GENERAL TERMS

1.1.  These Terms and Conditions (hereinafter - the Terms) determine the rules of registration and conduct of the competition named “Los Angeles Affordable Housing Challenge”.

1.2.  Buildner is the trading brand of BUILDNER SLU, e-mail address [email protected] (hereinafter – the Buildner).

1.3.  Buildner reserves the right to update or amend these Terms and Conditions at any time. By using this Portal and registering for the Competition, the Participant fully and irrevocably agrees to these Terms and Conditions, which form a contract between the Participant and the Organizer. Please review them carefully.

1.4.  The use and disclosure of personal information provided by the Participant is subject to the Portal Privacy Policy and Cookies Policy. Please read these documents before using the Portal or providing any personal information within the Portal.

 

DEFINITIONS

2.1.  “Portal” is portal https://architecturecompetitions.com/. It is clarified that the Portal is not related to the organized Competitions, but is only a platform for placing competition offers, for registration and submission to Competitions.

2.2.  “Competitions” are architecture and design concept competitions organized by Organizer through the Portal.

2.3.  “Organizer” is the Buildner, which organizes and administers the Competitions.

2.4.  “Participant” is person or team registering for the Competition. Participant can participate in the Competition with full rights (Ordinary Participant) or limited rights (Limited Participant). Participant within the Terms is understood both Ordinary Participant and Limited Participant unless otherwise specified in separate clauses.

2.4.1.    “Ordinary Participant” participate in the Competition with full rights, including the right to receive a Prize.

2.4.2.    “Limited Participant” participate in Competition with limited rights - limited Participant have the right to participate in Competition and to participate together with Regular Participants in the selection of the winner, but without the right to receive a Prize in case of win.

2.5.  “Verifier” is the party that provides Participant’s profile verification service on the architectural professional (student) verification portal https://architecture.info/.

2.6.  “Competition Brief” is a separate document setting out specific requirements for each particular Competition.

2.7.  “Submission” is the design proposal submitted within the Competition, regardless whether or not completed or finished.

2.8.  “Jury” is the group of professionals judging Submissions in a Competition.

2.9.  “Prize” is monetary award for the Ordinary Participant for winning the Competition.

 

PARTICIPANT ELIGIBILITY AND REGISTRATION

3.1.  Competitions are open to any Participant aged 18 and over.

3.2.  Participants participate in the Competition individually or as a team. Participant teams consist of at least 2 members and are restricted to a maximum of 4 (four) persons. Participant (also applicable to Participant Team) participate in the Competition as Ordinary Participant or Limited Participant.

3.3.  Participant (also applicable to Participant Team in case if one of Participant Team Member complies) cannot participate in a Competitions and will be immediately disqualified and forfeit all of prizes if Participant or Team Member is or become:

3.3.1.    a minor under age 18;

3.3.2.    a resident of, or ordinarily resident in Russian Federation (effective from February 24, 2022);

3.3.3.    otherwise prohibited by applicable export controls and sanctions programs;

3.3.4.    a resident anywhere that a Competitions are prohibited by law;

3.3.5.    a current employee, intern, contractor, officer, director of Buildner, the Organizer or the Jury, their associate or family member.

3.4.  By registering for the Competition and/or providing a Submission the Participant expressly and unequivocally certifies full compliance with any and all eligibility requirements.

3.5.  The Organizer reserves the right to verify Participant’s eligibility and to adjudicate any dispute regarding eligibility at its sole discretion. Participant agree to provide the Organizer with any proof of eligibility requested, and refusal or failure to provide such proof within 5 (five) days of Organizer's request will result in disqualification from a Competition and forfeiture of any prizes.

3.6.  To participate in a Competition, a Participant follows the registration procedure (Registration):

3.6.1.    Before register to participate in the Competition, Participants (also applicable to each member of the team) must register and verify his/her profile on the architectural professional (student) verification portal https://architecture.info/, managed by the Verifier. The need for the verification process is justified by the fact that all participants are sure of the absence of fraud (including infringement of intellectual property rights) by other participants.

3.6.2.    The Participant pays the Registration Fee (or first part of the Registration Fee in accordance with the Terms) on the Portal. Once the Registration Fee (or first part of the Registration Fee in accordance with the Terms) is received, the Participant will receive an automatically generated confirmation email containing a Unique Identification Code (“UIC”).Participant is solely and fully responsible for entering the correct email to receive the UIC.

