The joint procurement group was created in 2005 in response to the Central Government’s Gershon report and manages more than £40m worth of construction work on behalf of 14 housing associations.

The organisation will use Constructionline to monitor pre-qualified contractors for its key projects such as reactive maintenance and cyclical decorating, ensuring that they have been rigorously vetted to Government standards using the online procurement tool.

Daily monitoring of its suppliers via the service will provide the consortium with immediate notice of any changes to financial status or delay in updating essential details such as recent insurance certificates or health and safety legislation details.

The 14 housing associations including St Vincent’s, Muir Group, Leeds Federated and Equity Housing Group.

Philip Prince, a director at Constructionline, said: “Added pressure to housing associations in the wake of the Gershon report and the recent comprehensive spending review has increased the need for them to deliver savings on projects through standard procurement.

“Equally, housing associations cannot afford to deal with the risk of supplier insolvency or any breach of regulations on site and a robust PQQ helps to eliminate this by constantly monitoring the suppliers they use to guarantee they are compliant.”

Keith Armstrong, managing director at Procurement For All, said: “Constructionline is the first system I’ve encountered which streamlines the procurement process while simultaneously providing ongoing essential risk management support.

“Adopting the database has allowed us to re-allocate resource to more technical aspects of our procurement process meaning our systems are better managed and more efficient.”