"Pro­ject al­lian­ces of­fer a pro­mi­sing mo­del for com­plex pro­jec­ts"

For over 150 years, the SIA has shaped competition procedures in Switzerland to ensure quality, transparency, and innovation in the development of the built environment. Today, in the context of shifting societal expectations and evolving public procurement law, SIA regulations 142 (competitions) and 143 (parallel study mandates) have just been revised after four years of intensive work.
We speak with Laurindo Lietha, deputy head of the regulations department and head of procurement at the SIA, about these revisions, their practical implications for professionals and contracting authorities, and more broadly, the future of competition culture in Switzerland.

Cedric van der Poel: The revised versions of SIA regulations 142 (competitions) and 143 (parallel study mandates) introduce the notion of a “procedure appropriate to the task”. Can you explain this change, and how it might simplify things for smaller municipalities that lack the resources to organize complex competitions?
Laurindo Lietha: The SIA specifically supports smaller municipalities in ensuring quality-driven procurement. One of the goals of the revision was to streamline procedures, making them more efficient and cost-effective. With the platform wegweiser-planungsbeschaffung.ch, the SIA offers practical guidance in choosing the most appropriate procurement method.

The use of parallel study mandates (MEPs) appears to be on the rise. How can we ensure that these procedures remain fair and don’t turn into disguised calls for tender, which are often out of reach for younger practices?
Study mandates are a good way to identify the best solution when the framework conditions of a project cannot be defined in advance — for example, in complex developments involving multiple stakeholders. For other types of projects, however, a competition is the more suitable procurement method. Not only does it allow for greater diversity of solutions, thanks to broader participation and anonymity, but it is also significantly simpler and more cost-effective to organize than a study mandate. The SIA’s programme review process, along with the regional market monitoring bodies (OMPr, BWA), take this aspect into careful consideration when advising and evaluating procedures, and support contracting authorities in choosing the appropriate procurement method.

That said, building projects are clearly becoming more complex overall, so it’s understandable that we’re seeing an increase in the use of study mandates.

With the evolution of the Public Procurement Monitor, do you observe a real shift in public commissioning practices in Switzerland toward greater quality and sustainability, or is there still a long way to go?
"Heading in the right direction, but not fast enough” — that’s how Cristina Schaffner, director of Bauenschweiz, and I summed things up here at espazium just over a year ago. I still think this holds true today, even if there’s now more momentum: certain cantons are leading by example, and associations like ours are investing in this paradigm shift.

Since the beginning of the year, Article 30 of the Federal Act on Public Procurement has been amended to require the use of technical specifications related to sustainability^1. Article 10 of the Ordinance on the Federal Act on Climate Protection Objectives, Innovation, and Strengthening Energy Security (Climate and Innovation Act, KlG)², which assigns a model role to public contracting authorities and commits them to reaching net zero by 2040, will also help accelerate this shift.

What is the real weight of qualitative criteria today — such as sustainability, aesthetics, and innovation — in competitions following the revision of the Federal Act on Public Procurement (PPA)? And how can we ensure that these criteria are not sacrificed on the altar of cost-efficiency?
Qualitative criteria such as sustainability, aesthetics, and innovation are at the heart of competitions. Unlike performance-based tenders or planner selection procedures, it is not predefined award criteria that determine the outcome here, but an independent jury. Thanks to the jury’s independence from the contracting authority — and the proven expertise of its members — competitions ensure that the best project is selected, not the one that merely presents the most attractive figures in the short term.

Project alliances, recently introduced into Swiss practice through SIA Technical Document 2065, are based on collaboration and shared risk management rather than pure competition. How do you see the relationship evolving between these collaborative approaches and traditional design competitions in the planning of complex projects?
Project alliances offer a promising model for complex projects where traditional organizational structures, such as the single-planner model, reach their limits. The principles of partnership-based collaboration and shared risk responsibility can also be applied to other models. Pilot projects are currently emerging, particularly among public contracting authorities. The SIA is actively supporting this development.

