Meritorious Service Award winners announced

STANDARDS NEW ZEALAND MEDIA RELEASE

Standards ‘Meritorious Service Award’ winners announced

25 March 2010

Standards New Zealand celebrated and announced Standards New Zealand's 'Meritorious Service Award' winners at awards breakfasts in February and March 2010. Guest speakers Hon Maurice Williamson (in Auckland), Hon Lianne Dalziel (in Wellington), and Hon Pansy Wong (in Christchurch) presented the awards.

Each year, the Standards Council and Standards New Zealand celebrate the winners of the 'Meritorious Service Awards' and honour the 2000-plus Standards development committee members for their work over the previous year.

'Congratulations to our winners,' said Richard Westlake, Chair of the Standards Council. 'The Meritorious Service Awards are an opportunity for Standards New Zealand to recognise some of our outstanding committee members. These are people who have shown exceptional commitment to producing high quality Standards – Standards that affect nearly every New Zealander, every day.

'We rely on our volunteer committee members to champion Standards in New Zealand and Standards New Zealand could not accomplish what it does without its volunteers.'

Standards New Zealand also launched a new campaign at the Awards breakfasts – '101 benefits of standardisation' – to promote the benefits of Standards and standardisation to New Zealanders. As Chief Executive Debbie Chin said during the award ceremonies, 'There are 101 ways that Standards and standardisation improve our economy, our environment, and our quality of life – but none of those benefits would be possible without the dedication and hard work of our volunteers.'

The 2009 'Meritorious Service Award' winners are:

- Don Bunting, Auckland, architect and Chief Executive at Construction Information Limited – timber and wood Standards

- Dr Stephen Chiles, Castle Hill Village, acoustics consultant and Principal with URS New Zealand Ltd – acoustic and wind farm Standards

- Brett Gawn, Eastbourne, land surveyor and Senior Manager at CPG New Zealand – land development Standards

- David Prosser, Rangiora, Product Manager at Tyco Safety Products – fire protection Standards.

This year, Standards New Zealand introduced two new awards:

- Winner of the 2009 'Outstanding Committee of the Year Award' (as voted by Standards New Zealand) is the Joint Australian/New Zealand committee on the safety of household and similar electrical appliances, tools, small power transformers, and power supplies, EL-002. EL-002 is chaired by Derek Johns from Edgeware, Principal of Electrical Consultancy Services.

- Winner of the 2009 Standards Council Award for 'Outstanding contribution to Standards and standardisation' is Patricia Cunniffe from Whanganui, Managing Director of Joll Cunniffe Developments.

More information about the winners

2009 'Meritorious Service Award' winners

'Meritorious Service Award' winners are nominated by their peers and judged by a panel including representatives from the Government, Standards New Zealand, and the building, energy, consumer, safety, and health sectors.

- Don Bunting, Auckland, architect and Chief Executive at Construction Information Limited – timber and wood Standards

Don is a qualified architect and Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA). In 2000 after a successful career in commercial and residential practice Don became Chief Executive of Construction Information Limited – the publisher of the construction specification system Masterspec.

Involved with building Standards development committees for the past 9 years, Don is currently chair of the technical revision comm ittee for NZS 3604; New Zealand's foremost building Standard buildings. He has also been the chair and NZIA representative on committees for timber structures, as well as timber and wood-based products.

Don maintains a healthy impartial approach to his development committee work. He matches many years of practical architectural experience with regulatory and governmental advisory group experience to help committees resolve highly complex issues.

Internationally recognised for his expertise, Don is past president and current member of the International Construction Information Society. He also sits on the board of the Australasian Chapter of BuildingSmart.

- Dr Stephen Chiles, Castle Hill Village, acoustics consultant and Principal with URS New Zealand Ltd – acoustic and wind farm Standards

Stephen has 14 years acoustics engineering experience and is a Principal with URS New Zealand Ltd. He is a highly sought-after consultant and has worked in acoustics around the world including in Australasia, the UK, and China. He is also regularly called as an acoustics expert witness to various district councils, the Environment Court, and the High Court.

