Fears over the viability of the government’s voluntary anti-cowboy scheme have been raised by Building magazine. The paper argues that the new construction minister, Nigel Griffiths, may be tempted to replace it with a compulsory scheme.

At the moment only 366 firms have signed up to the Quality Mark scheme. To persuade consumers to seek contractors with the quality mark, the government will have to undertake a massive advertising campaign estimated at around £40m and Nigel Griffiths will have to assess whether ploughing more resources into the scheme would be money well spent.

The government won't spend the money until there are enough firms around the country carrying the quality mark, says the magazine, arguing that the scheme's credibility will soon disappear if someone in Lincoln is told that the nearest accredited builder is in Sheffield.

However, a month ago the government was still promising to expand the scheme and called on local authorities to use only quality mark accredited contractors on their housing stock. It hopes that this will force more builders to seek quality mark status.

Even without marketing, the government claims that there had been massive interest in the quality mark from consumers, with over 50,000 consumer enquiries about the scheme.

In the meanwhile trade bodies have been reluctant to align their own accredited schemes with the quality mark. This is a blow to the government as it is hoping that by encouraging trade bodies to invest in matching their standards with the quality mark it won't have to fund expansion.

Further, some bodies are proposing alternative methods of regulation. The Chartered Institute of Building's call for a contractor registration scheme which would require workers or contractors to obtain a license number. These would be displayed at every site and failure to acquire a license would be a criminal offence.

In its report ‘Improving site Conditions’, the CIOB says the scheme could be enforced by bodies such as the Construction Industry Training Board or trading standard officers.

Building magazine has been proposing a similar compulsory scheme since 1999.