Hirepool judges profiles

Hirepool Judges

Dave Macdonald Categories 1, 2, 3 & 6

I have been involved with CCNZ and the entities that existed before that for most of my career either as a client and more recently as an Associate Member of the Auckland and latterly the Nelson Marlborough Branches. I have been a judge for 8 years, trained initially by Past President Graeme Blackley and in recent years working with Past President Paul Bishop.

I consider being a judge provides me with the opportunity to contribute back to the industry that I have enjoyed working in for close to 50 years now.

I find it incredibly uplifting and enjoyable to meet the passionate, innovative, and hardworking people in the Civil Construction Industry who are continuing to look for recognition of their excellence in submitting and supporting their projects.

The projects that are entered have seen an increasing ability to work closely together with their clients and stakeholders to deliver better results from collective and focused thinking.

While there may be memorable awards, I prefer the thinking that each project we judge we meet passionate and skilled people representing their companies and the industry.

From every job we always come away with positive feelings in seeing the ability of our people to overcome challenges and risk.

Paul Bishop Categories 1, 2, 3 & 6

I started judging when Roading NZ held its own national awards separately to CCNZ (then Contractors Fed). I was conscripted as a Life Member who was not employed in roading at the time so I was “non-aligned”.

It was a one day, desktop exercise in those days.

I enjoy meeting new people particularly the young engineers and project managers. I have observed with satisfaction the growing numbers of young women employed at project level and their obvious competence in this area.

Visiting job sites is (usually) most enjoyable as is observing the complex projects and innovations undertaken by CCNZ members.

Changing methodologies and procurement processes are also fascinating and I have found that the best projects are almost always those with a high degree of contractor/client collaboration. Technical skills within the contracting industry have increased immeasurably over the last 10 to 15 years and clients can confidently go to them for advice on how to best deliver projects.

It is difficult to name the most memorable award, but in travelling to remote sites to look at jobs, we have visited many interesting areas within New Zealand. These experiences rather than any particular jobs stand out in my mind.