Luxury house boat sails into first place as MEA unveils Australia’s best sparkies 

For the first time ever a state-of-the-art luxury house boat has taken home the top residential award at the annual Master Electricians Australia (MEA) National Awards for Excellence. 

The design and installation of all electrical, communications, automation and control infrastructure saw the three-storey houseboat sail into first place having demonstrated meticulous planning and project management. The award for Residential Project of the Year was accepted by Robert Urpis on behalf of Victorian business Argus Technologies. 

All up, there were 46 finalists representing each mainland state, with winners across eight categories announced on Saturday night at the Hilton in Brisbane. 

For the first time two of the awards – Legrand Apprentice of the Year and Electrician Tradie of the Year – involved technical challenges. These physical challenges were introduced to enable judges to test the finalists superior trade skills.  

MEA also acknowledged stalwart, the late Lance Cislowski, by renaming an award in his honour – the Lance Cislowski Memorial Electrician (Tradie) of the Year Award. Mr Cislowski was an MEA Life member, former Chairman of the Bundaberg branch and passionate educator. The inaugural award was taken out by Matthew Pinney of Horan & Bird. 

Mr Pinney’s colleague, Nicola McCarron, was awarded the Women In Contracting Award for her passion and dedication. 

Linked Group Services represented by Jason Sharman received the Energy Efficiency Project of the Year Award for creating a mobile off grid power station that enables the replacement of diesel generation with renewable energy. 

Other recipients included Tony Arnold and Garrick Cripps on behalf of Arnold Electrical & Data Instrumentation for the best Commercial Project of the Year for the Mercedes-Benz Autohaus project; Roman Kasjan from Solar Service Guys who was named the Legrand Apprentice of the Year; and Solar Service Guys, represented by Peter Matthews, were awarded the Master Electrician of the Year Award. 

S & K Electrical, Western Australia represented by Steve Villier was awarded the Industrial Project of the Year Award for the Iluka Resources Limited Upgrade Project. 

MEA CEO Malcolm Richards said that the Excellence Awards recognise the tremendous talent that exists across the industry, while also demonstrating the core MEA values such as quality, safety and high standard of service. 

“MEA has some incredible members across Australia and the purpose of the Excellence Awards is to highlight and celebrate the innovative and professional work being undertaken by sparkies throughout the sector,” Mr Richards said. 

“The finalists came from electrical businesses across the country, and hundreds of members throughout Australia contested the respective state-level awards. 

“I’d like to congratulate both the winners and the finalists, all of them had already been recognised at their respective state awards ceremonies and the standard of entries for each award could not have been higher. 

“A key feature of any Master Electrician is the commitment to upholding the values and attributes that make our members the torchbearers of quality, safety and integrity in the industry. The biggest winners though are the clientele across Australia, who have been the beneficiaries of the incredible levels of professionalism shown by all the finalists.” 

Malcolm Richards is available for interview. 
Please phone The SAS Group on (07) 3221 9222 or 0467 792 013.   

The full list of winners from the Master Electricians Australia Excellence Awards 

Category: Master Electrician of the Year
Winner: Solar Service Guys, Peter Matthews
Region: South Queensland 

Category: Lance Cislowski Memorial Electrician (Tradie) of the Year Award
Winner: Matthew Pinney, Horan & Bird
Region: North Queensland 

Category: Women in Contracting Award
Winner: Nicola McCarron, Horan & Bird
Region: North Queensland 

Category: Legrand Apprentice of the Year Award
Winner: Roman Kasjan, Solar Service Guys
Region: South Queensland 

Category: Commercial Project of the Year Award
Winner: Arnold Electrical & Data Instrumentation, Tony Arnold and Garrick Cripps
Region: South Queensland 

Category: Energy Efficiency Project of the Year Award
Winner: Linked Group Services, Jason Sharam
Region: North Queensland 

Category: Industrial Project of the Year Award
Winner: S & K Electrical, Steve Villier
Region: Western Australia 

Category: Residential Project of the Year Award
Winner: Argus Technologies , Robert Urpis
Region: Victoria