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If you picked up the February edition of Build It magazine, you’ll have read all about the winners of the Build It Awards 2018.
The judging process culminated in a fabulous night compered by comedian Miles Jupp – probably one of the most entertaining hosts to date.
This annual event has really taken off and has now become the premier self and custom build industry event – just looking around the room I recognised so many leading players in the industry.
The evening was superbly organised and hosted. It’s a real honour to be asked to act as a judge, and I always get a tremendous sense of satisfaction from the role.
In case you’ve ever wondered how the process works, it’s like this: the judging panel has representatives from across the board, from leading architects to heads of the big mortgage brokers as well as members of the expert panel and of course, our awards chair, Build It’s editor, Chris Bates.
Each year, every judge is presented with a huge folder containing all of the entries for consideration.
Our task is to go through this pack in great detail, researching the entries and assessing each one based on the same set of category-specific criteria, so we are all grading on an equal basis.
The whole team then meets up to spend a day comparing notes and deciding the final score. It’s at this point where you can find that one entry could be a huge hit with one judge, but less so with another, so there is usually some robust discussion.
The benefit of a second or third opinion means that all avenues are explored before we award our marks. Add in the fact that some categories include a readers’ vote and it can become about as predictable as results night on Strictly Come Dancing!
We only get confirmation of the results on the evening itself, so we, too, can enjoy the suspense as the winners are announced.
A common denominator in recent years has been the extremely high quality of the entries. Choosing between them can be quite challenging, so the nuance of the supporting text becomes quite important.
It’s a good tip for future entrants to read the advice sent out in the pack and be sure to specifically answer the questions posed. Every bit of supporting information helps and being able to make an informed decision is crucial.
At the risk of increasing the workload even more for next year, I would heartily recommend any of you thinking about submitting an entry do so. You have to be in it to win it, and looking at the faces of the proud victors clutching their trophies, you can see what it means to them.
Even making the shortlist is an impressive achievement – and I’d recommend any of you at the research phase of your project check out the victors and shortlisted entries.
The Awards provides you with a fantastic route to choosing the best options from a crowded field of good suppliers.
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