There is still limited experience with how best to procure project alliances. It seems just as feasible to organize a competition under SIA 142 and then recruit additional alliance members using the new “dialogue” instrument described in the Federal Act on Public Procurement (PPA), as it is to commission an alliance team through a study mandate under SIA 143. I’m curious to see what kinds of experiences we will gain with these approaches in the coming years.

Notes

1. 
Art. 30 Technical specifications

• 1. The contracting authority shall set out the required technical specifications in the invitation to tender or in the tender documentation. These describe the characteristics of what is to be procured, such as function, performance, quality, safety, security, dimensions and production processes, and regulate the labelling and packaging requirements.

• 2. When setting out the technical specifications, the contracting authority shall rely as far as possible and appropriate on international standards, or failing that on technical regulations used in Switzerland, recognised national standards or industry recommendations.

• 3. Certain companies or trademarks, patents, copyrights, designs or types, and references to a specific origin or to specific producers are not permitted as technical specifications, unless there is no other sufficiently precise or comprehensible way of describing the goods, work or services and the contracting authority includes the words "or equivalent" in the tender documentation. Equivalence has to be proven by the tenderer.

• 4. Where appropriate, the contracting authority shall stipulate technical specifications for the conservation of natural resources or the protection of the environment.

2. 
Art. 10 Vorbildfunktion von Bund und Kantonen (not available in english) 

• 1. Bund und Kantone nehmen in Bezug auf die Erreichung des Ziels von Netto-Null-Emissionen und auf die Anpassung an die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels eine Vorbildfunktion wahr.

• 2. Die zentrale Bundesverwaltung muss bis zum Jahr 2040 mindestens Netto-Null-Emissionen aufweisen. Dabei werden neben den direkten und indirekten Emissionen auch die Emissionen berücksichtigt, die vor- und nachgelagert durch Dritte verursacht werden.

• 3. Der Bundesrat legt die für diese Zielerreichung notwendigen Massnahmen fest. Er kann Ausnahmen im Zusammenhang mit der Sicherheit des Landes und dem Schutz der Bevölkerung vorsehen. Er informiert die Bundesversammlung regelmässig über den Stand der Zielerreichung.

 

• 4. Die Kantone für ihre zentralen Verwaltungen und die bundesnahen Betriebe streben an, ab 2040 mindestens Netto-Null-Emissionen aufzuweisen. Der Bund stellt ihnen für die Wahrnehmung ihrer Vorbildfunktion die notwendigen Grundlagen zur Verfügung.

For further reading:

- SIA Regulation 142 (Competitions) – currently under revision, scheduled for publication in 2025

 

- SIA Regulation 143 (Parallel Study Mandates) – currently under revision, scheduled for publication in 2025

 

- Guide to the Procurement of Planning Services → acquisition-prestations-etudes.ch
Choose the most appropriate procedure — competition, parallel study mandate, or call for tenders — based on your project and available resources.

 

- Swiss Competitions Database → competitions.espazium.ch  
Find current competitions, analyse regional trends, consult results, and draw inspiration from award-winning projects.

 

- 2024 Public Procurement Monitor → https://www.bauenschweiz.ch/de/vergabemonitor/
Monitor the evolution of procurement practices in terms of quality, sustainability, and innovation. Compare your own calls for tenders with Swiss procurement standards.

 

- SIA Technical Document 2065: Planning and Building through Project Alliances →https://www.sia.ch/de/cms/themen/beschaffungswesen#3194
Explore collaborative models for complex projects, such as infrastructure or major renovation works.

 

- Davos Declaration (2018) → https://davosdeclaration2018.ch/en/
A key reference for understanding the European commitment to a sustainable living environment.

 

- Public Procurement Observatories:
Monitor the quality and fairness of calls for tenders, and benefit from a critical analysis of compliance with standards and transparency. ompr.ch (French-speaking Switzerland) | bwa-smile.ch (German-speaking Switzerland)