The Quality Mark Scheme.
Following successful pilots in Birmingham and Somerset, Construction
Minister Brian Wilson announced on 26 March 2002 that Quality mark would
be rolled out across England and Wales over a 3 to 4 year period.
While the government are to be commended for tackling the cowboy
builder their are rumblings of misgivings from within the industry.
Here are a few of the worries
- At the moment it is free to join (normal cost is about £1500)
for companies with a turnover of less than £1 million. This is
obviously to encourage membership but what happens when the majority
have joined and they then demand a large annual fee to remain a
member? Once you leave this or any other federation you become
conspicuous by your absence. Because of this members will be loath
to leave which means the cost will be passed to the customers.
- Part of the requirement to joining the scheme involves a financial
check and validating your tax status. This seems to be another
method of keeping an eye on earnings and what happens when the work
dries up and firms are struggling?
- The customer can complain to the scheme about the builder. If this
is for poor workmanship then good builders have nothing to fear but
a vindictive client could complain about something the builder
cannot prove to be untrue such as "he was very
argumentative" or "he asked for cash"
- Builders employees have to be qualified based on NVQ or equivalent.
As all builders know, some of the best "jobbers" around have
never had any formal training in their lives.
- Requires the builder to comply with health and safety legislation
such as risk assessments, safety policies etc. Back door regulation?
Already one insider has voiced concerns over a company that has successfully
been accredited the quality mark. The firm in question has a decent
standard of workmanship and is financially sound but has a record of
rip-off pricing.
The Institute of Plumbing and the Federation of Master Builders have
also raised concerns about the new scheme's accreditation
process.
What does all this mean for the potential client? I have had
a look at the application pack and their is plenty of reference to
customer care, satisfactory workmanship etc. but no reference to fair
pricing. Their is also a lot of added bureaucracy, couple that with a large annual fee and the cost of work for future customers can only go
up.
As long as you compare the price of members of this or any other
recognised organisation with a few reputable
non-members and not just assume the price must be ok because they belong
to a scheme, it would be worth adding them to your list of
potential builders.
You can find out if anyone in your area is a quality marked builder at the government's
website and builders can check out the criteria for joining. www.qualitymark.org.uk
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