Awards FAQs

All your questions about the Awards for Excellence process answered. The FAQs have been categorised to help you find the answers you want, faster. 

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Questions about entering

Please note that only members are eligible to win an Institute Award for Excellence.

Non-members are still welcome to make a submission, however they must become a member before the deadline on 7 June.

If you are not a member and want information about joining please contact our Director of Member Services Emma O’Neill via eoneill@udiaqld.com.au.

The Awards are an opportunity to be recognised for excellence within the development industry. If your company has done something unique, pushed the boundaries, or innovated to overcome challenges, you should consider entering. The Awards are very competitive, so becoming a winner or finalist is acknowledgement of outstanding success from your peers.

Your awards submission must be completed through our online system (link at top of this page).

All you’ll need to get your submission started in Award Force is to pick your category and enter a name for the submission. That’s it.

You’ll then need to complete payment to continue your submission to the written documentation phase.

Want to save $205 on each submission? Make sure you start your submission AND complete your payment within the Early Bird period (5 February – 5pm Friday, 3 May 2024), after that normal fees will apply.

Submissions close 7 June 2024.

Category questions

– Projects eligible for categories 4 through to 10, 12, and 14 through to 17 must be submitted by a developer.

– Projects eligible for category 13 may be entered by a developer or an architect. Entrants must also ensure that the developer of the project that is the subject of the submission, is also a member of the Institute.

– Projects eligible for categories 11 and 18 may be entered by government entities (State and Local) or a developer. Entrants must also ensure that the developer of the project that is the subject of the submission, is also a member of the Institute.

– Projects eligible for category 19 may be entered by consultants, government entities (State and Local) or a developer.

– Projects eligible for category 20 must be entered by a licensed builder. Entrants must also ensure that the developer of the project that is the subject of the submission, is also a member of the Institute.

– Projects eligible for category 21 must be entered by a consultant. Entrants must also ensure that the developer of the project that is the subject of the submission, is also a member of the Institute.

– Projects eligible for category 22 may be entered by a developer or a consultant. Entrants must also ensure that the developer of the project that is the subject of the submission, is also a member of the Institute.

– Entries in categories 1-16 are eligible for National Awards.

To enquire about your level of membership, please contact the Institute’s Director of Member Services Emma O’Neill via eoneill@udiaqld.com.au.

Every category has unique criteria. Entrants should closely review the criteria to ensure their submission response and site inspections (excluding categories 1-3) address the criteria specifically. Entrants in categories 1 through to 3 are invited to attend an interview instead of a site inspection.

Category criteria can be obtained from 5 February on the Award Categories page or via Award Force.

It is highly recommended that you address the criteria related to the Award category you enter. The criteria will be used by the judging panel to assess your written submission.

Each question has a maximum word count of 200 words.

Submissions

The following fees will apply per submission (incl. GST):

Categories 1 and 2 – Young Leaders & Women in Leadership
$0 – no fee

Category 3 – Diversity in Development
$500.

Categories 4-22
Early Bird: $905 – available only to submissions commenced and paid for prior to 5pm Friday, 3 May when using the discount code
Standard: $1,110 – from 5.01pm Friday, 3 May

Please note you will need to make payment of the submission fee before being able to commence working on your submission. Payment for the Early Bird price will need to be received prior to 5pm Friday, 3 May for the discount to be applicable. Submission payments can be made by credit card or direct deposit.

If you are entering on behalf of a developer or entering the Consultants’, Parks and Recreation, Innovation, Design, or Construction categories, you must have the written consent of the developer. This written consent must be submitted with the online submission.

Consultants can enter categories 19, 21 and 22.

Projects entered into the Awards must be substantially completed, as outlined in the criteria for each Award category. The judging period commences from 19 August 2024.

Please note that this does not apply to the Young Leaders, Women in Leadership, Diversity in Development, Community Engagement, and Marketing award categories.

Individual projects may be entered in more than one category, where they fit the criteria. A separate submission must be completed for each category.

Entrants are asked to respond to criteria for the specific category for which they are entering, rather than using the same submission text for additional categories. Doing so will give entrants a greater chance of winning.

If you submitted a project in a previous year and did not win you can re-enter the same project multiple times. However, if resubmitting a project that has previously won an Award, you must be able to demonstrate to the judges that significant changes have been made to the project for your submission to be valid.

All submissions must be prepared online. Hard copy submissions will not be accepted.

Some entrants copy the criteria into a Word document to work on their responses before submitting. If you do this, be sure to keep in mind the word count limits.

You may make changes to your submission up until the closing date being 7 June, after this date submissions will be considered complete. Any items or documents submitted after this time will be accepted or declined at the Institute’s discretion.

The Executive Summary will be used for the purposes of judging. The executive summary, in addition to any detail provided in the full submission, may be published in the Awards issue of our establish magazine if your project is announced as a winner or a finalist. The establish articles will be written at the Institute’s discretion.

You are not required to submit an establish article with your submission. Instead, the Institute will use any detail, wording, statistics, and other information provided in the full submission to write the establish article should your project be a winner or category finalist. The establish articles will be written at the Institute’s discretion.

You are not required to provide a media release with your submission.

You will need to provide a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 10 high resolution images of your project as part of your submission. Images sent through after the submission due date will be considered at the Institute’s discretion. The number of photos required for entrants in categories 1 through to 3 is different. Refer to the instructions.

Image guidelines: The Institute reserves the right to select submission images at its discretion to be used in the Awards for Excellence AV production and the establish magazine should you be named a finalist and/or winner.

All submission cancellations (withdrawal) must be made in writing to the Institute.

Submission cancellations received prior to 5.00pm 3 May 2024 are entitled to a refund of paid submission fees.

Cancellations or withdrawals made after this time are non-refundable. Please note that associated fees such as administration fees cannot be refunded. Any refunds will be processed approximately one fortnight after the event has concluded.

The finalists and winners will be announced at a luncheon held in Brisbane on Friday, 1 November 2024.

Tickets are not allocated to entrants. You must purchase your own ticket(s).

Other queries

No. Changes to the site inspection date and time are not permitted under any circumstances. It is strongly recommended that you block out the judging period in all key company representative’s diaries in advance to ensure the right people (i.e. CEO, Chairman, Development Manager, Project Lead etc) are available.

Yes. Under no circumstances should an entrant be in contact with or approach a member of the judge’s panel outside the hour of their scheduled site inspection. Should the Institute be made aware of such behaviour, your entry will be disqualified immediately.

Most definitely not!

Still have questions?

For all submission enquiries please contact: 

Event Executive

(07) 3229 1589

events@udiaqld.com.au

All media enquiries to be directed to: 

Kate Cummins

Director of Marketing

(07) 3233 2724

kcummins@udiaqld.com.au