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British Columbia’s best builders spent a night celebrating their own as they noted dynamic projects and people at the industry’s biggest awards gala.

Seventy-five projects representing nearly $5 billion in value made up the 96 nominations for the 36th annual Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VRCA) Gold Awards of Excellence, held Sept. 19 at the Parq in downtown Vancouver.

“This year marked one of the most competitive years yet. Each nominee should be incredibly proud of their accomplishments,” VRCA president Jeannine Martin said. “Our Silver and Gold Award winners were chosen from among the best of the best, demonstrating excellence through innovative solutions to construction and supply chain challenges, as well as successful and meaningful efforts to include diverse groups, including Indigenous peoples.

“I sat through the judging and heard the discussion amongst the judges and can’t even imagine how they pick the one (winner), because there’s so much excellence happening in construction,” she added.

Projects are assessed by a panel of industry experts using criteria such as project management, financial performance, team collaboration, safety practices as well as inclusion of minority groups

Big winners of the night included PCL Constructors Westcoast Inc. who took the Gold Award in the General Contractors – Over $200 Million category for their work on the Lions Gate Hospital Redevelopment Phase 3 – Acute Care Facility project. The Mechanical Contractors – $10 Million to $40 Million category was Division 15 Mechanical Ltd. for the New Westminster Aquatic and Community Centre.

NorLand Limited took the gold in the Trade Contractors – Over $10 Million category for their work on the 1515 Alberni development in Vancouver and Black & McDonald Limited took the top prize for their work on the B Jetty Recapitalization Project at CFB Esquimalt in the Electrical Contractors – Over $10 Million category.

“Excellent projects often win in multiple categories because all of the pieces work together very well, which is exciting. There’s an increase in some of the sizes (of projects), certainly the mechanical and electrical scopes are growing and those categories have gotten a little bit bigger,” Martin said.

She also noted an emerging trend among nominated projects over the past year was companies overcoming supply chain challenges.

“That was amazing to see and exciting. I think the judges were interested in how people made stuff work when they couldn’t get what they needed,” she said.

Conversely, tariffs turned out to be “not as big a ripple as we thought, though we continue to watch it,” she said. “Just like any business it’s the uncertainty that creates the problem. If you can anticipate something, you can plan for it.”

In addition to project winners several Outstanding Achievement awards were announced, including the new Inclusive Leadership in Construction award, won by project lead Anna Lary at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

Other Outstanding Achievement winners include Flatiron Dragados director of business development Stephanie Hun in the Outstanding Woman in Construction category, Heritage Award winners Haebler Constructon Projects Inc. for their work on seismic upgrades for the First Baptist Church in downtown Vancouver, and EllisDon Corporation director of operations Garreth Maybury who took home the Education Leadership award.

A full list of winners is available .