Official Competition Rules

1.The promoter

Zaio Technology (PTY) LTD (registration number 2017 / 490284 / 07), trading as Zaio Institute of Technology, of Floor 2, Block B, 66 Albert Rd, Woodstock, Cape Town, 7915 ("the Promoter"). Contact: hello@zaio.io, 021 300 6808.

This is a promotional competition as defined in section 36 of the Consumer Protection Act, 68 of 2008 ("CPA"), and is run in accordance with the CPA and its regulations.

2.Competition period

• Registration opens: 30 November 2026, 6:00pm SAST
• Submission deadline: 15 February 2027, 11:59pm SAST
• Public voting: opens on the date the gallery goes live (on or about 16 February 2027) and closes 15 March 2027, 11:59pm SAST
• Winner announcement: 21 March 2027

The Promoter may extend a deadline for all entrants if a platform failure prevents entry; any extension will be announced on thebuildchallenge.com and by email to registered participants.

3.Who may enter

3.1 Entry is open to natural persons who, at the time of registration, are enrolled as Grade 10, 11, or 12 learners at a school in the Republic of South Africa. Learners who wrote their final NSC examinations in 2026 and registered while the competition is open qualify as Grade 12 entrants.

3.2 Entrants under 18 require the consent of a parent or guardian, given through the platform's consent process, before a submission can be made.

3.3 The following may not enter or vote: directors, members, partners, employees, agents, or consultants of the Promoter, of any sponsor or partner of the competition (including [SPONSOR NAMES] and [AI TOOL PARTNER]), of the independent auditor, any person directly involved in judging or administering the competition, and the spouses, life partners, parents, children, or siblings of any of these persons.

3.4 One entry per person. Duplicate accounts or entries will be disqualified.

4.Free entry

4.1 No purchase, payment, or proof of purchase is required to enter or to win.

4.2 Entry requires internet access and a South African mobile number capable of receiving a standard SMS. The Promoter does not charge for entry. Receiving the verification SMS is free; any data costs of using the internet are the entrant's own, charged at their provider's standard rates, and are not a payment to the Promoter.

4.3 The AI building tool credit provided to entrants is free of charge.

5.How to enter

5.1 Register at thebuildchallenge.com with your details and a verified South African mobile number.

5.2 Entrants under 18: a parent or guardian completes the consent step via the link sent to them by SMS or email, or directly at thebuildchallenge.com/consent.

5.3 Build a website using the provided AI tool (or another tool of your choice) that addresses a real South African community problem under one of the five published themes.

5.4 Submit, before the deadline: a live, publicly reachable website URL (not behind a login), a pitch video of 60 to 120 seconds showing your face and voice, your chosen theme, and a one-line title.

5.5 A submission is an entry only once it passes eligibility review (rule 7).

6.Submission requirements and content standards

6.1 The website must be live and reachable at the time of submission. The Promoter takes a snapshot of the site at submission; judging and the public gallery use this snapshot.

6.2 The submission must be the entrant's own work. Use of the AI tool is expected and is not plagiarism; copying another entrant's submission is.

6.3 Submissions must not contain unlawful, hateful, defamatory, sexually explicit, or violent content; must not infringe anyone's intellectual property or privacy; and must not include personal information of third parties without their consent.

6.4 The Promoter may disqualify any submission breaching this rule, and is not obliged to publish any submission.

7.Eligibility review

All submissions pass through a review covering: registration and consent status, that the URL works, that the video plays and is within length, and content standards. Entrants are notified of the outcome. A rejected entrant may appeal once; the appeal is decided by a different reviewer and that decision is final.

8.Judging

8.1 Entries are scored on three pillars: Idea (the problem and the insight behind the solution), Build (the working website), and Pitch (the video).

8.2 Judging runs in tiers: an AI-assisted screening of all entries, an AI-assisted detailed review of the top 100, a human panel review of the top 20, and a partner judge review of the top 10. The final ranking weights AI scoring at 60% and human scoring at 40%.

8.3 Every score and its rationale is recorded and auditable. The judging rubric does not penalise unpolished design or second-language English, and rewards genuine engagement with a real community problem.

8.4 The Top 20 will be announced on or about 1 March 2027 and the Top 10 finalists on or about 8 March 2027. Judges' decisions, verified by the independent auditor, are final as to the judged prizes. No correspondence will be entered into beyond the appeal in rule 7.

9.Public vote

9.1 The public may vote for submissions in the gallery at thebuildchallenge.com. One vote per person, verified by a South African mobile number and OTP. Registered entrants may not vote.

9.2 Votes obtained through fraud (including automated voting, SIM farms, paid voting services, or technical manipulation) will be invalidated. The Promoter's fraud determinations, verified by the independent auditor, are final.

9.3 The public vote determines [the People's Choice recognition / any popular-vote prize per the locked prize structure: PRIZE BREAKDOWN].

10.Prizes

10.1 The prize pool and its breakdown: [PRIZE BREAKDOWN, locked end August 2026, including sponsor-named prizes].

10.2 Prizes are not transferable and may not be exchanged, except that the Promoter may substitute a prize of equal or greater value if a stated prize becomes unavailable.

10.3 Winners will be notified by SMS and email within 7 days of the announcement using the contact details on their registration. If a winner cannot be reached within 14 days of first contact, or declines the prize, the Promoter may award it to the next-ranked eligible entrant, verified by the auditor.

10.4 Winners under 18: monetary prizes are paid into an account administered by the consenting parent or guardian, for the benefit of the winner. The Promoter will document the disbursement. The parent or guardian may be required to provide reasonable verification (proof of identity and account details) before payment.

10.5 The Promoter is not responsible for any tax consequences of a prize; winners (or their parents) should take their own advice if needed.

11.Publicity

11.1 Winners and finalists may be invited to take part in publicity (announcements, interviews, photographs, media features). Participation in publicity is voluntary. A winner who declines remains fully entitled to their prize.

11.2 All publicity involving entrants under 18 follows the competition's child safeguarding media protocol and requires fresh, specific parental consent for each use.

12.Disqualification

The Promoter may disqualify an entrant who breaches these rules, provides false information, enters more than once, attempts to manipulate judging or voting, or whose conduct brings the competition into disrepute. Disqualifications are recorded with reasons and are subject to the auditor's review.

13.Independent auditor

As required by regulation 11 of the CPA regulations, the competition is overseen by an independent auditor, [AUDITOR NAME AND DESIGNATION], who is not an employee or agent of the Promoter. The auditor verifies the judging outcomes, the validity of the public vote, the winner determination, and the prize disbursement, and certifies compliance. Competition records are retained for 3 years.

14.Personal information

Personal information is processed as set out in the Privacy Notice, which forms part of these rules. Entrants under 18 require parental consent under POPIA before submitting.

15.General

15.1 By entering, entrants (and, for under-18s, their consenting parent or guardian) accept these rules.

15.2 The Promoter may amend these rules where required by law or to protect the integrity of the competition. Amendments will be published on this page and materially affected entrants notified. No amendment will reduce a prize already announced.

15.3 To the extent permitted by law (and without limiting any right an entrant has under the CPA), the Promoter is not liable for entries lost due to connectivity failures outside its control, or for the unavailability of third-party tools, provided it has acted reasonably.

15.4 These rules are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa.

15.5 If any provision conflicts with the CPA or POPIA, the legislation prevails and the remainder of the rules stand.