Guide · Reviews and trust signals
TrustMark, Gas Safe, NICEIC, FENSA: verify a badge in 2 minutes
A trade badge on a website proves nothing until you check it on the scheme’s own register — and the check takes two minutes: find the registration number, search the register, confirm the name and address match the company you are paying, and read what the registration actually covers. Every scheme in this guide has a free public search; the links are below.
Key facts
- Gas work in the UK may only be done by a business on the Gas Safe Register; an engineer’s ID card lists the types of work they are qualified for (Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, reg. 3).
- NICEIC, NAPIT, FENSA and CERTASS are competent person schemes: their members can self-certify that work meets Building Regulations instead of Building Control inspecting it (Building Regulations 2010, Schedule 3). All of them can be searched in one place at competentperson.co.uk.
- TrustMark is the only UK trade quality mark endorsed by government; a licence number is searchable at trustmark.org.uk and is required for work under ECO4 and the Great British Insulation Scheme.
- MCS certification is a condition of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant (£7,500 for a heat pump) and of Smart Export Guarantee payments for solar; the installer must be MCS-certified for that technology.
- Checkatrade, Trustpilot and Google are review platforms, not registers: they verify identity and collect reviews; they do not certify competence.
What a badge does and does not prove
A logo on a website is an image file. Anyone can add one. The registration behind it, when it exists, proves three specific things and nothing more: that a named business (or person) passed the scheme’s entry assessment, that it is currently registered, and that it is registered for a defined scope of work. It does not prove the business is solvent, that its reviews are real, or that the person who turns up is the one on the register.
Registers and quality marks are different things
Gas Safe is a legal register: working on gas without it is a criminal offence. NICEIC, NAPIT, FENSA and CERTASS are competent person schemes: membership lets the firm sign off its own work under Building Regulations. TrustMark is a quality mark that sits on top of those: a TrustMark firm must already belong to a scheme provider and agrees to a code of practice. MCS is a product-and-installer standard for renewables. Review platforms are none of these.
The name on the register must be the name on the invoice
Registrations belong to a legal entity. A sole trader who was Gas Safe registered under his own name and now trades through a new limited company needs the company registered too. This is the most common way a genuine badge stops covering you: the certificate is real, but it was issued to someone you are not paying. Check the register entry against Companies House — legal name and postcode.
Scheme by scheme: what to check and where
| Scheme | Trade | What it verifies | What it does not | Where to check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gas Safe Register | Gas boilers, hobs, fires, pipework | Business is registered; each engineer’s ID card lists qualified appliance types and an expiry date | Quality of the work; anything not on the card (e.g. LPG if only natural gas is listed) | gassaferegister.co.uk — by business name, licence number or postcode |
| NICEIC / NAPIT | Electrical (Part P) | Firm is assessed and may self-certify notifiable electrical work; “Approved Contractor” is a higher grade than “Domestic Installer” | Non-electrical work; the individual electrician on site | niceic.com or napit.org.uk “find a contractor”; competentperson.co.uk |
| FENSA / CERTASS | Replacement windows and doors | Installer may self-certify Building Regulations compliance and issues a certificate per job | New-build or extension windows (those go through Building Control); guarantees — that is a separate insurance-backed guarantee | fensa.org.uk “find an installer”; certificate search by property |
| TrustMark | All domestic trades | Firm belongs to a scheme provider, has passed its checks, agrees to a code of practice and dispute resolution; licence number searchable | Prices, solvency, reviews | trustmark.org.uk “find a tradesperson” — by name or licence number |
| MCS | Solar PV, heat pumps, batteries | Installer certified for that technology; required for BUS grant and SEG | Finance offers; roofing or electrical work outside the MCS scope | mcscertified.com “find an installer” — check the technology listed |
| FMB | Building | Member vetted on trading history and inspected work; offers a warranty product | Building Regulations sign-off; a builder can be competent without being a member | fmb.org.uk “find a builder” |
| Checkatrade, Which? Trusted Trader | Any | Identity and some document checks; collected reviews | Competence for regulated work; they are not registers | The platform’s own profile page |
How to verify a trade badge in 2 minutes
- Find the number. A genuine member shows a registration or licence number near the logo, in the footer or on the quote. No number is the first warning sign — ask for it.
- Search the scheme’s register, not Google. Use the links in the table. Search by number if you have it; by business name and postcode if not.