3.6.3.    After receiving the UIC, the Participant logs into the Portal using https://architecture.info/ authentication tool.

3.6.4.    In case of individual participation, to complete the registration procedure, the Participant selects “Validate New Registration” page and enters received UIC. In case of successful UIC entry, the Competition will be added to the Participant's profile on the Portal.

3.6.5.    In the case of team participation, to complete the registration procedure, the first Participant selects “Validate New Registration” page and enters received UIC. The first Participant who enters the received UIC, becomes the team leader, with whom all communication, including the transfer of correspondence, takes place. The other team members log into the Portal, select the "Join Team" page, enter the team leader's UIC and wait for the team leader's confirmation. It is the responsibility of the team leader to manually approve all team members in his/her profile. Unconfirmed team members will not be featured in the Competition results, and in case of won, unconfirmed team members will not be eligible to receive the Prize;

3.6.6.    All Participants and team members are obliged to verify profile on the architectural professional (student) verification portal https://architecture.info/until the day of valuation of Submissions. If the Participant or team member has an unverified profile on the architectural professional (student) verification portal https://architecture.info/, the Organizer may deny the Participants or the team valuation of the Submission by the Jury and it may be grounds for disqualification (see Disqualification of Submissions Section).

3.6.7.    The Organizer is entitled to transfer Participant’s data to Commissioning Party and Jury.

3.7.  By registering for a Competition and/or providing any Submission the Participant agrees to the processing of any personal data and information according to the Portal Privacy Policy and Cookies Policy.

3.8.  The Organizer reserves the right to change or omit Participant Team names, particularly if they are, in the Organizer's sole opinion, offensive or obscene, or violate the intellectual property rights of others. If Participant creates team name that is offensive or obscene, or violates the intellectual property rights of others (in each case, as determined at the Organizer’s sole discretion), Team may be disqualified from the Competition.

 

SUBMISSIONS

4.1.  All Submissions must be the original work of the Participant (or Participant Team). The visual materials of the Submission must not have been previously published by any of the Participant or members of Participant Teams. In case of detection a violation of this term, the Organizer solely evaluates the significance of the violation.

4.2.  The Participant confirms that the Submission does not infringe any copyright, rights related to trademarks, trade secrets, designs or patents of any third party.

4.3.  The Participant shall be ready to supply copyright licenses for images used if requested by Organizer. A failure to supply such licenses within the period specified by Organizer may be grounds for disqualification.

4.4.  The Participant assumes full liability for any infringement of rights and acknowledges that any Submission in any significant breach of these rights may be grounds for disqualification (see Disqualification of Submissions Section). In case that a third-party asserts infringement of intellectual property rights against Organizer, the Participant shall be liable for all costs in relation to acts required to defend against such actions.

4.5.  All Submissions must conform to the Terms and Conditions and the rules and guidelines set out in the Competition Brief. Any significant breach of this term may be grounds for disqualification (see Disqualification of Submissions Section).

4.6.  All Submissions must be made solely through the specified upload panel within the Portal, access to which is granted upon successful Registration and payment of Registration Fee (or first part of the Registration Fee in accordance with the Terms). Submissions received by email or any other delivery method will not be considered.

4.7.  The Participant may continue to upload Submissions and/or edits through the specified upload panel within the Portal until 24.00, London Time, on the date of the Submission deadline. Participant is responsible for determining the corresponding time in his/her time zone.

 

ENSURING THE INTEGRITY OF THE COMPETITION

5.1.  The Participant must ensure that Submissions do not include any marks, logos, symbols, or signs that may identify its authority or source during the evaluation of the Submission by the Jury. Any significant breach of these rule may be grounds for disqualification (see Disqualification of Submissions Section).

5.2.  The Participant may not approach or address any member of the Jury or the Commissioning Party during the Competition. Any breach of these rules will lead to immediate disqualification.

5.3.  The Jury will be made aware of a Participant’s identity only after the winners are selected.

 

PUBLICITY

6.1.  By registering for the Competition, the Participant acknowledges and agrees that all aspects of any Submission (including, but not limited to, narratives, descriptions, details, images, illustrations, photographs, and animations and names and images of the Participants) may be used by the Organizer for publicity purposes.

