2006 House of the Year competition kicks off with a roar

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I recently attended the Registered Master Builders PlaceMakers 2006 House of the Year Awards in Nelson and, if this is any indication of the calibre of event that the rest of the regions are producing, then 2006 looks to be another exemplary year for the contest! Now in its 15th year, the Registered Master Builders 

PlaceMakers 2006 House of the Year Awards celebrate the skills and abilities of our members who are true craftspeople in their field. 

This year we received a record 703 entries for the residential and commercial awards. We are pleased that builders have heeded the call to arms this year to enter more of their properties/projects, especially when it is so important to showcase your remarkable building skills in a softening market. 

There have been a number of changes to the awards this year that most entrants would have encountered. At the local level the national judging panels comprise of a minimum of two judges, one building specialist and one architect/architectural designer who cover the whole of the country for their awards area of expertise. 

These changes were based on feedback from the grass roots and we are sure that you will see that this is a fair and equitable way to provide judging consistency and certainty. This year all entrants will also receive feedback on their entries at the conclusion of the national competition (see diagram). 

This will be a feedback graph and summary sheet outlining the top 10 areas for improvement based on feedback from all judges across the country. This feedback will help keep “lifting the industry standard” — something the awards have already done around the country over the past decade or so. 

The Commercial Awards have also undergone a facelift. The new categories better reflect the type of work undertaken by our commercial members — for example, retail and business project and health project categories. 

The judging criteria have changed to reflect critical elements in a commercial project and, as has always happened for the Commercial Awards, one national panel (one building specialist and one design specialist) judged entrants over the whole of New Zealand. 

Our House of the Year Awards are the peak awards for the construction industry. As I have said before, they are our “Oscars”! And, those that become award recipients have quality marks bestowed on their projects that reflect them being that much above the average industry standard. 

These quality marks are further confirmation of the excellence our members put into the construction process — and the House of the Year Awards are confirmation of the value the Registered Master Builders Federation puts into the construction industry.

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