CMYA Judges Embark On Summer Site Visit Marathon

The second phase of the 2015 Construction Manager of the Year Awards (CMYA) is officially under way as the judges prepare to visit 75 projects across the length and breadth of the UK.

The CMYA awards, now in their 37th year, are unique in the built
environment sector for focusing on the ingenuity and leadership of
construction managers, rather than sites or project teams.
Entries range from small residential schemes to hospitals,schools, iconic restoration projects and giant commercial programmes
valued at more than £100 million.All judges have in-depth construction experience and many are former medallists from
previous years of the competition.The judges will not only be examining the finish and quality of the completed building, but also how the project manager dealt with the unique challenges of his or her location. Each project is marked against a broad range of criteria,which is later explored in an i depth interview in front of a panel of three industry experts.
Gareth Davies FCIOB, chair of this year’s £12 to £20 million projects
category, has been judging CMYA for eight years and says that the
site visit phase often throws up surprising frontrunners: “We’ve
seen the projects on paper, but it’s impossible to appreciate the
complexity of each site until you walk round and get a feel for it.”
“Every year I meet people who have performed minor miracles on
seemingly routine jobs. They can easily become top contenders,” he
explained.
Peter Roberts, FCIOB, who won a CMYA silver medal for The Lowry,in Salford in 2001, is chairing the new build and refurbishment projects over £60 million category.
Remembering the exhilaration and fulfilment of being a former CMYA contender, he is looking for signs of inspiration and leadership in every project manager that he interviews this year. “CMYA is
uniquely important, because it celebrates project managers: the
people that have nurtured an idea from the cradle to the grave.
They’ve taken the vision of the client, the dream of the architect,
and the calculations of the engineer and transformed them into a structure that will leave a lasting legacy. We don’t celebrate
this enough as an industry.”