6.2.  The Participant agrees to participate in the promotional activities and the publicity arrangements for the Competition. The Organizer is authorised to use any and all statements made by the Participant in connection with the Competition without additional approval and consent.

6.3.  The Organizer reserves the right to undertake promotional activities and/or publicity arrangements through the Portal or other channels, as well as to discontinue any of its activities and/or arrangements at any time.

6.4.  Publications advertised or referenced in the Competition Brief are not binding on the Organizer. The Organizer shall make every effort to follow the announced publication schedule, but cannot be held responsible for publishers' decisions.

 

FEES AND COSTS

7.1.  During Registration Participant must effect payment of the Registration Fee for the Competition.

7.2.  The Registration Fee is a payment for registration for the Competition, for data processing and for covering administrative costs.

7.2.1.    When registering for the Competition, the Participant chooses participation model – to register as Regular Participant or Limited Participant. Registration Fee for Regular Participant and Limited Participant are different. The difference is based on the fact that Limited Participant do not receive a prize in case of winning places (see Terms below). During the Competition it is not possible to change the participation model (Regular or Limited) chosen at the time of registration. The Registrar asks Participant to be careful and evaluate all arguments when choosing the participation model.

7.2.2.    During Registration for the Competition, the Participant chooses the terms of payment of the Registration Fee - the Participant is entitled to pay the Registration Fee in one payment or in three monthly payments. In case of monthly payment, at the time of registration the Participant pays the Registration Fee for the first month and makes payments for the remaining two months according to the payment schedule indicated at the time of registration. An additional fee is applied for dividing the Registration Fee into three monthly payments.

7.2.3.    At the time of payment of the Registration Fee (or part thereof), the Participant undertakes to ensure that there are sufficient funds in his/her chosen payment method account to pay the full Registration Fee or the monthly payment of the Registration fee (depending on the participant's choice at registration).

7.2.4.    The Participant is warned that if there are insufficient funds in the Participant's account at the time of payment of the Registration fee (or monthly payment), the Participant is obliged to contact the Organizer immediately and request an alternative method of payment. In case the Participant does not contact the Organizer and does not request to be given an alternative method of payment within 6 (six) days from the day of payment delay, the Participant is being disqualified from the Competition, all prizes will be revoked and the already paid Registration fee is not refunded.

7.2.5.    The Participant agrees that in case of non-payment of the Registration Fee (or monthly payment), the Organizer is entitled to apply to the debt collectors of the respective country and to the courts with claims for recovery of the unpaid Registration fee (or monthly payment). In this case, in addition to the Registration Fee, the Participant will be charged all costs related to debt collection, including court fees, debt collection costs, legal fees, etc. payments. Subsequent payment or recovery of the Registration Fee shall not renew the participation of disqualified Participant in the Competition and does not entitle the Participant to receive the Prize.

7.3.  The Registration Fee is non-refundable except if the Competition is suspended.

7.4.  The Participant is responsible for all costs and disbursements incurred in preparing a Submission. The Participant is not entitled to claim the repayment of Registration Fee and/or the reimbursement any of its expenses related thereto.

7.5.  The Registration Fee is payable by Participant in Euros through PayPal or by credit or debit card.

 

DISQUALIFICATION OF SUBMISSIONS

8.1.  Participants will be disqualified if non-compliance with the above restrictions for participants, also in case of providing false information about Participant during registration or concerning eligibility.

8.2.  Any significant non-compliance of the Submission with these Terms and Conditions, the Competition Brief or other applicable requirements may be grounds for disqualification. The Organizer has the right to make a decision on the disqualification of the Submission after evaluating the factors of the significance of the violation (for example, evaluating whether the reason for the disqualification is significant, causes damage, is preventable, etc). In case of a significant violation, the Organizer has the right to disqualify the Submission. In case of a minor violation, the Organizer has the right to warn the Participant about the violation without disqualification of the Submission. The Organizer is not obliged to notify and to inform the Participants about decision and the evaluated arguments.

8.3.  Participants shall not communicate with any member of the Jury during the term of the Competition. Should it become known that a winning Submission was submitted by a Participant in breach of this rule, the Submission shall be disqualified and the prize revoked.

