Instructions

Getting Started

BILD Alberta Members belonging to more than one local BILD/CHBA/UDI have two options:
i) Compete as one company (must be the same company name in each membership region) – Create ONE user profile, and then submit up to three entries in each category for each membership, provided that the entries are for projects in the corresponding local BILD/CHBA/UDI market area. The Company will be acknowledged as the parent company name only on all finalists and winning entries. Points for each placing entry in the competition will be combined for the respective Pinnacle award.

ii) Compete as individual companies – Create separate user profiles for each company entering the competition. Each company may submit up to three entries in each category for each membership, provided that the entries are for projects in the corresponding local BILD/CHBA/UDI market area. Points for each placing entry in the competition will not be combined for the respective Pinnacle award. The companies will compete against one another for the Pinnacle award.

iii) Returning users - if you have participated in BILD Calgary, CHBA Edmonton or CHBA National's award programs use the same account. Can't remember your password, enter your email and click reset on the following page.

ONLINE platform opens in April.

Entry Fees

  • $200 (plus GST) for each entry in all categories except innovation.
  • $100 (plus GST) per entry in the innovation category.
  • FREE to enter Safety Leadership and Community Service award categories.
  • Auto-entry for Pinnacle - no form - simply update your profile information

Entries are not eligible for judging until payment is received. If BILD Alberta deems an entry ineligible before judging, the fee will be returned to the entrant.

Payment is accepted by credit card, cheque and EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer). You may add multiple submissions to your cart and checkout with one transaction.

Automatic Entry for Pinnacle Awards

Entrants will be automatically entered for the respective Pinnacle Award(s). The following information will be needed when you log into the award system.

  • Company logo (EPS or PNG format)
  • Social media accounts (used for promotion of finalists and winners)
  • Number of permits pulled between January 1 - December 31, 2023 (enter “0” if applying for ONLY Developer or Renovator Pinnacle)
  • Permission to contact your customer satisfaction surveyor (Avid Ratings or CustomerInsight). Enter N/A if not applicable.
  • Association involvement – who from your company volunteers locally, provincially or nationally (name and committee/board).
  • Enter “none” if your company is not active on a committee
  • WCB number

IMPORTANT: All information is considered truthful and accurate at time of submission.

Conditions & Requirements

Awards Program: The BILD Alberta award program must receive enough entries to stage a competition in 60% or more of the total award categories (excluding the Pinnacle categories).

To stage a competition in all categories there must be three entries from two different companies. For the innovation and safety categories, there must be two entries from two different companies.

Should an insufficient number of entries be received within a category or the entire program, BILD Alberta may choose to cancel the category or program. In this case, BILD Alberta will refund the entry fees received. All entries would remain eligible for re-submission the following year.

  • There must be a competition in 60% of the Single Family and Multi-family categories to award the Builder Pinnacle Award(s).
  • There must be a competition in 60% of the Renovation categories to award the Renovation Pinnacle Award.
  • There must be a competition in 60% of the Developer categories to award the Developer Pinnacle Award.

Eligibility: Only members of BILD Alberta as of December 31, 2023 are eligible to enter. All members are eligible to apply for categories based on their membership type.

Builder members are also eligible to enter the renovator categories.

Only builders with a valid builder license at the time of award deadline are eligible to enter.  License must be active at the time of the award ceremony.

Renovators must be registered with Service Alberta as a prepaid contractor at the time of entry and must be active at the time of the award ceremony. Renovator members are limited to entering the renovation categories only.

You must classified as a developer member to enter the Developer categories.

Good Standing: Only members in good standing throughout the competition are eligible to enter. A member in good standing is considered to be one with no outstanding invoices with BILD Alberta and to be in good standing with the local CHBA, UDI and BILD when finalists and winners are announced. Those not in good standing may be eliminated from the competition.

Eligibility Period of Entry: Eligible units (new or renovated) must be completed (ready for sale, rent, or occupancy) during the following periods:

  • Single Family Awards – May 1, 2023 – May 15, 2024
  • Multi-family Awards – May 1, 2023 – May 15, 2024
  • Renovation Awards – May 1, 2023 – May 15, 2024
  • Energy Efficiency Award – May 1, 2022 – May 15, 2024 (2-year window)
  • Garden/Secondary Suite - May 1, 2022 – May 15, 2024 (2-year window)
  • Developer Awards – May 1, 2022 – May 15, 2024 (2-year window)
  • Innovation Awards - May 1, 2022 – May 15, 2024 (time frame to be used for product/service launch).
  • Safety Leadership Awards - May 1, 2023 – May 15, 2024 (timeline to be used in answering the questions). The responses should reflect initiatives during that time frame and should not be copied from any previous entries. – FREE to Enter
  • Community Service Award - May 1, 2023 – May 15, 2024 (timeline to be used in answering the questions) – FREE to Enter

More information can be found in the criteria and submissions requirement documents.

