Building People Awards
Entry Form

At the Building Institute Aotearoa (formerly NZ Institute of Building), we are all about people. Our awards celebrate people in the building and construction industry doing great things. We recognise people at all stages, places and scales – from our inspiring Next Gen already making a difference to those working in major projects on site and behind the scenes.

Individuals can nominate themselves, or you can nominate a colleague!  All categories are for individuals, except the Project cost-band categories which can include up to 3 people and Collaboration which is for teams.

Entries close 5:00pm on Friday 9 May 2025.

Cost
Building Institute Aotearoa Members can enter the Awards for FREE.  Connect Membership is $330 + GST and you can sign up here.
The entry cost for Non-members is $350 + GST, with the following exceptions: 

• Entry is free to a team (i.e. Collaboration category) where at least one team member is an Institute member;
• Entry is free to a nominee entering the ‘Consultants Award’ category who are members of: NZIA, ADNZ, Engineering NZ, or NZIQS;
• Entry is free to a nominee entering the ‘Innovation Award’ category who are members of: NZGBC and OffsiteNZ. 

Below outlines what is required to complete the entry form. Remember that these awards are about the person, their individual performance in / on a project (not reflective of organisational policy outside their control).

The 'Project cost-band' categories are defined by the scale and cost of the project.  Entrants can be working on construction projects, with these categories traditionally attracting entries from site-based leadership including project and construction managers running commercial construction projects. For the 'Project cost-band' categories, the project that the nominee/s has led, must have been practically completed (issuing of a CCC is not a prerequisite) during the period 1 January 2024 to 1 August 2025.

For the non-cost band categories much of the wording refers to the project as a building project however the project does not have to be a building; it could be an initiative, innovation or something else. These awards are about the person and the awesome work they have done – the project is a way to illustrate this work. Please get in touch if you have any questions about this hello@buildinginstitute.nz

Key dates
Award entries OPEN     Wednesday 2 April 2025 
Award entries CLOSE   Friday 9 May 2025 
Tickets on sale              Early June 2025
Finalist interviews         Mid June 2025
Finalists announced      Late June 2025 
Awards Gala                 Friday 8 August 2025

CATEGORIES

KEY NOMINEE AND NOMINATOR INFORMATION

Award Nominee

Note: the Project cost-band categories will have space for up to 3 names in total, and the Collaboration category will have space for up to 6 names in total

Award Nominator (if different from Award Nominee)

Adminstrator

If you have an administrator in your team who will manage your entry, and any other logistics relating to the Awards, please include their details below.

Upload files - Photo + Video

Please upload ONE high resolution head and shoulders photo of the Nominee/s.
Note: Cost-band categories will have space for up to 3 photos and the Collaboration category will have space for up to 6 photos. These images will be used on the night so need to be high-res.

Please provide a short video speaking to one of the criteria points by providing a personal story that encapsulates that criteria (optional).

• Video is a piece to camera of the nominee speaking to their phone (or a personal Teams or Zoom recorded meeting) - it does not have to be professional or edited
• Video to be a maximum length of 1-2 minutes
• Note that this is NOT a mandatory requirement, but will allow the judges further insight into the nominee

Photo upload

Video upload

NOTE: If you decide to save and continue later - click button, then click "Skip create an account" then add your email or copy link that is provided.

Project Information

If your entry is not associated with a project, please add 'moot data/not applicable' here to be able to proceed.  Optional for Emerging Leader category.

*NOTE: The values assigned to the advertised cost-band categories are indicative. The final cost-band categories may change at the discretion of the judges.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

In 500 words or less, briefly tell us how you would describe this project to your friends and whānau, including:
• Project scope
• Client brief
• Consultants name
• Developer name
• Client names
• Number of people on site and/or in project team
• Out of the ordinary elements 
• Environmental Aspects
• Benefits to the built environment
• Bragging points

Please upload up to 5 high-resolution photos of the Project.  Note the file size limit is 5MB per photo.  These images will be used on the night.

ABOUT THE NOMINEE

Please tell us about the Nominee/s in relation to each of the following criteria - we want to know everything there is to know about what makes the nominee/s so amazing!  Max 100 words each criteria.  These criteria will be judged with an equal balance between technical skills and personal skills.

Excellence in technical fundamentals

This will relate to how the nominee responded to and balanced the programme, cost, and quality on a project.

• What were the internal and external challenges that presented themselves during the development of the innovation / project?
• How has the nominee excelled in this project?
• What is the degree of difficulty on this project?

 Diversity + Inclusion

• How does the nominee include diversity in their work and behaviour?

Collaboration

• What are some key examples of great collaboration led by the nominee?
• How did collaboration between the contractor and consultant/s contribute to the success of the project?
• How well did the team carry out their respective roles?  Was there an even distribution of high performance across the team members?
• What strategies did the team put in place during this project?

Health + Wellbeing

• What action has the nominee taken to focus on health and wellbeing either on-site or within the office?
• How was safety incorporated into the project?  What was the nominee’s approach to safety for this project?
• What strategies does the nominee put in place to achieve work-life balance during a project or times of high pressure?

Generosity, Respect + Care for others

• Tell us about the nominee’s generosity, respect and care for others
• How does generosity, respect and care for others look like on your project?
• How does the nominee protect and support others on the team?

Lifelong Learning

• What have been the nominee’s greatest accomplishments in their career to date?
• What challenges have they experienced?
• What is their approach to continuous learning?

Mentoring

• Would you consider the nominee a mentor for others?
• Please provide examples of this behaviour.

Leadership

• What are some examples of good leadership displayed by the nominee?
• In terms of Guardianship, how does the nominee protect and support others on the team?
• What are the examples of the nominee being courageous and bold in their ideas and actions?
• What is it that drives the nominee?  What are their career aspirations?

Future-focused

• How is the nominee future-focused? What are some examples of this?
• Ask the nominee to outline their initial thinking process on how to take the seed of an idea forward.

In 300 words or less, tell us a story about the nominee!

• ­   Example: How they overcame a specific challenge.....
• ­   Example: How they went above and beyond.....
•    Example: How might you recommend them to be recognised by others.....

REFERENCES

Please provide 2 referees that the judges may contact.

Please include

• Referee name
• Role
• Organisation
• Email address
• Mobile number

Please note: Phone calls to referees may occur at the discretion of the Awards judges.

AGREEMENT TO CONDITIONS

A copy of your entry will be emailed to you after you click Submit.  If you wish to print a copy of the form now, please click Print Form before you Submit.