How to check an electrician is registered in a minute

What registration actually is

Electrical work has no single national register in the way gas work does. What exists instead is a set of government authorised competent person schemes, each of which assesses businesses and then allows them to self certify the work that building regulations require to be notified. Certsure, which trades as NICEIC, and NAPIT are the two most households will meet. BESCA, Blue Flame Certification and OFTEC also operate authorised schemes.

Being on one of those schemes means an assessor has visited, looked at real installations and real certificates, checked insurance and test instruments, and signed the business off. It is renewed on a cycle rather than awarded once.

The minute it takes

Ask for the scheme name and the registration number, then go to that scheme's own search page and type the number in. Every authorised scheme publishes one and all of them are free. What comes back is the registered business name, its address, and the categories of work the registration covers.

Three things are worth reading rather than glancing at. The business name on the register should match the name on the quote. The address should match the one you were given. And the scope should cover the work you are buying, because a domestic installer registration is not a commercial contractor registration and the schemes are explicit about the difference.

ELECSA, and other names that no longer register

ELECSA registrations transferred to NICEIC between 2021 and the end of 2022. A business advertising an ELECSA number today is quoting a historic registration, which was valid at the time and now sits with NICEIC. Ask for the current registration.

Trade association membership is a separate thing again and is often confused with it. The Electrical Contractors' Association and SELECT in Scotland are associations with their own entry requirements, and membership is a good sign. Self certifying building regulations work comes from scheme registration, so for notifiable work ask for the scheme name and number as well.

What to do if the number does not check out

Sometimes it is a typo, and asking again resolves it. Sometimes the number belongs to a business the person used to work for, which is worth knowing before rather than after a consumer unit is on the wall.

Plenty of competent electricians are not on a scheme, often because they work only on jobs that are not notifiable and have no need for one. For a new circuit or a board change by an electrician outside a scheme, the route is a building control application by you, in advance, with the fee that comes with it.

Worth knowing

Unlike Gas Safe, the electrical schemes issue no single public registration number to quote. Checking somebody means searching the joint register by company name and matching the postcode it returns, which is why a business name alone settles nothing.

Registered Competent Person Electrical, joint scheme register

Worth knowing

ELECSA stopped registering separately between 2021 and late 2022, when its registrations moved to NICEIC. A business still advertising an ELECSA number is quoting something historic rather than something current.

IET certification scheme guidance

Common questions

Is there one national register for electricians?

No. There are several government authorised schemes, each with its own search. Ask which scheme, then check on that scheme's site.

Does registration mean they are insured?

Scheme registration requires public liability insurance to be in place and checked at assessment. It is still worth asking to see the certificate and the amount, particularly for larger work.

What if the work is not notifiable?

Then registration is not legally required and competence still is. Ask about qualifications and ask for a certificate for the work, which any competent electrician issues regardless of scheme membership.