Tidewater Homes President Scott Brannock was named the 2023 Builder of the Year by the Northeast Florida Builders Association, an annual recognition that considers industry excellence and leadership, dedication to the association and impact within the community.
The award was presented during NEFBA’s 2024 Installation of Officers and 2023 Award Winners event at Timuquana Country Club. More than 200 members of Northeast Florida’s building industry attended the evening, which recognized some of the association’s most dedicated members.
For Scott, the recognition was never his alone.
“This recognition is a testament to Team Tidewater Homes and everyone’s hard work, dedication and commitment to excellence in every project we undertake.”
That response reflects something important about how Tidewater has been built. A home may carry one firm’s name, but the standard behind it is upheld by many people.
Recognition Rooted in the Building Community
The Builder of the Year recognition considers industry leadership and professional excellence, involvement with the association and contribution to the broader community.
Scott’s involvement with NEFBA has developed over years of service to Northeast Florida’s building industry. At the time the award was presented, he was serving as Secretary/Treasurer on NEFBA’s 2024 Executive Committee.
His service has also included five years on the Custom Builders and Remodelers Council Board, including two years as council chair, as well as service on the NEFBA Board and Executive Committee and as a Florida Home Builders Association state delegate.
That involvement is not separate from Tidewater’s work.
Building homes is local by nature. It depends on the strength of the trades, professionals, standards and knowledge within the community where those homes are built. Participating in the industry beyond Tidewater is one way Scott has remained connected to the larger building community that surrounds each project.
An Award With a Team Behind It
Scott founded Tidewater Homes in Jacksonville in 2014.
Tidewater remains intentionally selective about the number of homes it builds and the geographic area it serves. Today, Tidewater typically builds 8 to 10 custom homes each year across Jacksonville, St. Johns County and the Beaches.
That limited volume keeps the people responsible for the work close to it. Tidewater’s design and construction leadership remain directly involved throughout each project, supported by trade partners, craftspeople and professionals whose work becomes part of every completed home.
The Builder of the Year award bears Scott’s name. His first instinct was to put the recognition back where he believed it belonged: with the team.
The Standard Continues After the Recognition
Awards mark a moment. A building standard has to survive the moment.
For Tidewater, that means returning to the work.
That standard reaches beyond what is visible in a finished home. It includes the work that will eventually disappear behind the walls, the judgment to know when a design needs another idea and when it needs editing and the discipline to raise questions while there is still time to make considered decisions.
It also means recognizing the responsibility that comes with building a home for someone else.
A client should remain involved in the decisions that require their perspective without needing to become responsible for coordinating the people, information and construction required to carry those decisions into the field.
That responsibility belongs with the builder.
The significance of industry recognition is not that it changes that standard. It is that the work continues after the room empties, the photographs are taken and the award finds its place on a shelf.
There is another home to build.
Continuing to Serve Northeast Florida
Scott’s involvement with NEFBA continued beyond the 2023 Builder of the Year recognition.
At the 2024 installation, he joined NEFBA’s Executive Committee as Secretary/Treasurer alongside the association’s incoming leadership.
That continued involvement reflects a relationship with Northeast Florida’s building community that extends beyond Tidewater’s own projects.
For the Tidewater team, the 2023 Builder of the Year award remains meaningful for the same reason Scott expressed when he received it. It recognizes work that no one person accomplishes alone.
The name on the award is Scott Brannock.
The standard behind it belongs to a team.