Object of this paper is the quality in restoration and conservation of built cultural heritage in the Netherlands. Focus is laid on a program started at governmental level in 2010 aimed at developing quality guidelines, thus also stimulating professionalization. For organisation and support, the ERM Dutch foundation for a recognized restoration standard in the preservation and restoration of historic buildings and sites was created. The concepts of ‘quality’ and ‘restoration’ as used in the program are explained, whereby ‘restoration’ includes different possibilities of intervention. The aims of ERM are disclosed, also in relation to other Dutch certification systems. An assessment of the work done by the organisation seven years after the start of the program is done. Reference is made to the evaluation recently performed by an independent research institute and the results of a bottom up study of the conservation field carried out within the JPI project CHANGES. On the basis of the analysis of the present situation suggestions for the future are made.