GENERAL GUIDELINES:

1. During the competition, the competitors’ work methods in the SPEC MIX TOUGHEST TENDER® Competition shall be as close as possible to an actual jobsite situation.
2. Teamwork and coordination between the mason’s tender and the competing mason for set up strategy is critical for success.
3. While the speed and accuracy of set up in the work area will determine the SPEC MIX TOUGHEST TENDER, safe-working procedures are of the utmost importance.
 

Materials:

1. 1,000 – modular brick (approx.)
2. 55 – 8x8x16 CMU
3. 2 – 8x8x8 CMU
4. 5 – mortar boards
5. 4 – 16’ plank
6. 1 – wheel barrow
7. 1 – 5 gallon pail
8. 1 – tempering pail
9. 1 – shovel
10. 2 – brick tongs
 

Competition:

1. All required materials for each competition area will be staged in each competitor’s work area.
2. Contestants will be responsible for the setting up the configuration of the work area identical to the contestant demonstration area and the diagrams below. Once the work area is set up and the SPEC MIX TOUGHEST TENDER Competition is complete, there will be NO deviation to the configuration of the work area until the start of the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500.
3. The use of brick tongs will be allowed for the placement of brick stacks. Chipped brick will not be allowed in the wall, so care must be taken in brick placement.
4. Before the start of the competition, all materials originally in the stall must be restored to their original position as accurately as possible with the exception of the material used in the construction of the starter courses.
5. Competitors will start simultaneously from their appropriate staging areas and will be independently timed from the starting signal until all materials and equipment has been appropriately staged and the competitors return to the staging area adjacent to their competition stall.
6. The winning Tender will be the one that has set up the work area properly in the least amount of time safely. GOOD LUCK!

By the end of the competition, each mason tender has typically moved by hand 2,000 pounds of block, 3,000 pounds of brick and shoveled 3,000 pounds of mortar. From the beginning, organizers wanted the important contribution mason tenders make to the masonry team to be acknowledged. The SPEC MIX TOUGHEST TENDER competition is a preliminary event to the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 World Championship Competition. The SPEC MIX TOUGHEST TENDER is a challenge in which the competitors demonstrate the jobsite skills of organization, safety, and hustle.

Accordingly, the event has its own set of rules. The concept is this. The materials used in the bricklaying competition are set near each stall, as if they had just been unloaded from a delivery truck. Contestants are responsible for moving these supplies into the stall so that the layout configuration of the work area is identical to the provided diagram and demonstration stall. Tenders race the clock to set up this predefined work area for the mason. Competitors start simultaneously from their appropriate staging areas. Their work is independently timed from the starting signal until all materials and equipment have been appropriately staged and the competitors return to the staging area adjacent to their competition stall. The winning tender is the contestant who has set up the work area properly in the least amount of time safely. The SPEC MIX TOUGHEST TENDER takes home $2,500 and a group of sponsor prizes worth hundreds of dollars.

During the Competition, the competitors’ work methods are as close as possible to an actual jobsite situation. While the speed and accuracy of setup in the work area will determine the SPEC MIX TOUGHEST TENDER winner, safe-working procedures are of the utmost importance. Judges monitor each contestant and can disqualify someone for an unsafe act.

Care for quality is also an important consideration. Tenders often use brick tongs for the placement of brick stacks. Since chipped bricks are not allowed in the wall, tenders must take care in the brick placement and inspection.

Tenders have another role in ensuring the bricklaying competition is safe. Before the start of the competition, the tender must restore all materials originally in the stall to their original position as accurately as possible with the exception of the material used in the construction of the starter courses. Once the work area is set up and the SPEC MIX TOUGHEST TENDER competition is complete, there is no deviation to the configuration of the work area until the start of the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500.

Tenders come in all shapes and sizes. Often the tender is a family member, personal friend, or close co-worker. And the role of tender is not gender-specific. At the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 National, Lynette Darby, of Gainesville, Florida, was the first female mason tender to compete on a winning team at a World Championship. And her hard work paid off as her team placed first in the bricklaying event. In 2014, tender Heidi Albea, aided her father, mason Jerry Goodman, to a double win of Champion and SPEC MIX TOP CRAFTSMAN.