Construction Awards

• Call for Submissions — January 3, 2025
• Submission Deadline — March 2, 2025
• Evaluation —  March-May 2025
• Award Ceremony  — 2026

For questions regarding the event, reach out to GSAConstructionAwards@gsa.gov.

Projects should meet the following criteria:

1. Completed and owner-occupied no more than three years prior to submission date.
2. Completed on or ahead of schedule.*
3. Completed within budget.*
4. Completed with no claims or litigation.
5. Met or exceeded owner/customer/major tenant expectations as demonstrated by a letter from the owner/customer/major tenant.
6. Previous award winners are not eligible to submit the same project.

*Projects with cost overruns or schedule delays due to unusual/unforeseen conditions or at the direction of the owner are eligible to submit if the cost overrun or schedule delay was approved by the owner. Applicants will be asked to explain the situation as part of the submission.

To enter, please submit your project no later than Sunday March 2, 2025 at 12:00pm EST. The jury may request additional materials for publicity and exhibition purposes, and all entry materials become the property of GSA.

Submission Template

Please copy and paste this template into a word document and provide responses to each question. All information is required and must be included in your word document. Your completed submission document and supporting materials should be sent to: gsaconstructionawardsubmission@gsa.gov and ‘cc: samuel.wancowicz@gsa.gov. Please send any submission questions or concerns to the same email addresses. 

Project contact information

• Name
• Email
• General contractor company name
• General contactor point of contact(s)
  • Name(s)
  • Email(s)
• Project name
• Facility or building name
  • City and state

About the project

• Project categories - select all that apply
  1. Capital projects - over $3.6 million in construction costs
     • Repairs and alterations
     • New construction
  2. Small project - under $3.6 million in construction costs
  3. Alternative financing project - which type of alternative financing
• Project delivery method
• Project construction start date - for design build, use contract Notice to Proceed date
• Original substantial completion date
• Actual substantial completion date - if there is a difference in the original vs. actual, please explain.
• Original contract value
• Final contract value at substantial completion - if there is a difference in the original vs. actual, please explain.
• Met or exceeded owner, customer, or major tenant expectations
• Please upload the CPARs review if one was completed for your project
• Completed with no claims or litigation - if you responded “no” to any of the questions above, please provide additional information.

Project team information

Please provide the information for all of the project team members. If you didn’t have one of the following on your team, please answer with N/A. 

• General contractor project executive
  • Name
  • Email
  • Company
• Lead personnel onsite
  • Name
  • Email
  • Company
  • Role
• AE lead designer
  • Name
  • Email
  • Company
• Construction manager
  • Name
  • Email
  • Company
• Commissioning agent
  • Name
  • Email
  • Company
• Significant contributing subcontractor
  • Name
  • Email
  • Company
• Other significant contributing partner
  • Name
  • Email
  • Company
• GSA project manager
  • Name
  • Email
• GSA contracting officer
  • Name
  • Email
• Primary customer
  • Name
  • Email
  • Agency
  • Role

Project narratives 

• Company highlight
  • In no more than 250 words, please provide a brief overview of your company and any relevant background information.
• Detailed project summary
  • In no more than 1000 words, summarize the project, address its purpose, results, and significance to the workforce and American people. 
• Best practices
  • In no more than 250 words, describe any best practices or new processes that made your project unique and contributed to the project’s construction success.
• Construction safety program
  • In no more than 250 words, describe the approach used on this project regarding construction worker safety and health. What did the team do to engage the workers in the safety performance of the project?
• Safety information
  • How many first aids - if any?
  • How many lost time accidents - if any?
  • How many days and hours worked without a lost time accident?
• Construction delivery process
  • In no more than 250 words, describe unique construction delivery methods used on this project to address project risks and improve construction success.
• Collaboration with the design team
  • In no more than 250 words, describe the partnering relationship and collaboration efforts with the design team that directly impacted the construction implementation.
• Team dynamics
  • In no more than 250 words, describe the project team dynamic and what you did or how you worked together to ensure design and construction success. Highlight any special or unique contributions made by the project team members. 
• Construction site leadership and culture
  • In no more than 250 words, describe the construction worksite culture and any unique leadership methods/characteristics/skills brought by the project team to develop that healthy and inclusive culture.
• Innovative use of technology
  • In no more than 250 words, describe unique utilization of technology to facilitate design, or, mitigate construction risks and how that technology impacted the construction. The technology may be new, cutting edge technology or widely used industry technology used in a unique way on this project.
• Meeting Difficult Challenges (max 250 words)
  • In no more than 250 words, explain the most significant construction challenges. When were the challenges identified and how did the team respond and overcome those challenges?
• Handling unforeseen conditions
  • In no more than 250 words, describe unforeseen conditions encountered during pre-construction or construction highlighting the steps taken by the team to address the situation.  What was the impact on the design and/or construction of the project and what did the team do to recover from the event?
• Client satisfaction
  • In no more than 250 words, describe the relationship with primary stakeholders and end users of the construction project.  What did the project team do to improve or ensure project success from the client’s perspective?
• Project communication
  • In no more than 250 words, what, if any, unique communication processes did your project utilize to ensure construction success?
• Construction craftsmanship
  • In no more than 250 words, highlight the unique craftsmanship practices utilized on the project and the impact on the construction success/client satisfaction. Highlight the significant contributing subcontractor as applicable.
• Other
  • Share anything else about your project that we did not ask in the questions above, especially any project specific aspects that contributed to the success of the project in support of the GSA and Tenant’s missions. N/A if you already covered everything.

Media Submissions

If photo and or video submissions are taken by a third party, please provide a copy of the signed copyright release form. If photo and or video submissions are taken by your company, please provide a release form for GSA to use the images. If optional videos are not submitted, scoring will not be impacted.

Please submit at least three photos, with captions, of the project. Photos do not need to be professional quality. Submit all images as either .jpeg or .png and videos as .mp4 files. No more than 10 photos should be included with your submission. Photos should be attached to the submission email and should include a completed photo release form.

The independent panel of jurors consists of construction professionals and subject matter experts in their respective fields. Submissions are evaluated for how well they:

• demonstrate excellent practice in construction safety
• construction quality and craftsmanship
• collaboration and team dynamics
• innovation and technology

Project categories

1. Capital projects - defined as projects over $3.6 million
   • Repairs and Alterations
   • New Construction
2. Small projects - defined as projects under $3.6 million
3. Alternative financing projects - regardless of size
   • Lease Construction
   • Land exchange projects
   • Government to government partnerships

The jury will select winning and honorable mention team awards from each category. Nominations and selections will be determined at the discretion of the jury.

Special recognition categories 

The Special recognition categories reflect our current mission and goals. This year’s categories are:

1. Engaged Customer.
2. Community and Mentoring Partnerships
3. Outstanding Subcontractor.
4. Outstanding Construction Manager.
5. Outstanding Demonstration of Ingenuity (in technology, process, etc.).

All entry materials become the property of GSA and may be used to publicize the Construction Awards and other GSA activities.

The jury is also looking to recognize projects that achieved exceptional outcomes through Design-bid-build, Design-build, and Construction manager as constructor delivery methods.

Judging Criteria

1. Safety program and record or construction worker safety and health.
2. Construction delivery process and effective use of best practices.
3. Collaboration with design.
4. Teaming performance or project teamwork.
5. Project team use of BIM/VDC and other technologies or technology integration.
6. Meeting difficult challenges.
7. Handling unforeseen conditions.
8. Client satisfaction.
9. Construction site leadership and culture.
10. Communication.
11. Special characteristics:
    • Construction craftsmanship.
    • Innovative use of technology.