Judging Criteria
Understanding the Judging Criteria: Australia’s Best Scaffolding Project Awards 2025
The SAA’s Australia’s Best Scaffolding Project Awards recognise scaffolding excellence across commercial, civil, industrial, and innovative projects. To ensure transparency and consistency, projects are evaluated using a structured judging framework that rewards high standards of safety, design, and execution.
Whether you’re preparing a submission or simply want to understand how the best in the industry are chosen, here’s an overview of the six judging criteria that form the foundation of the awards assessment — along with the weighting applied to each area.
1. Compliance with Safety Standards (Weight: 25%)
Judges assess how well your project adheres to Australian safety regulations, codes of practice, and industry standards. This includes both the design and execution stages, with a focus on hazard control, worker protection, and risk minimisation.
- Tip for entrants: Be clear about how safety systems were applied, including any site-specific challenges and how they were addressed.
2. Innovation of Design (Weight: 20%)
This criterion looks at the creativity and uniqueness of your scaffolding solution. Projects that demonstrate original thinking, clever configurations, or the integration of new technologies will score highly here.
- Tip for entrants: Showcase what makes your scaffold different. Did it solve a unique problem or reduce time and cost through innovation?
3. Technical Considerations (Weight: 20%)
Judges evaluate the engineering and technical execution, including materials used, scaffold design logic, and construction methodology. This shows your understanding of structural demands and real-world site conditions.
- Tip for entrants: Describe the materials and construction methods used, particularly where technical excellence helped deliver a better outcome.
4. Structural Integrity (Weight: 15%)
The strength, load-bearing capacity, and stability of your scaffold are assessed here. Judges want to see that your design meets or exceeds the required performance for the task.
- Tip for entrants: Provide details or calculations that show how the scaffold was designed to carry loads, resist movement, or endure extreme conditions.
5. Geographic and Installation Position Considerations (Weight: 10%)
Scaffolding often has to be adapted to suit different terrains, climates, elevations, or access restrictions. This criterion looks at how well your scaffold adapted to the unique characteristics of its location.
- Tip for entrants: Talk about site conditions — e.g., confined spaces, sloping ground, marine environments — and how you overcame them.
6. Ease of Assembly and Disassembly (Weight: 10%)
Projects are rewarded for efficiency in erection and dismantling, especially where time, complexity, or logistics posed a challenge. Simpler, faster scaffolds that maintain safety and quality earn higher marks.
- Tip for entrants: Highlight how your team reduced setup time, simplified processes, or improved productivity during install/removal.
Scoring & Evaluation Process
Each project is reviewed by the SAA State Committee’s judging another states applications and Judges allocate a score between 1 and 10 for each criterion, which is then multiplied by its corresponding weighting to calculate a total weighted score.
By clearly aligning your submission with these criteria — and directly addressing each one in your project description — you’ll give your entry the best chance to stand out.
Key Dates
Entries Close: 30 September 2025
Category Winners Announced: 7 October 2025
Eligible Projects: Must have been completed in the year 2025
This competition is exclusive to SAA Members and is your chance to gain national recognition for the quality and innovation of your work.
Whether your project was big or small, standard or complex — if it reflects excellence, we want to see it.
Submit your nomination today and put your work on Australia’s scaffolding map!
