Construction Minister Nick Raynsford presented certificates at the end of January to the first nine companies to achieve Roofing Industry Alliance (RIA) Hallmarked status.

Getting the first companies Hallmarked has taken longer than it was anticipated it would when the scheme was established in 1998, but now the first nine are setting the standard.

The companies were assessed by the BRE or Lead Delegated Assessment, two of the delegated assessment organisation working under UKAS.

The Roofing Industry Alliance was set up to administer the Hallmarked scheme independently of any trade organisation. The stone industry has set up the Stone Industry Alliance, currently working towards its own Hallmark scheme with the help of £90,000 from the Government.

There are about 6,500 roofing contractors in the UK and now nine of them are Hallmarked. They are: Associated Roofing & Maintenance, E J Roberts Roofing, Weatherproofing Advisors, Acclaim Roofing, Kelsey Roofing Industries, The Breyer Group, Rogerson Group (Roofing), Richardson Roofing and T&P Lead Roofing.

Presenting the certificates, Nick Raynsford said the roofers\' scheme stuck to the very heart of the ambitious agenda set by Sir John Egan in his report Rethinking Construction, which called for radical improvements in construction industry efficiency, standards of workmanship and customers satisfaction.