Key Dates 2026
Nominations Open | November 2025
Nominations Close | 30 January 2026
Submissions Close | 26 February 2026
Dinner & Ceremony | Friday 12 June 2026
Are you our next
Supreme winner?
Nominations open early November
Nominations for the 2026 Awards open on 4 November 2025
About the Awards
Award Types
Eligibility & Criteria
Evaluation
Submission Fees
Award Types
MERIT is awarded to projects through the judging process that are deemed to have something distinctive about how the development or project was undertaken. There may be multiple Merit Award winners in each category.
EXCELLENCE is presented to projects that are deemed to be amongst the best in their chosen category, and that symbolise excellence within the property industry across all aspects of the evaluation. There may be multiple Excellence Award winners in each category.
BEST IN CATEGORY is selected in each category if a project stands out as the “best of the best” against the other project entries in their category. There is only one Best in Category Award winner in each category, with these projects also in the running for the overall Supreme Award.
SUPREME is presented to the project that is deemed by the judging panel to be the standout recipient above all other projects. All Best in Category winning projects are eligible for the Supreme Award.
Eligibility & Criteria
Submitting into the awards is open to Property Council members and non-members. Eligible entrants are projects, developments or substantive refurbishments that have a Practical Completion Certificate prior to 28 February 2026 and have not previously won a Property Council Award within the category entered.
- 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 Sustainable Building and Heritage and Adaptive Reuses Property Award categories.
- All projects, developments or substantive refurbishments must be located within New Zealand.
The Awards are highly regarded for their focus on efficient use of capital. Projects are awarded for meeting a wide range of criteria to provide an outstanding return and/or delivery of service potential on investment of funds and maximum community benefit for public buildings.
Evaluation
Judging across all categories is strongly weighted towards economic and financial factors and other factors are evenly considered. Submissions will be assessed based on the following principles and allocated weighting.
- 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%
Submission Fees
MEMBER PRICING
Submission Only $690.00 + GST
Submission and Property Awards Magazine Publication $2,500 + GST
NON MEMBER PRICING
Submission Only $890.00 + GST
Submission and Property Awards Magazine Publication $3,300 + GST
Awards Categories
Multi Unit Residential Property Award
Project entries include apartment complexes, hotels, multi-unit residential developments
Community and Affordable Housing Property Award
Project entries include multi-unit residential developments public or social housing developments.
Education Property Award
Project entries include schools, universities, childcare centres and other learning facilities.
Commercial Office Property Award
Project entries include buildings with a predominant use of office space and can comprise new developments or substantive building refurbishments.
Tourism and Leisure Property Award
Project entries include tourist facilities, sports centres and training facilities, hospitality venues and hotels where the predominant use is tourism or leisure based.
Retail Property Award
Project entries include shopping centres, show-rooms and mixed use developments with a significant retail presence.
Industrial Property Award
Project entries include warehouses, factories and storage facilities where the predominant use is industrial.
Civic, Health and Arts Property Award
Project entries include courthouses, cathedrals, churches, police stations, libraries, art galleries, museums, town halls, medical and healthcare facilities.
Heritage and Adaptive Reuses Property Award
Project entries include the renewal of historic precincts, heritage or adaptive reuse of existing building projects (substantive building refurbishments) and conservation projects.
Sustainable Building Property Award
Project entries include developments that specifically utilise innovation and demonstrate application of sustainable building principals.
Judges' Choice Award
This is a special discretionary award honouring an extraordinary project reflecting Property Council’s mission – Together, shaping cities where communities thrive – celebrating outstanding social impact, lasting community benefit, and inspiring our industry beyond standard scoring criteria. Not a formal category and submissions cannot be entered directly.
Supreme Award
All Best in Category winners are eligible for the Rider Levett Bucknall Supreme Award.
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