Rotorua home in running for build award

Mark Wilson, registered Master Builders 2014 House of the Year judge, checks the Rotorua home. Photo/Stephen Parker

With clipboards at the ready, two House of the Year judges this week passed their critical eyes over a Rotorua finalist.

But to its new owners, who moved into their dream home four months ago, it's already a winner.

The house, the exact location of which must be kept secret, is the only Rotorua entrant in category five of the Registered Master Builders 2014 House of the Year - meaning it cost $250,000 to $350,000 to build.

The Auckland-based judges, architect Mark Wilson and builder Allan Austen, visited the home on Monday, spending about 45 minutes examining the finish, quality and design of the three-bedroom home designed and built by Rotorua-based Urbo Homes.

Mr Wilson said homes were assessed 65 per cent on building quality, things such as "making things straight and plumb and level, good quality finishes, fixtures and fittings fit properly". The other 35 per cent was about design - how it was laid out, how it met the homeowner's brief, outdoor living, how it fit the environment and how it looked.

Mr Wilson, who has been a judge for seven years, said the highly respected awards helped maintain building standards.

"I have seen the quality get better and better ... it's helping lift the bar."

Mr Wilson said houses were much the same across the country, although the "more innovative" use of products tended to start in the main centres. They followed through to the provinces pretty quickly, he said.

The Rotorua house's owner said his wife fell in love with the modern new home at first sight. A former showhome, it had never been lived in.

Judges are scrutinising 317 houses. There are 21 homes vying for the Bay of Plenty Central Region title, with the winners to be announced at a ceremony in Mount Maunganui on August 2. The country's top 100 houses will be considered for the national title.