CEF wants NI register postponed

by Tim Wood

Northern Ireland's Construction Employers Federation (CEF) has called for a postponement of the introduction of Constructionline in the province because the associated paperwork takes no account of local initiatives.

From 30 September all public sector bodies in Northern Ireland are due to use the UK's largest register of pre-qualified construction firms, with existing in-house pre-qualification systems being gradually phased out (CJ 14 August).

Although the CEF supports the principle of Constructionline as a single registration process, it has made it clear to the government that changes must be made.

CEF assistant director John Armstrong said: "We received assurances that if Constructionline was introduced it would be done in a way that is appropriate to Northern Ireland.

"This included application forms appropriate to the Northern Ireland market incorporating Northern Ireland standards including for example, those for health and safety, such as 'SafeTCert' and the Construction Skills Register.

"But as of last week these assurances had not been fulfilled," he said.

In response, a Constructionline spokesman said that the Northern Ireland Central Procurement Directorate had undertaken a full consultation process before introducing the register.

It added that an application form is available for companies who want to work on a UK-wide basis. Companies that wish to work solely in Northern Ireland will be asked alternative questions.

"We are confident that this guidance, which has been approved by the Directorate, is sufficiently clear, but we will continue to discuss any improvements to the scheme with the CEF and the other representative bodies," added the spokesman. "We are also holding a number of contractors' seminars to assist with any queries."