Since July 2008 Stephen has been Chair of the committee revising the wind farm noise Standard, NZS 6808. At times the committee has debated many contentious issues but, under Stephen's capable leadership, the scientific rigour informing the Standard has been maintained. The revised Standard was published in February 2010.

As committee Chair Stephen has encouraged robust discussions to ensure the revised NZS 6808 is consistent with best international practice, and that NZS 6808 will continue to be an invaluable tool that balances sound concerns with wind farm development.

- Brett Gawn, Eastbourne, land surveyor and Senior Manager at CPG New Zealand – land development Standards

Brett is a qualified land surveyor with 35 years experience in New Zealand and Asia.Brett is a Senior Manager with CPG New Zealand and he is the national urban development market leader for the company.

Brett's expertise in land development has been invaluable in his role as committee Chair for the Land development and subdivision Standard NZS 4404. He has an extensive knowledge of resource management approval processes, planning rules, design, and construction. Brett brings true 'end-to-end' knowledge and understanding to the Standards development work he is involved with.

Brett was recently a member of the Land Information New Zealand expert committee that assisted the development of the new 2010 rules for Cadastral Surveys. He has been a member of the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors since 1974 and a member of the Cadastral Surveyors Licensing Board and its predecessor since 1999.

- David Prosser, Rangiora, Product Manager at Tyco Safety Products – fire protection Standards

David has enjoyed a professional career spanning 26 years and is a Product Manager for Tyco Safety Products. During this time he has developed a wide knowledge of fire-detection practice, both in New Zealand and overseas.

David has been involved with fire Standards since 1993. He was instrumental in writing the original smoke alarms for houses Standard NZS 4514 in 2001. And last year, he chaired NZS 4514's revision committee.

David currently chairs the fire detection and alarm systems development committee and is an active member of Standards New Zealand's Fire Industry Advisory Group. At the international level, David coordinates New Zealand's input to International Organization for Standardization Standards on fire detection.

Never satisfied with 'good enough' results, David has – and continues to – work hard to ensure that New Zealand's fire protection Standards are as good as they can possibly be.

2009 'Outstanding Contribution to Standards and standardisation' award winner

- Patricia Cunniffe, Whanganui, Managing Director of Joll Cunniffe Developments

Patricia co-founded the New Zealand Disabilities Resource Centre in 1974

and is the Managing Director of the ergonomics consultancIn the late 1990s Patricia served as the first consumer representative on the Joint Australian/New Zealand Standards wiring rules committee EL-001. Patricia remains a valued member of that committee and has served on numerous other Standards committees ranging from gas installation to organics to safer house design.

Patricia has earned a reputation as a competent and hard-working committee member and won a 2002 'Meritorious Service Award'.

In her acceptance speech, Patricia said that there is a need for more consumer advocates to sit on various national Standards committees. 'Respect and consensus are two of the trademarks of Standards committees. It's imperative that consumer representatives are involved at the decision-making level in Standards development.'

2009 'Outstanding Committee of the Year Award'

- The Joint Australian/New Zealand committee on the safety of household and similar electrical appliances, tools, small power transformers, and power supplies, EL-002

Known as an extremely effective and efficient committee, EL-002 manages a large number of Standards of importance to consumer safety and satisfaction. The Standards they develop are used by regulators, manufacturers, and testing houses, to ensure that electrical appliances and equipment released for sale on both sides of the Tasman are safe and aligned with international Standards.

The 30-member EL-002 committee is chaired by New Zealander Derek Johns from Edgeware, Principal of Electrical Consultancy Services. The committee includes five New Zealand members and 25 Australian members who represent a broad spectrum of industry and government stakeholders. Since 2000 the Secretariat for EL-002 has resided in New Zealand.

As the first joint Standards committee to operate completely electronically, committee members have used technology to streamline their processes and they now have just two meetings each year. Their achievements are testament to strong leadership, full commitment, and the excellent collaboration of all members.

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About Standards New Zealand

Standards New Zealand is the operating arm of the Standards Council, and part of New Zealand's standards and conformance infrastructure. Standards New Zealand is an autonomous Crown entity responsible for managing the development and distribution of Standards across a range of sectors nationally.

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