Submission hints and tips
Submission Questions​

Celebrating excellence in the built environment for over 34 years

Property is New Zealand's largest industry, making up 15% of economic activity.

Hosted by Property Council New Zealand, the Rider Levett Bucknall Property Industry Awards is the most prestigious property awards programme in New Zealand, celebrating excellence in design and innovation in the built environment for over 34 years.

The Awards showcase superior examples of iconic projects in property development and investment across a broad range of sectors and design disciplines, recognising outstanding projects, developments and refurbishments. Award winners are the best of the best; projects that provide an outstanding return or delivery of service potential on investment of funds, creating value for owners, tenants and the wider community.

Nominate Your Project

Judging criteria

Submissions are assessed based on the following principals:
  • Economic and financial criteria 30%
  • Project vision and innovation (includes degree of difficulty) 15%
  • Design and construction 20%
  • Owner and user satisfaction 15%
  • Sustainability and efficiency of operation 20%

Award categories

  • CBRE Industrial Property Award
  • Colliers Project Leaders Education Property Award
  • Hawkins Multi Unit Residential Property Award
  • Holmes Group Tourism and Leisure Property Award
  • Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities Community & Affordable Housing Property Award
  • Naylor Love Heritage and Adaptive Reuses Property Award
  • Oceania Retirement Living and Aged Care Property Award
  • RCP Commercial Office Property Award
  • Resene Sustainable Building Property Award
  • Warren and Mahoney Civic, Health and Arts Property Award
  • Yardi Retail Property Award
  • Rider Levett Bucknall Supreme Award
Templeton Group Multi-Unit Residential Property Award Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities Community & Affordable Housing Property Award Greenstone Group Education Property Award RCP Commercial Office Property Award Holmes Group Tourism and Leisure Property Award Yardi Retail Property Award CBRE Industrial Property Award Warren and Mahoney Civic, Health and Arts Property Award Naylor Love Heritage and Adaptive Reuses Property Award Resene Green Building Property Award Rider Levett Bucknall Supreme Award

New to nominating?

Tasked with crafting an awards submission but have no idea where to start? You've got this!

In this exclusive member-only online masterclass, we dive into the secrets of what makes a winning submission and teach you how to make your entry shine.

Best of all, you’ll catch all the Q&A with the Property Industry Awards judges Andrew Evans, Alex Cutler, Matt Wilson and Jeremy Whelan.

FAQS

  • Eligible entrants are projects, developments or substantive refurbishments that have a Practical Completion Certificate prior to 28 February 2025.
  • A property that has not previously won an Award may be nominated again.
  • A property may be entered into any of the primary categories, and additionally or solely entered into one or both (if applicable) of the Green Building and Heritage and Adaptive Reuses Property Award categories.
  • All projects, developments or substantive refurbishments must be located within New Zealand.
  • Project financials MUST be supplied. If project financials are not provided, a score of 10 out of 30 will be awarded for that set of criteria.
  • All financial information will be treated with the strictest of confidentiality, with our judging team signing confidentiality agreements. 
  • Projects are awarded points for meeting a wide range of criteria including providing an outstanding return, exceptional delivery of service, wise use of funds, and for public buildings maximising community benefit.
  • Submissions should be direct and succinct, ensuring that the criteria are answered clearly and preferably up front.
  • Focus on what sets your project apart from others; as is appropriate for your project detail the economic, social and environmental impacts the project has in the community or industry sector.
  • It is imperative that the submission form is completed through the online portal www.propertyawards.co.nz prior to Wednesday 26 February 2025. 
  • Please ensure the name of the project, owner and nominator are provided as you wish them to be displayed on all judging, marketing, PR, and presentation collateral. 
  • Links to specific category submission questions are provided below as a PDF – we encourage you to use this resource to prepare your submission in Word or similar, then copy and paste your final version to the online portal for submission once complete. 
  • We will not accept submissions in PDF form, they must be supplied via the online portal. This allows our judges confidential access to the information. Each nomination, submission and project images are presented to the judges in an identical manner to ensure objectivity. Keep the focus on presenting the project and images in a clear and concise manner.
  • Please ensure the development metrics are completed on your submission. If a financial feasibility model has been completed on the project this can be submitted, forming part of the economic and financial criteria section of the submission.
  • Providing financial information is an essential part of the submission process.
    If no financial information is provided then the submission automatically receives 0% of the possible 30%.
    Providing at least some financial information on the submission will automatically receive a minimum 10% of the possible 30%. Therefore we encourage any financial data to be submitted to achieve some points in this criteria.
  • Images that accurately represent the character and use of the project are instrumental in the judges’ decision-making process. 
  • Supply six to eight high resolution images of your project in jpg or tiff format files. Landscape image minimum size is 4000px by 2600px; Portrait image minimum size is 2500px by 4000px.
  • Images are to be suitable for large screen audio visual and print purposes. All images supplied must be of a high resolution professional quality. The images are to be ‘clean’ (no photographer’s credits or watermarks). 
  • Please ensure you have appropriate rights to all supplied images and their use in media, publications and social media. Property Council will take no responsibility for nominees not having the appropriate permissions to share images. Any costs incurred by additional licensing fees or permissions will be passed on to the submitter.
  • If you would like to credit a photographer for a photo you have supplied, please include this information in the image description.
  • The image subject matter should include:
    • an exterior/hero shot
    • several interior shots showcasing key features of the project
  • As part of the judging process our team of judges complete a site inspection for every project.
  • This onsite viewing with the judges is an incredibly important part of the judging process and provides you with the opportunity to showcase your project, having the undivided attention of the judges for 30-45 minutes. This is your opportunity to wow the judges by using this time to re-emphasise the special features and aspects of the project that make it a standout nominee.  
  • In the situation where physical site inspections are prohibited by government travel or gathering restrictions, virtual inspections may be required. While we will do everything in our power to ensure face-to-face inspections can go ahead, we ask that nominees please be prepared to host a guided virtual tour if necessary.

Submission questions

The PDF documents linked below will help you prepare your submission in a Word doc or similar prior to completion of the online form – hopefully this makes the online process a simple copy-and-paste. All submissions must be completed through the online portal at www.propertyawards.co.nz prior to Wednesday 26 February 2025.

For all enquiries, please contact our National Events team.