Eight contestants were tasked with building wooden park benches to a set design and within eight hours to show off their carpentry skills at the competitive build-off.
The winner of the Dunedin heat was Jack Johnston, from Naylor Love, who claimed a $500 prize and a place in the national final.
Second place was claimed by Noah Wray, while Richard Van Aalst, both from Mike Creedy Building, finished in third place.
Builders Otago president Sacha Gray said the quality of work from all the apprentices was very high this year, making the judges’ job particularly difficult.
"There was very little points between the top and bottom guys ... The quality was high, which was awesome."
There were eight competitors taking part at the Dunedin ITM branch on Saturday and the winner will progress to the national finals in Hamilton in November.
The skill on display was good news for a busy building industry, Mr Gray said.
"Looking forward for our industry and our organisation, we’re going ‘man, we’ve got some talented young guys and girls coming through who just take a huge amount of care and pride in what they do’, and that’s the exciting thing."
The proceeds will go to the Cancer Society of New Zealand.
