How to check an electrician is registered
One search, about thirty seconds, and it covers every major scheme at once. This is the single most useful thing on this website, and it is the check almost nobody does before letting someone work on their consumer unit.
Why we tell you to check rather than telling you who to hire
Because this site is an information and quote-routing service, not an electrical contractor. We do not carry out work, and we hold no accreditation of our own — so a badge on this page would mean nothing, and any site that shows you one has told you about itself, not about the person turning up at your door.
There is a specific reason we are emphatic about it. This domain's previous website claimed to be "NICEIC Approved" while trading under the name of a real, unrelated electrical company — a company whose own website states it is registered with NAPIT, not NICEIC. That is exactly the kind of claim the register exists to defeat, and it took one thirty-second search to disprove. Nothing on this site now asserts a credential it does not hold, and the register is how you should treat every claim you read anywhere, including this one.
What registration means — and what it does not
| Registration does mean | It does not mean |
|---|---|
| They can self-certify notifiable work and notify Building Control for you | That they are insured — that is separate, and worth asking about separately |
| Their work is assessed periodically by the scheme | That every job they do is inspected |
| There is a scheme to complain to if it goes wrong | That the scheme will resolve a pricing dispute |
| The compliance certificate reaches you without you applying | That they are cheap, punctual or pleasant to deal with |
| They have demonstrated competence in the scheme's scope | That the scope covers your specific job — ask |
That last row matters more than it sounds. Schemes have scopes. Someone registered for domestic installation work is not automatically the right person for a three-phase commercial board, and an EV charger grant requires OZEV authorisation on top of competent-person registration — two different things, and you want both. See EV chargepoint grant eligibility.
NICEIC, NAPIT, ELECSA, STROMA — is one better?
No. They are competing schemes, all authorised to the same purpose: allowing members to self-certify notifiable work under Part P. A NAPIT-registered electrician is not a lesser electrician than a NICEIC-registered one. Treating one name as a quality mark is the most common misreading in the subject, and it is the misreading that trust badges on installer websites are designed to exploit.
The five questions worth asking before you book
- "Which competent person scheme are you registered with, and what is your registration number?" Then check it.
- "Is this job notifiable, and is the certificate included in the price?" If it is notifiable and the certificate is extra, the quote is not comparable to one that includes it.
- "Who is your public liability insurer, and when does the policy expire?"
- "What does this price assume about the condition of the existing installation, and what happens if that assumption is wrong?" The single best question for getting comparable quotes.
- "What paperwork will I be holding at the end?" For notifiable work that should be an Electrical Installation Certificate, a schedule of test results, and a Building Regulations compliance certificate from the scheme.
If the work has already been done and nobody notified it
This surfaces most often at sale, when a conveyancing enquiry asks for the certificate for a board change or a rewire and there is none. Options are a retrospective regularisation application to Building Control, an indemnity policy, or — frequently the most useful — an EICR by a registered electrician documenting the current condition of the installation. An EICR is not a substitute for the missing Building Regulations certificate, but it is independent evidence about the state of the work, and it is usually what unsticks the conversation.
Verify, then compare
Registration is the gate, not the decision. Once two or three contractors have cleared it, compare them on scope rather than on hourly rate — see electrician hourly rates for why the rate is usually the wrong number. And if you are a landlord, the certificate you are legally required to hold is an EICR, with a maximum penalty that rose to £40,000 in May 2026.
Get quotes from registered electricians
Tell us the job. You will still want to run the register check yourself before you book — it takes thirty seconds and nobody else can do it for you.
What we will not do: we do not sell your details on, we do not add you to a marketing list, and we do not require a phone number. If you would rather not be called, leave the phone out — email is enough.