8.4.  All Submissions received by the Organizer after the closing date and time for Submission will be automatically disqualified.

8.5.  In case the Participant does not pay the Registration Fee or part of the monthly payment according to the schedule indicated at the time of registration, the Participant will be automatically disqualified from participating in the Competition and the prizes received by the Participant will be revoked.

8.6.  The Organizer will notify Participant regarding the disqualification of a Submission. Nevertheless, the Organizer is under no obligation to refund any Registration Fee or monthly payment. If winning Submission will be disqualified, the Participant shall be obliged to return any prize monies awarded.

 

CANCELLATION OF THE COMPETITION

9.1.  The Organizer reserves the right to cancel or suspend the Competition or alter the Terms and Conditions and/or the Competition Brief and/or other applicable requirements at any time and stage at its own discretion, including but limited if it is considered necessary or if circumstances arise outside of its control.

9.2.  In a case of suspension of a Competition the Registration Fees of Participant shall be returned.

 

SELECTION OF THE WINNER

10.1.The Jury shall be identified on the Competition Portal. Any changes to the Jury shall be at the Organizer’s discretion.

10.2.The Organizer reserves the right to assign judges, agents, or other authorised administrator to administer its Competitions, including making any decision or exercising such decisions at its discretion.

10.3.Prior to registering for any Competition, Participants are advised to seek information about the Jury from the Organizer, since establishing and maintaining eligibility for the duration of the Competition is the sole responsibility of each Participant.

10.4.The winner of a Competition is selected by the Jury. The winner is selected from all Participants - from the combined anonymous list of Submissions, which consists of Submissions of all Regular Participants and Limited Participants together.

10.4.1.For the sake of clarity, it is clarified that winners are not selected separately from Regular Participants and Limited Participants, but consolidated anonymous list of Submissions from all Participants. During the selection of winner, the Jury evaluates only the Submissions, but does not know any information about the Participant who submitted the Submission, including information about the type of participation.

10.4.2.The decision is final, no appeals will be allowed and no further communication will be entered into by the Organizer either with Participant or judges.

10.4.3.Only Regular Participants receive Prize in case of win. If a Limited Participant is selected as the winner, the respective Participant does not receive the Prize; in such case, the Prize is not transferred to another Participant.

10.5.After the winners of the Competition are selected, the Organizer transfers this information to the Commissioning Party.

10.6.Unless stated otherwise in the particular Competition Brief, the association and/or relationship of Organizer with any member of the Jury does not imply any contract, partnership, agency relationship or endorsement of any member of the Jury.

 

PRIZE

11.1.The Prize is announced on the Competition Portal.If the Prize is a prize fund, then the prize fund is distributed among all Participants who have the right to receive the Prize.

11.2.Participant is entitled to receive the Prize only personally and is not entitled to transfer the Prize to other persons.

11.3.Prize pay-out conditions:

11.3.1.After announcing the results of the Competition, the Participant must enter a bank account for payment of the Prize in his/her profile on the Portal (if the Participant is entitled to receive a Prize).

11.3.2.To allow time for any public concerns regarding copyright claims or plagiarism, to be fully addressed, the Organizer will endeavour to send the Prizes to the winner starting from 46th (forty-sixth) business day after notification of the decision of the Jury and receiving a signed confirmation from the winner.

11.3.3.The Prize is paid out when the Participant manually enters his/her bank account in the Portal and selects the cash out option.

11.3.4.The Participant is entitled to pay out the Prize in one or more payments or to use the Prize to cover the registration fees of other contests at his/her discretion. For each Prize payment transaction, the Participant pays a commission fee of EUR 25.00 (twenty-five euros).

11.3.5.The Participant is obliged to pay the prize no later than within 1 (one) year from the publication of the results.Unpaid Prizes remain the property of the Organizer.

11.4.Prizes of different competitions do not add up.

11.5.The Participant hereby confirms its binding commitment to engage and cooperate with the Commissioning Party after the Competition in case it submits the winning Submission. The Commissioning Party undertakes no promise or commitment to construct the project in the Submission or as envisioned in the Submission.