Entering Online: All entries, including free submissions, are considered complete once they have gone through the checkout process. Deadline for online submissions is Wednesday, May 22, 2024, at noon. All information is considered truthful and accurate at time of submission.

Location: Projects entered in the BILD Alberta Awards competition must be located in Alberta in the market area covered by the local BILD/CHBA/UDI where the entrant is a member.

Number of Entries: A MAXIMUM OF THREE (3) ENTRIES PER CATEGORY ARE ALLOWED PER MEMBER for each local membership. For example, if you are a member of BILD Lethbridge, your project(s) must be located within the area covered by BILD Lethbridge.

Authorization: Entries must be authorized by the home builder, professional renovator or developer member, including any entry submitted on their behalf by an authorized third party.

Legal: There cannot be any outstanding lawsuits and/or liens on any property entered in the competition.

Original Entries: Must be an original entry. Any entry previously made to the BILD Alberta Awards is not eligible. However, an entry using the same floor plan for a production home or multi-family dwelling unit may be submitted again for a home in a different location than the previous entry.

Blind Competition: Any reference to company must be removed from photos, floor plans and write ups. This applies to all categories with the
exception of the Developer, Innovation and Community Service categories. Failure to remove logos may result in a penalty.

Materials: All materials submitted become property of BILD Alberta. Entrants agree that BILD Alberta may use the information and material submitted for promotional purposes or in any manner the Association chooses. Information, project names/model/residence name and photographic images provided with the entry form may be used publicly by BILD Alberta on its website, social/digital media platforms and/or published or broadcasted by BILD Alberta or a third party at the discretion of the Association.

Integrity: Any entrants or projects may be disqualified from participating in the sole discretion of BILD Alberta, or in the event that such entrant or submission, if successful, would be reasonably likely to damage the reputation of BILD Alberta, bring BILD Alberta into disrepute, attract adverse publicity, or harm the confidence of the public in BILD Alberta.

Important Documents

The Homeowner Permission Form must be completed and signed by the homeowner for all owner-occupied homes entered in the competition. Showhomes or homes in the builders’ possession are not required to complete the form. Click here to download the Homeowner Permission Form.

A detailed price breakdown may be required should it be a spec house or a renovation. Please find the spreadsheets here:

Detailed Price Breakdown Template - Single Family
Detailed Price Breakdown Template - Infill
Detailed Price Breakdown Template - Multi-family
Detailed Price Breakdown Template - Renovation

Pricing

See specific pricing information on the criteria and submission requirements documents. Submitted pricing information is received in confidence and will only be referred to to confirm accuracy of project and is not published.

In the case where there is no statement of adjustment (sold inventory), you must upload a statement of declaration with the FINAL sale priced signed by the purchaser.

Images & Floor/Site Plans

Images
Photographs have an impact on how judges see your entry and influence your final score. Photos should be of professional quality.

  • Submit colour images that are 3000px wide and 300ppi for the perfect combination of fast upload times and file sizes large enough to view on the website, at the award ceremony and in printed material.
  • The size upload limit is 5MB. Larger files cannot be uploaded.
  • Photos are automatically renamed once uploaded.
  • Image orientation can be horizontal or vertical.
  • No major alterations to the photos (interior or exterior) are permitted. Colour correction is acceptable. Exceptions: Sales Centres may be covered up with a standard garage door only. Dirt can be covered with grass (no landscaping).
  • Do not submit images that have borders, frames, logos, or watermarks.
  • All logos must be removed from images.
  • Detached garages are not to be included in any photos.
  • Renderings are not permitted.

Renovators: When taking “before” and “after” pictures of a renovation, photograph from the same location or angle to help the judges understand the “transformation”.

Floor Plans and Site Plans
Floor plans and site plans must be uploaded in a PDF format no larger than 5 MB.

  • Upload simple plans – the same kind you would provide to clients or put on your website.
  • Do not include elevations or renderings.
  • All logos must be removed from documents.
  • If your plans are on more than one page, combine them into a single PDF document and upload all together.

Hints & Tips

Here are a few words of advice from the organizers and judges to help you to prepare a winning entry, and to know what pitfalls to avoid.

  • Use bullets or point form in the text boxes – easier for you to write and easier for the judges to understand.
  • Focus on what can't be seen in photos.
  • Word counts are the maximum only – don’t feel obligated to meet the word count limit with each question. It’s much better to be concise in your answers.
  • More entries = better odds. Increase your chances of winning the Pinnacle Award by entering as many categories as possible.
  • You can also go back and edit your entry up until the deadline. If you know that you will be submitting an entry close to the entry date for whatever reason, it is strongly recommended that you prepare your entry using a Word doc. That way, if you have computer glitches, your work will at least be saved.
  • Give yourself enough time to take your time and double-check the entry before you submit it.

