Gas Safe, NICEIC, NAPIT, TrustMark: what they mean, how to show them

The short answer

Gas Safe is the register the law requires for gas work. NICEIC and NAPIT certify electricians and other trades against the standards, with regular assessments. TrustMark is the Government Endorsed Quality Scheme for work in the home. Show only the ones you hold, for the work they cover, with the number next to each, so customers can check.

Why a badge needs a number beside it

A logo is a picture. Anyone can paste one onto a website, and some people do. TrustMark’s own site says it is seeing an increasing number of tradespeople advertising themselves as TrustMark registered when they are not, and it tells homeowners to check any firm showing its logo using its search.

So the customer who knows what they are doing does not trust the badge. They trust the register behind it. Every scheme in this piece has a public register. Your job online is to make that check quick: the badge, the scheme named in words, your registration number, and your trading name exactly as the register shows it.

That last part matters more than people think. As the sections below show, the schemes tie their logo to the name you registered under. If the register says “J Smith Heating Ltd” and your Facebook page says “Smithy’s Boilers”, the check looks like a fail even though you are completely above board.

Gas Safe Register

What it is. HSE’s domestic gas FAQs say anyone employed to work on gas appliances in domestic premises must be a Gas Safe registered engineer and competent in that area of gas work, under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. Of the four, this is the only one the law requires for the job itself.

What it covers. Registration goes by type of work. HSE says an engineer’s competencies are clearly marked on the back of their Gas Safe Register ID card. A customer who wants a gas fire fitted can see whether that is on your card, so make sure what you advertise matches it.

Who may show the logo. Gas Safe Register’s brand enforcement policy says only registered gas businesses may display the Gas Safe brand or a Gas Safe registration number, and only with the registered trading name. Registered businesses have their own version of the triangle, identified by its black square background. The plain yellow triangle is the corporate version, for Gas Safe Register itself and organisations with a brand licence. The policy also refuses new registrations with “Gas Safe” in the trading name.

The policy is clear that the rules reach online. Its list of advertising material includes websites, social media, online directories and vehicle signage. The copy we read is dated November 2017 and points registered businesses to the brand guidelines behind the register’s sign-in, so get the current artwork from there.

How customers check. HSE says customers can check the engineer or the business on the Gas Safe Register website, or ring 0800 408 5500.

NICEIC

What it is. NICEIC is the trading name of Certsure LLP, which certifies businesses doing electrical work to the BS 7671 Wiring Regulations. GOV.UK’s list of competent person schemes names Certsure (trading as NICEIC) as an operator for electrical installations in homes. GOV.UK explains that a competent person scheme lets you self-certify certain building work instead of going through the council or a private inspector.

What gets checked. NICEIC’s Approved Contractor scheme rules set out an assessment of your test instruments, records and completed work before you are certified. After that comes surveillance every 12 months from your first certification date. The requirements for certification include at least £2 million of public liability insurance.

Who may show the logo. The same rules say you may not use the NICEIC logo without the scheme descriptor you are certificated for, such as “Approved Contractor”. You may use it only with the trading title NICEIC has certificated. You must not use your adverts or stationery to suggest NICEIC has approved you for work outside your scope. If your certification is suspended, you must stop using the scheme brandmarks everywhere, websites included.

How customers check. NICEIC runs a Find a tradesperson search on its website, covering electricians it has registered.

NAPIT

What it is. NAPIT describes itself as a government-approved and UKAS-accredited scheme operator in the building services and fabric sector. Its schemes cover electrical, heating, plumbing, ventilation, microgeneration and fire safety work. GOV.UK lists it alongside NICEIC as an operator of competent person schemes for electrical work in homes.

What gets checked. NAPIT’s scheme rules describe an evaluation that can include a review of your paperwork, an audit of your systems and records and an inspection of your work on site. After that comes surveillance, normally once a year. Your certificate shows your scope of approval, which is the list of work you are certified for.

