The government has confirmed to Building that it will review its troubled vetting organisation Constructionline in response to industry concerns.
A spokesman for the DTI said on Wednesday: "We are aware of the disappointment about the level of take-up of the service by public sector clients, and also about the service it provides to contractors. We will shortly be undertaking a thorough look at Constructionline and its operation, and will involve potential users of the service in that process."

The DTI will be meeting with industry bodies and potential users to evaluate the future of the service and assess whether a single register of contractors, consultants and clients is achievable.

The moves comes after a submission sent to the DTI by the Constructors Liaison Group in July, highlighting specialist contractors' concerns and calling for a fundamental review of the vetting scheme.

And it was decided on two months after Capita, Constructionline's operator, launched a £1m advertising push to promote the list and appointed a new manager for the scheme.

A trade source said specialist contractors were feeling increasingly frustrated with the scheme. He said: "The industry is in despair with Constructionline. Its problems are deep-rooted – there are grave doubts that it will achieve its goal of a complete single register in its present state."

We are aware of the disappointment about the service it provides

DTI spokesperson

Set up in July 1998, Constructionline ran into trouble at the end of last year when specialist contractors threatened to pull out because of a slow client uptake.

The scheme suffered setbacks after registering a fraction of the companies it had hoped would join the single list. Current figures from Capita show that there are 10,000 registered contractors and 1200 registered procurers.

Speaking before the DTI's announcement on Wednesday, sources close to Capita said that it was not aware of any review.