member program to complete a competition team’s membership in the competition. Mixed International teams must have at least 50% of the required student team membership from the International program. Every effort should be made to have one design student and one construction program students from each of the programs on any international DB team. A Region 8 based ASC school may host more than one international team.
  • A team member can be replaced before the start of the problem-solving period. Any or all members of a team may be carried over from previous years.

(vii) Competition Problem – shall be generated, where possible, from real projects that are good examples of the project delivery system proposed. Care should be taken that the problem conforms to these rules and guidelines. Problems shall be written that clearly define the expected deliverables and whom the presenters shall be addressing.

3. The Competition Event

(i) General format – Participants are expected to follow the rules on the honour system, so that policing is not required. However, spot checks will be done periodically to ensure that everything is running smoothly.

  • Teams choose their own name and related logo or graphics.
  • School colours and logos are permissible in proposal packets and presentations.
  • All team members are expected to contribute to the problem solution.
  • There shall be no outside assistance from any group, individual, association, contractor, or other outside entity unless provided for within the competition problem provided by the problem sponsors.
  • Web access is permitted as long as no dialogue takes place with anyone outside the team unless prohibited within the competition problem provided by the problem sponsors.
  • Teams are allowed to use whatever equipment and publications they bring to the competition site, unless forbidden by the problem sponsor within the problem documents.
  • Any questions or problems should be reported to the Governance Team.

(ii) Open Construction Management / QS (Estimating) Track

  • The project selected by the sponsor should be primarily a building and may be public or private in nature. CM / QS (Estimating) approaches will be the focus of the competition where the concept of problem solving will be central. It is intended for QSs (Estimators) and constructors to collaborate from the onset, providing any and all services necessary to prepare a strategic response to the CM / QS (Estimating) solicitation. The team will be expected to operate as a fully integrated team and can be either constructor or QS (Estimator) led.
  • The problem chosen for the competition should require each team to demonstrate knowledge and skills in the value management, scheduling, construction planning, cost planning, lifecycle costings and management. .
  • The RFP should incorporate a realistic and complete program using performance criteria wherever possible. Deliverables should be clearly articulated and appropriate for a CM / QS (Estimating) solution.

(iii) Open International Design/Build Track

  • The Design/Build process is the concept of interdisciplinary team effort to innovative problem solving. It is intended for designers and constructors to collaborate from the onset, providing any and all services necessary to prepare a strategic response to a Design/Build solicitation. The team may operate as a fully integrated firm, a partnership, or an association, and can be either constructor or designer led. Unlike the traditional delivery methods where price is the predominant selection criteria, the Design/Build process should be more concerned with the creation of “best value.”
  • The problem chosen for the competition should require each team to demonstrate knowledge and skills in the design/build process including design process and design management, design phase cost analysis, value management, scheduling and construction planning.
  • The RFP should incorporate a realistic and complete program using performance criteria wherever possible. Deliverables should be clearly articulated and appropriate for a preliminary Design/Build proposal.
  • It should be noted that it has been the norm to state that each team has already been short-listed on the basis of responses to a RFQ.
  • The preparation of a real Design/Build proposal requires considerable research and interaction with the site and client. The sponsors should either create a mechanism to interact with the teams in the role of clients or a mechanism for the teams to document decisions made on hypothetical communications with the client and others. In the latter case, the judges would have to carefully evaluate the proposals based on the assumptions each team made rather than on what undisclosed real conditions were.
  • The Open International DB Competition problem is not required to be located in Europe. If the problem is international, the sponsor should notify the teams the country and the type of project as early as possible (at least 2 months before the competition).
  • The response to the International RFP should be based on the regulatory procedures in the country where the problem has been set.

(iv) The Competition

The competition problems should be provided at the beginning of the problem-solving period. The starting periods will be decided in advance of the competition and there may be a situation where teams are required to address elements of the RFP in advance of attendance at the competition venue. Prior to the competition, any registered students of the participating program may support the team in any way they deem appropriate.