Who may show the logo. The rules license the NAPIT logo only for the work in your certified scope, and they bar misleading claims about your scope or status. If your certification ends, you must remove every use of the NAPIT mark and stop claiming membership. You must also take reasonable steps not to make misleading claims in your advertising.

How customers check. NAPIT’s rules say customers can check a firm’s status and validity on the NAPIT website, and its consumer advice page points them to the member search.

TrustMark

What it is. TrustMark describes itself as the Government Endorsed Quality Scheme for work a customer chooses to have done in or around their home. Businesses are vetted through scheme providers (accreditation bodies and trade associations), which check that firms meet the required standards and keep to them. Registered firms sign up to TrustMark’s customer charter and code of conduct. TrustMark’s homeowner pages also describe a complaints process with an ombudsman behind it.

Who may show the logo. Only businesses registered with TrustMark. Registration is also trade by trade: TrustMark tells homeowners to make sure the tradesperson is registered for the specific trade they need. A joiner registered for windows should show the badge beside the window work and nowhere else.

What happens with misuse. TrustMark’s logo misuse page asks the public to send in evidence such as website screenshots, quotes and flyers. It contacts the business twice to remove the logo. If the business does not comply, TrustMark notifies local Trading Standards, which may prosecute.

Where the badges go online

The rules above all point the same way. Show the badge near the work it covers, with the name and number the register holds. Here is how we would set it out.

On your website:

• Put the badges near the phone number on the home page, so a customer sees them before they ring.
• Put a line in the footer of every page naming each scheme in words with your registration number. It is easy to read and a customer can type it straight into the register.
• Put the right badge on the right service page. Say a plumber in Stockport is Gas Safe registered and NAPIT certified for plumbing. The Gas Safe badge goes on the boiler page and the NAPIT badge on the bathroom page.
• Use the correct version of each logo. For Gas Safe, that is the one on the black square.

On your Google Business Profile:

• Keep the scheme out of your business name. Google’s guidelines say the name must be your real-world name as used on your storefront, website and stationery, with no taglines or extra details added. Gas Safe’s policy rules out “Gas Safe” in a trading name anyway.
• Name your registrations in the business description. Google says the description is for useful information about your services and the history of your business, and that it may not contain links of any kind. A plain sentence with the scheme and number fits.
• Add a clear photo of the van with the badge on it. Our Google Business Profile checklist covers the rest of the listing.

On Facebook and Instagram, put the scheme names and numbers in the About section or bio, in words. On quotes and invoices, NICEIC’s rules allow its brandmarks on adverts, stationery and invoices for work in your scope, and the other schemes’ rules follow the same idea. For the wider picture of looking like a proper firm, see how to show you are a proper local firm online.

Keep a list of everywhere the badge appears

This is the part that catches people out. NICEIC’s rules say a suspended business must stop using its brandmarks everywhere, including websites and promotional materials. NAPIT’s rules say every use of its mark must go if certification ends. Neither makes an exception for the directory listing you set up in 2019 and forgot about.

So keep a list. Your website, your Google listing, your Facebook and Instagram pages, every directory profile, the van, any leaflet PDF sitting on your site. When your renewal comes round, check each one: is the badge still right, is the number still right, does the name still match the register?

The same list helps if you add a scheme or widen your scope. You update everything in one go, not in dribs and drabs as you remember.

What we would fix first

When we look over a tradesperson’s online presence, these are the badge problems we would sort before anything else:

• A logo with no registration number beside it.
• The wrong version of the logo, such as the plain yellow Gas Safe triangle on a registered engineer’s site.
• A badge sitting next to work it does not cover.
• A trading name online that does not match the one on the register.
• A badge still showing somewhere after a registration has lapsed.

None of these takes long to fix, and each one is a reason a careful customer might ring someone else.

What to do next

Search for your own business on each register you belong to, the way a customer would. Check that the name and number match your website, your Google listing and your Facebook page, then fix whichever does not. If you would like us to look over the lot, send us the free check-up and we will tell you what we would sort and what it would cost.