The Okanagan Housing Awards of Excellence Judging process is a structured confidential process. The judging panel comprises of industry professionals from outside of the Okanagan. They are selected based on their specific area of expertise. Potential judges are selected by their respective Home Builder Associations within Canada. Judges are kept confidential until after the judging process has been completed and the winners have been confirmed.
Over a three-day span the judges come to Kelowna to judge the submissions. Judges are given a brief overview of the BC housing market and industry followed by rigorous hours of judging the entries. Home of the Year and Show Homes will receive on-site judging to determine the results. Results are audited by Grant Thornton Accountants, who are present during the three-day judging process. In the end, up to three finalists are selected for each category and one of those finalists will win a Gold Housing Award.
Finalist and Winner Selection
All projects are anonymous and are only identified by entry number. Judges do not have access to the Builder or Developer name and are judged solely on project descriptions, digital images and supporting documentation. The judges score each project entry following the category criteria from the Call for Entries on-line entry form. Judges collaborate with one another on all projects and determine Finalists and Gold Winners. The judges will make their final decision and ensure that the finalists and winners are a unanimous decision amongst them, taking into account the criteria description, photos and supporting documentation of the project.