Trade associations fear that scheme members will face a financial burden and lack of representation.
Much more work will need to be done before the Quality Mark improves consumer confidence trading associations told ministers this week.
The trade bodies said that a potential financial burden for members and a lack of representation for industry members could jeopardise the success of the scheme.
The warning came in a meeting between the trade associations and the construction minister Nigel Griffiths and ODPM minister Phil Hope. The trade associations broadly agreed with plans for an overhaul of the Quality Mark but said that areas such as structure and finance still required a lot of attention.
Ian Davis, director general of the Federation of Master Builders, said: “The plans are far closer to an effective scheme than the Quality Mark, although more work needs to be done”. An ECA spokeswoman agreed: “The new proposals are definitely along the right lines, but there are lots of details which need to be resolved”.
According to a source at the meeting, there are major difficulties with the scheme’s structure. He said associations were unhappy that in original proposals only one of six board members would be an industry representative. He said: “As it stands, the scheme would be dominated by government and consumer interests”.
He added that under the current proposals scheme members would have to accept the findings of any investigation into standards, while the decision would not be binding on consumers.
The source also said there were funding problems with the scheme. He said a government budget of £1m over the first two years was not sufficient and would require a huge initial outlay from scheme members. He said: “We’re perfectly willing to help with funding, but we can’t be expected to put up large sums at the start”.