FAQs

When will the Awards platform be open for submission?
The platform will open in April.  All members subscribed to our newsletter will be notified.

When is the deadline?
Entries will be accepted until Wednesday, May 22, 2024 at noon.

I’m a new member. Can I enter?
You must have been a member as of December 31, 2023 to be eligible for this year’s award program.

Can I enter my project if I am not a member of the local BILD/CHBA/UDI in the area in which the project is located?
No. Being able to enter a project in the BILD Alberta Awards is a benefit of membership. Therefore, you should contact the local BILD/CHBA/UDI in the area in which your project is located and consider membership.

Can I enter my project if it is located in an area not served by any local BILD/CHBA/UDI?
Yes. If there is no local BILD/CHBA/UDI where the project is located in Alberta, you may still enter it if you are a BILD Alberta member.

Are projects located outside Alberta eligible for the BILD Alberta Awards?
No.

Are renderings acceptable as image uploads?
No. Renderings are only accepted where specified on the category document.

Can logos be on images and floor plans?
This is a blind competition. Failure to remove any reference of company (photos, floor plans and comments) may result in a penalty. This applies to all categories except the Developer, Innovation and Community Service award categories.

I’ve got two great projects/homes in the same category. Can I enter both?
Yes. You can enter up to three projects/homes per category for each local BILD/CHBA/UDI membership. Projects correspond to the market area served by the local BILD/CHBA/UDI. If you have two local memberships (e.g. Edmonton & Central Alberta) you can enter three projects in each category for each membership.

What do you consider a Multi-family?
All units built as a part of a multi-family project must be entered into the Multi-family categories. This includes duplexes, townhomes, and apartment-style condominiums which all share at least one common wall. Definition for each product is as follows:

  • DUPLEX – semi-detached homes (two units attached)
  • TOWNHOME/ROW HOME –  three or more attached homes
  • APARTMENT – four or more attached units with a common entrance

If they do not share a common wall they must be entered into the appropriate Single Family category. Secondary suites are not eligible for individual submission.

What’s the difference between Multi-family categories and Multi-family Rental Unit?
Entries in the Multi-family categories must be a unit that has been sold or is for sale to a homeowner(s). Entries in the Multi-family Rental Unit category must be a unit from a purpose-built apartment or townhome.

Where can I enter an INFILL home?
An infill home is defined as a new home constructed on vacant, underused lots interspersed among older, existing properties in an established urban neighbourhood. Infill homes must be entered into the appropriate infill category. They can only be entered once and cannot be entered in the single family categories.

If the home is still in the builder’s possession, do I need to submit a homeowner permission form?
No, you are not required to submit a homeowner permission form.


ABOUT RENOVATIONS
What should be included in the renovation cost?
To determine which category your renovation should be entered in, the cost of the renovation must include your estimate of the dollar value of any materials the homeowner self-supplied. See the specific pricing information on the criteria and submission requirements documents.

Can I enter a kitchen or bathroom renovation in the Kitchen and Bathroom categories, and also enter them as part of a Whole House submission?
Yes.

Can I enter a basement renovation?
Yes, you can enter it into the Renovator's Choice category.

Award Finalists & Winners

Finalists will be notified via email in late July 2024. Winners will be announced at the BILD Alberta Fall Conference.

Admission to the awards ceremony is included with a Fall Conference registration. If you choose not to register for the conference, a limited number of tickets may be available for finalists to the awards ceremony only which will go on sale at the end of July. Due to the conference popularity, the BILD Alberta Conference room block is reserved for full registrants only.

Judging

The BILD Alberta Awards judges will view and judge all submissions online. They rely 100% on the information you provide in your answers to the online entry questions, along with photographs, drawings and other materials that you upload.

  • BILD Alberta reserves the right to cancel, combine or split any category due to numerous or insufficient number of entries.
  • Competition is blind in all categories except for the Developer, Innovation and Community Service categories.
  • Entrants are required to remove any reference to their company in all images and floor plans. Failure to do so may result in a penalty applied to the Pinnacle calculation.
  • Entries will be judged according to the criteria (answers to questions, images, uploaded plans, etc.) set out for each award.
  • Entries will be handled confidentially. Judges agree not to disclose information concerning entries.
  • All information submitted online is considered complete. Incomplete entries will not be disqualified due to insufficient information and materials however may result in a deficient evaluation. Entrants will not be notified of missing components.
  • A minimum of THREE entries (from two different companies) are required to stage a competition in each category.
  • Additional documentation may be requested for verification.
  • All decisions of the judges are final.