Qatar Building Company saw off tough competition last night to win the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiative of the Year at the Construction Week Qatar Awards 2013.

The company was praised as ‘standing out in understanding the broad range of CSR through well planned local community initiatives and improvement schemes for labour and staff.’

Summing up this company’s approach, one judge said this company operates a ‘working and demonstrable CSR policy’.

Nigel Cope, CEO of Coins Group, which sponsored the category, was on stage to present the award to Riad Abu Qaoud, Qatar Building Company’s general manager.

“It’s a fantastic feeling to win and great thanks to Construction Week Qatar,” said Qaoud.

“We have many workers and QBC and we feel it is really important to look after them. We believe it is really important to invest in human beings.”

“We are a good example for other companies to follow in this regard, and despite being one of the leaders, we are constantly looking to improve.”

It was an extremely hard-fought contest, with the judging panel highly commending Arab Engineering Bureau, saying the company is a ‘consistent leader’ in the field and ‘pursuing excellence’ in corporate social responsibility.

In its third year, this edition of the awards was supported by platinum sponsor Hyder Consulting and gold sponsors FAMCO and ETA Star.

A selection of independent industry experts judged the award. The top entries from Qatar will go on to compete against others from across the GCC, in the final of the Construction Week Awards 2013, held in Dubai in December.