- Match the legal name and postcode on the register entry with the company on the quote and on Companies House. A trading name is not enough; check the postcode.
- Read the scope and the date. Gas Safe: which appliances. NICEIC: which grade. MCS: which technology. All of them: is the registration current?
- Ask what you will receive at the end. Gas Safe: a Gas Safety Record or commissioning checklist; FENSA/NICEIC: the compliance certificate, usually within a few weeks; TrustMark: a receipt with the licence number. If they cannot say, the badge is decorative.
Badges that mean less than they look
Logo without a number
Scheme rules require members to display their number with the logo. A bare logo is either sloppiness or something else; either way you cannot check it, which is the point.
Registered under a different name
The register shows “J Smith” as a sole trader; the quote is from “Smith Heating Ltd”, incorporated eight months ago. The engineer may be the same person, but the certificate will be issued in a name that is not the company holding your deposit — and if that company fails, the certificate is not a claim against anyone.
Expired or wrong scope
A Gas Safe card that expired in March, a “Domestic Installer” being asked to sign off a commercial kitchen, an MCS solar installer fitting a heat pump: the badge is real and irrelevant.
“Fully insured”, “accredited”, “approved”
These words have no register behind them. Ask for the insurance certificate (insurer, policy number, expiry, public liability amount) and check the insurer confirms it.
A review platform badge presented as certification
“Checkatrade approved” means the platform checked identity documents and hosts reviews. It is useful information; it is not a competence scheme, and for gas or electrical work it is no substitute for the register.
A badge from a real check
The website shows the Federation of Master Builders logo. The FMB register lists the same limited company at the same postcode; Companies House shows the company incorporated in 2020, accounts filed on time, 97 Google reviews. One thing worth asking: the site says “35 years”, which the domain (registered 2000) supports but the company, formed in 2020, does not — a trading-name history question, not a warning sign. The badge here adds something because it names the company you would pay.
In the checks we run, trade-scheme logos are among the most frequently displayed claims on trade websites and among the least frequently accompanied by a number. Our reports list the schemes shown on a site; verifying each against its register is on our roadmap, and until it is live the two-minute check above is yours to do.
Enter a website address, e.g. example-heating.co.uk
Frequently asked questions
How do I check if a gas engineer is Gas Safe registered?
Search gassaferegister.co.uk by business name, licence number or postcode, then ask to see the engineer’s ID card on the day: the front shows the photo and expiry date, the back lists the appliance types they are qualified for. If the appliance is not on the card, they may not work on it.
Is TrustMark the same as Checkatrade?
No. TrustMark is a government-endorsed quality mark: a firm must belong to an approved scheme provider, pass its checks and follow a code of practice. Checkatrade is a review platform that checks identity documents and collects reviews. A firm can be on both; only one of them is a standard.
What does a FENSA certificate actually prove?
That the installer self-certified the replacement windows or doors as compliant with Building Regulations, and that the job is recorded with FENSA — which you will need when you sell the house. It is not a guarantee of the product; that comes from a separate insurance-backed guarantee.
Does NICEIC registration cover the electrician who comes to my house?
It covers the firm and its qualified supervisor, who signs off the work. The person on site may be an employee or subcontractor working under that supervision. Ask who will sign the certificate and check that name and the firm appear on the register.
Do I need an MCS installer for solar panels?
Yes if you want Smart Export Guarantee payments for exported electricity, and yes for a Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant on a heat pump — both require MCS certification for the installation. Check the installer at mcscertified.com and confirm the technology listed.
A tradesperson says they are registered but I cannot find them. What now?
Ask for the number and the exact registered name; entries are often under a sole trader’s name or a previous company. If the number is not on the register or is registered to a different business, do not pay a deposit until it is explained in writing.
Sources
- Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 3 — qualification and registration requirement.
- Gas Safe Register — official register and ID card guidance.
- Building Regulations 2010, Schedule 3 — self-certification schemes and the work they cover.
- Competent Person Register — government search across all competent person schemes.
- TrustMark — find a tradesperson and the scheme’s code of practice.
- MCS — find an installer; Boiler Upgrade Scheme and SEG requirements.
- FENSA — find an installer; certificate search.
- SafeToPay methodology v1.2 — how scheme claims are recorded in a report.
Check the company behind the badge
Free, no sign-up, about a minute.
Enter a website address, e.g. example-heating.co.uk