11.6.If the Regular Participant whose Submission has been selected as the Winner of Competition cannot accept, receive or becomes ineligible for the prize for any reason, the Prize is awarded to the next highest ranked Participant. in this case, the person who cannot accept, receive or becomes ineligible for the prize is not entitled to request a later transfer of the prize from the Organizer.

11.6.1.If next highest ranked Participant is Limited Participant, the prize remains the property of the Organizer.

11.7.Participant is solely responsible for complying with all applicable tax laws and filing requirements, as well as for paying all taxes, duties, and other fees imposed on prizes awarded.

 

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

12.1.Intellectual property rights include all rights including but not limited to copyright, trademarks, service marks, trade names, design rights, patents, know-how, trade secrets, inventions and other forms of intellectual or industrial property, whether registered or unregistered and all applications for the same (the “Intellectual Property Rights”).

12.2.Upon providing the Submission to a Competition, the Participant and/or each member of the Participant Team grants to Organizer an unrestricted, worldwide, irrevocable and royalty-free, full license to the Intellectual Property Rights of the Submission and/or any part thereof as follows: publicly display by any means and in any media; to copy, modify, translate and/or adapt, archive and distribute for publicity purposes and use Submission and all information contained therein in any other ways (including for commercial purposes) without any further notice or remuneration to the Participant.

12.3.By transferring all Intellectual Property Rights of the Submission and/or any part thereof to the Organizer, the Participant (including each team member) agrees that the Organizer has the right to use the Submission and all information contained therein (including the solutions, designs, concepts and other creative results) in machine learning processes (Artificial Intelligence learning processes) or transfer it to third parties who will use the Submission and all information contained therein these processes.The Participant (including each team member) agrees that as a result of machine learning processes (Artificial Intelligence learning processes), the Submission or the information contained in it (including the solutions, designs, concepts and other creative results) may be partially or fully reproduced, copied and modified, and these results (including visual materials, designs) will be considered the result of a machine creation, which the Organizer or any other third party will be entitled to use for commercial purposes. The Participant (including each team member) waives all claims, demands and objections against the Organizer or any other third party in this regard.

12.4.The Organizer has the rights, but is not obliged to use all or any of the Intellectual Property Rights licensed above.

12.5.All credits in connection with the Submission are associated with the registered name of Participant or the title of the Participant Team. Organizer shall make a reasonable effort to display the author's name on any Submission whenever published or otherwise featured.

12.6.     The Participant undertakes to not exploit any of its personal rights arising out of the Intellectual Property Rights in any time and manner contrary to the interests of the Organizer.

 

LIABILITY AND INDEMNITY

13.1.     By registering or providing a Submission to a Competition, the Participant agrees to release, discharge and hold harmless the Organizer and its partners, representatives and judges from any claims, losses, damages, expenses and liabilities (including attorney’s fees and settlement fees) arising out of the involvement of Participant in a Competition, the provision of any Submission, any exploitation of Submission by the Organizer, including any infringement of Intellectual Property Rights, or any other activities of Participant related to a Competition.

 

GOVERNING LAW AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

14.1.     The validity, construction and performance of these Terms and Conditions, as well as the legal relations among the Participant and the Organizer are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Andorra.

14.2.     By registering or providing a Submission to a Competition, the Participant agrees that any disputes, claims and causes of action between the Participant and the Organizer arising out of or connected with a Competition or any Prize awarded shall be solved in negotiations between the involved parties in good faith under the spirit of fair treatment by parties towards each other.

14.3.     If the involved parties fail to reach an amicable solution, the dispute shall be finally settled by the courts of Andorra.

 

CONCLUSION

15.1.     If any term (or part of a term) of the Terms is invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the rest of the terms will remain in effect.

15.2.     These Terms and Conditions shall enter into effect when the Participant has registered on the Organizer Portal and expressed acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.

15.3.     The Organizer has the right to unilaterally revise, amend or change the Terms without any special notice to the Participant. In case of revision, amendments, changes and additions to the rules, the Participant does not have the right to refer to the old version of the Terms.

15.4.     When making changes in the current wording of the Terms, the date of the last amendment is indicated.

15.5.     The new wording of the Terms shall enter into force from the moment of its posting on the Portal.

15.6.     The Participant may address any questions to: [email protected]

 

Date of wording: April 28, 2023

Date of publication: April 28, 2023