Homebuilding awards where entry brings its own rewards

Don’t get me wrong – there is a place for these awards but they always leave me thinking that there is something missing. Sure, design is very important and it should be recognised in appropriate awards but design is short term. As one architect said to me: “Show me a good design, give me a camera, a pencil and the back of a fag packet and I’ll have it copied in no time!”

What the homebuilding business needs is an award that recognises excellence in quality management and leadership. These are the big issues of today. Issues that can lead to long-term success, but which are both hard to achieve and difficult to copy. Actually, there is such an award, but it exists on the other side of the pond and it is called the National Housing Quality Award. This award is sponsored by The National Association of Home Builders - which is a federation of more than 800 state and local builder associations with more than 200 000 members - along with the NAHB’s Research Centre and Professional Builder magazine.

I recently attended the award ceremony in Miami and had the opportunity to speak with current and past winners including Charlie Scott of Estridge Homes who spoke at the recent Building Homes Conference.

But first let’s take a look at the scope of the award. The opening paragraphs in the Year 2000 application document include the following statement:

“Entries are judged by a panel of experts who evaluate the role that customer-focussed quality plays in construction, business management, sales, design and warranty service.

Preparing a National Housing Quality Award application is an important step in every applicant’s quality journey. As a participant, you benefit from the introspective process of preparing an application as well as the insightful feedback from a judging panel of industry experts.”

If that wasn’t enough of an eye opener take a look at the entry qualifications and the judging criteria in the panel above. To have any chance of winning you have to convince the judges that your company:

• has a commitment to customer satisfaction;

• believes in quality and the prevention of defects;

• strives for operational excellence;

• values employees;

• uses fact-based decision making;

• partners with trade contractors and suppliers; and

• has a vision for the future and a plan to get there.

An important step in every applicant’s quality journey

Those US builders who have achieved the National Quality Award all agree that striving to win it and eventually receiving it had a profound and positive effect on their businesses.

This is borne out by studies undertaken over the years by the NAHB that clearly show the gaps in performance between winners of the award and the average US homebuilder.

Quality Award winners on average achieve one-third higher gross margins and double net income over the average US homebuilder. In addition they experience less than two service calls per home after occupation and willingness to refer ratings from more than 95% of customers.

It’s hard work though. It often takes three to four years of hard graft to achieve the award. Every year you get a little bit closer by taking on board the judges feedback and by learning from those who have already won. The enthusiasm of winners to share their ideas is very refreshing and obviously motivating to those trying to get there.

Some applicants put together specialist internal teams whose brief is to oversee the changes necessary to achieve the award.

Another builder suggested that any company with turnover greater than $50m and 50 staff should appoint a Director of Quality to the board. He added: “If you’re anything like the typical housebuilder and you appoint the right person to this role he/she will find so much waste slopping about your business that the position will pay for itself in next to no time.”

One recent award winner stated that: “No other program has provided more rewards, both financial and operational, than the National Housing Quality Award application process provides”.

I found this very interesting. Some builders question the relevance of awards and wonder whether they are worth all the effort. Well here is a builder who believes that it is the learning and change that come from the application process that count rather than just the award itself.

Mind you, looking at the criteria in the panel on this page ask yourself if your company could be rewarded by successfully demonstrating total competence in each area. If your answer is that you could gain nothing from the process then please call me as you’re either there already or you’ve found a different way. Either way it will still make a great article.

In these days of quality management, customer focus et al, I call on responsible associations and publications to sponsor our own quality award. Something that would truly be “the Oscar of the housebuilding industry.” Come to think of it, perhaps we should just call it “the Egan” to avoid any confusion. Now that would be well worth dusting down the best suit for.

No, better still, if you achieved the kind of performance gains experienced in the States just from the application process you could make enough money in your business to buy any suit you wanted.