Avid Awards reflect high regard by homebuyers for Alberta builders

Written By: Cindy Stephen, for the Calgary Herald - Six Alberta home builders earned top marks in the 18th Annual Avid Awards recently announced by Avid Ratings Canada, a trusted benchmark of customer service performance in the new home construction industry.

The six top-performing builders pulled in some of the highest scores in Avid Ratings’ customer service satisfaction surveys conducted across Canada from January 2020 to December 2020. Customers were asked to weigh in on the home-buying experience with their builder from first contact to 90 days post-possession.

The Avid Diamond Award is a national award presented to builders with the highest ranking and was presented to three builders in Ontario, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

The Avid Gold Award is a provincial award for builders who score in the top 10 per cent of customer surveys. The sole Alberta winner this year is Laebon Homes, a production builder based in Red Deer.

“We’ve certainly been lucky enough to have been recognized by Avid Ratings Canada before, but this is our first Gold Award,” says Laebon managing partner Steve Bontje. “I’d like to thank our Laebon team for their commitment and to the homeowners that continue to choose use. We’re fortunate that we see them come back to us. We’re proud that we’re the choice that they made.”

In addition to the Gold Award, two Laebon employees were given special mention for achievement in their field in this year’s awards. Project manager Glenn Halvorson, who joined Laebon in 1980, and community sales manager Aaron Martin, who signed on in 1997.

Laebon has been active in Central Alberta since 1976, building homes and communities in Red Deer, Innisfail, Ponoka, Sylvan Lake, Rocky Mountain House and Innisfail.

The Avid Benchmark Award, for top-performing builders with scores in the top 25 per cent of surveys, went to Calgary builders Augusta Fine Homes, Baywest Homes, Calbridge Homes, Prominent Homes and Bucci Developments Alberta.