Consultants attack poor Constructionline

The government-backed scheme, already under the cosh from many within the m&e contracting industry, was dealt a further blow when the consultants body cited "major concerns" about its effectiveness.

The latest survey of members of the Association of Consulting Engineers found that 82% of respondents did not think the service was beneficial to their business.

The Association highlighted some serious problems with the system. For example, 33% of firms said they were being charged tender submission fees. This should not apply when using Constructionline.

The survey also found 66% of respondents complained that they were being made to undertake pre-qualification procedures despite being registered with Constructionline.

Another 48% of those registered complained of being forced to be on rival lists, defeating the government's objective of Constructionline being the industry's only database.

Constructionline was set up by the then DETR in 1998 as a joint venture between the government and support services company Capita.

Its centralised database of approved contractors and consultants was designed to drastically reduce tendering costs for public sector clients.

Despite the efforts of trade associations such as the ECA, which has secured discounts for its members, the list has failed to attract m&e contractors. Neither have users found it worthwhile.