PM was honored with the "Awards For Excellence For Magazines" in the 10th Annual "APEX" Awards for Publication Excellence. Plumbing & Mechanical Magazine was recognized in the "magazines, magapapers, newspapers & journals — overall" category among 765 entries. This is the first award for PM since it was founded in 1984.

"It’s an honor to win this award from such a prestigious organization," said Steve Smith, editor of PM. "We look forward to continuing our tradition of editorial excellence in the future."

The APEX competition is sponsored by the editors of Writing Concepts: The Business Communications Report, published by Communications Concepts Inc., Springfield, Va. APEX awards are based on overall excellence in "graphic design, editorial content and the success of the entry in achieving overall communications effectiveness and excellence."

The panel of judges for APEX ’98 included John De Lellis, Concepts editor and publisher, Dr. Paul Fisher, Concepts senior evaluator and formerly professor of journalism with the University of Missouri School of Journalism and Bill Londino, consulting editor of Writing Concepts.