  • From the moment the problems are opened until the presentation, no one other than the team members can participate in solving the problem. The teams should be isolated from other students as much as practical.
  • The competitions should be structured in the following format:
    • Teams shall work on the problem at the host school on the Thursday. Presentations, judging and awards presentation shall be on Friday.
    • Team members may leave their rooms and go anywhere at any time as long as they adhere to the honor system.
    • Violation of any of the competition’s general rules and/or a violation of a sponsor’s problem rules and requirements will affect an immediate review and judgment. Upon the report of a rules violation the Competition Coordinator shall immediately convene a review committee comprised of the coordinator, the problem sponsor’s representative, and a current competition coach selected by the coordinator. The committee shall first hear the complaint and then determine if probable cause exists that a violation has indeed occurred by a majority vote of the assembled committee. The committee shall call the violating team’s coach into the committee meeting to inform the coach of the violation and provide the coach an opportunity to defend the team’s actions. In closed session the committee shall deliberate their findings and issue a final judgment which could range from problem score reduction through disqualification. Judgments shall be made that will be considerate of the educational value to the competition, university program, competing team and its membership. The communication of the judgment should ensure that the privacy of the team and coach is protected as much as possible.

(v) Proposals/Bids:

Team proposal packages should include only the information necessary to explain the team’s solution to the problem. Each team should limit the amount of any fictitious information in their submission, but within some RFPs they may need to build a fictitious company and employee proforma. The amount of fictitious material will be up to the category of competition, the sponsors, and the RFP criteria.

(vi) Presentations/Reviews:

No team member may be present in the presentation/review room or in the near vicinity prior to their school’s presentation/review. If a school has a representative in or near the presentation room prior to their school’s presentation, that person (s) will be asked to remain in the presentation room and not communicate with their school’s team in any way. Academic representatives and guests should avoid conversations about performances during breaks. No member of the audience is permitted to coach a team based on previous presentations/review. Coaches and registered team alternates/observers may observe their own team’s presentation. Teams and Coaches may not observe another Team’s presentation or reviews. A person will be assigned to ensure that the presentation room is locked down, to prevent observer traffic, during any and all presentations.

  • One computer, one computer projection device, several easels, and one flip chart are allowed for the presentations. Presentation materials may enhance, explain and clarify proposal packages. They may not alter information presented in their proposal package. Each team member must speak during the presentation. Team presentations must adhere to the allowed time frame. At the end of the presentation period, the timekeeper shall stop the presentation. At the end of the question and answer period, teams shall be allowed to finish answering the current question.
  • The order in which the school makes their presentation shall be randomly selected prior to the presentation period. Presentation scheduling shall depend upon the number of entries and the needs of the problem sponsors.
  • Team presentation times may vary from year to year and are dependent upon the number of competing teams and the time available for presentations. The following time allotments are provided as a best case option:
  • Each school’s presentation shall be allowed a total of 35 minutes. All members of the team must speak a minimum of two (2) minutes. Of the thirty-five (35) minutes, five (5) minutes at the start for setup, twenty (20) minutes for team presentation, five (5) minutes for question and answers, and five (5) minutes at the end for breakdown. Team presentations must adhere to the schedule. A timer will indicate the end of the initial presentation and the beginning of the question and answer period.

A debriefing session shall be held, as directed by the schedule, after the judging is finished. This shall be done by the judges and shall take place in the presentation room. Teams are required to attend. The purpose is to enhance the learning experience for the students. This debriefing should focus on giving students feedback of a general nature on the proposals.

(vii) Awards Presentation:

On the Friday evening, after the competition, an event honouring those participating in the competition shall be held. At this time, the Host recognizes and presents the winning team of each division with a certificate and a plaque for the school. First, second, and third place prizes will be awarded. A Best Speaker Award, for the presentation, will also be given for the top speaker in both the CM / QS (Estimating) team and Design Build categories.

4. Additional Activities

Wherever possible, an additional social/educational programme will be provided by the Host institution, in which all Student Teams and Coaches are cordially invited to participate.

ASC Region 8 Competition Rules

Version 2.0 September 2019

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