Trade Accreditation Schemes Explained: What the Logos Mean
Competent person schemes, TrustMark, trade associations and directories: what each kind of badge actually tells you, and how to check it.
The short version
A logo on a van tells you a builder joined something. The scheme's own register tells you whether it is true today.
Trade logos fall into a few different kinds. Some are legal registrations, such as the Gas Safe Register. Some are competent person schemes, which let registered firms certify that certain work meets the Building Regulations. Some are quality schemes such as TrustMark, some are trade associations, and some are commercial directories where the business pays to be listed. Each tells you something different.
Whatever the badge, the check is the same: go to the scheme's own site, search its register for the business named on your quote, and make sure the membership covers the kind of work you are having done.
This guide explains what each kind of scheme means for you as a homeowner, which ones you are likely to come across on roofing, rooflight and extension work, and what no scheme can tell you on its own.
Know the badge
Six kinds of logo, and what each one means
They often sit side by side on a website or a quote, but they are not the same kind of thing.
Legal registration
Some work can only be done legally by registered people. Gas work is the clearest example: it must be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Here, registration is a requirement, not a nice extra.
Competent person schemes
Government-authorised schemes whose members can self-certify that certain types of work comply with the Building Regulations, instead of the homeowner applying to building control separately.
TrustMark
The government endorsed quality scheme for work in and around the home. Businesses are registered through approved scheme providers and agree to its standards and code of practice.
Trade associations
Membership bodies for a particular trade or for builders generally. Each sets its own joining requirements and code of conduct, so what membership means varies from one to the next.
Manufacturer approvals
Some product manufacturers train or approve installers. For certain products, the manufacturer's own warranty may depend on an approved installer fitting it. Check with the manufacturer if it matters for your job.
Directories and review platforms
Commercial services where businesses pay to be listed and customers leave reviews. Many carry out their own checks on members, which each explains on its own site. They are useful, but they are not accreditation in the sense above.
Competent person schemes
How self-certification works
In England and Wales, some types of building work have to comply with the Building Regulations, and normally that means telling your local authority's building control service so the work can be checked. Competent person schemes offer another route. A business registered with an authorised scheme can certify that its own work complies, and the scheme then notifies the local authority on the homeowner's behalf.
The types of work covered include electrical installations, gas and heating, replacement windows and doors, and some roofing work, among others. Each scheme covers particular types of work, so a firm registered for one kind of job is not automatically registered for another.
When work is certified this way, you should receive a certificate confirming it. Keep it with your house documents. It is the kind of paperwork a buyer's solicitor may ask for when you come to sell, and it is much easier to keep now than to chase later.
Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own building control systems with different arrangements, so if you live there, check the rules that apply locally. GOV.UK has a page explaining competent person schemes and listing the authorised schemes for England, and our answer on what a competent person scheme is gives the short version.
This is general information, not legal advice. Whether your particular job needs Building Regulations approval depends on the work, so check with your local authority's building control service or the scheme concerned.
Checking it
How to check a membership in five minutes
Do this for any badge you are relying on. It takes less time than reading the quote.
Get the exact business name
Use the full name on the quote, and any membership or registration number the builder gives you. Trading names and company names are sometimes different.
Go to the scheme's own site
Type the scheme's address yourself or search for it. Don't rely on a link or a certificate image supplied by the builder.
Search the register
Most schemes have a public search. Look up the business by name, number or postcode.
Match the details
Check the name and address on the register match the business on your quote. A similar name is not the same business.
Check the scope
Look at which types of work the membership covers. Registration for one kind of work says nothing about another.
Keep a record
Save or print the result with the date. If questions come up later, you will know what the register showed when you checked.
By law, gas work in your home must be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Registered engineers carry an ID card showing the types of gas work they are qualified for, and you can check an engineer or business on the Gas Safe Register's own site. If a job such as an extension involves moving or connecting gas appliances, ask who will do that part and check them.
Your kind of project
Schemes you may see on roofing, rooflights and extensions
Roofing. The National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) is the main trade association for roofing in the UK, and it also runs CompetentRoofer, a competent person scheme for certain re-roofing work. You may also see TrustMark and manufacturer approvals for particular roofing systems. Plenty of capable roofers belong to none of these, particularly on smaller repair work, so treat membership as a positive signal rather than a requirement.
Rooflights and windows. Replacement windows and doors have their own competent person schemes, such as FENSA and Certass. Rooflights fitted into an existing roof can raise questions about both the roof and the glazing, so ask the installer how the work will be certified if certification is needed, and who issues the certificate.
Extensions. An extension will usually need Building Regulations approval through building control, and sometimes planning permission as well. Trade associations for general builders, such as the Federation of Master Builders, are common here. The electrical, gas and glazing elements may each be certified separately by the trades who do them.
In every case, check the scheme's own site for what membership involves. Joining requirements differ, and some schemes assess members' work while others mainly ask them to agree to a code of practice.
Keeping it in proportion
What a scheme can tell you, and what it can't
Accreditation is one useful signal among several. It works best alongside the other checks, not instead of them.
A current membership tells you
- The business met the scheme's joining requirements
- It has agreed to the scheme's standards or code
- There may be a complaints route through the scheme
- For competent person schemes, it can certify certain work
- It is still registered, if you checked today
It doesn't tell you
- How good their work is on a job like yours
- Whether they turn up when they say they will
- How well they communicate during the job
- Whether their insurance is current
- Who will actually be working at your house
No logo at all?
Judging a builder who isn't a member of anything
Many good builders belong to no scheme at all. Membership costs money and time, and for work that doesn't need certification, some firms simply choose not to join. A lack of logos is not a warning sign on its own.
What changes is how much weight the other checks carry. Look harder at their insurance, their Companies House record if they are a limited company, their reviews and their references. Our guide to vetting a builder sets out the full set of checks.
The exception is work that legally needs registration, such as gas work, or work you want certified through a competent person scheme. There, the scheme is the point, and a builder who isn't registered will need to arrange for someone who is, or for the work to go through building control instead.
The same caution applies in reverse. A wall of logos on a website means nothing until you have checked that each one is current and belongs to the business on your quote. Our answer on what TrustMark is and the guide to directories, networks and going direct explain how some of the best-known names differ.
Words to read carefully
Accredited, approved, vetted: reading the claims
Words like 'accredited', 'approved' and 'vetted' have no single fixed meaning in general building work, and they can mean very different things depending on who uses them. A useful habit is to ask one follow-up question every time you see one: accredited by whom, approved for what, vetted against which checks?
A clear answer names the scheme or the checks and can be verified. A vague answer, or a reference to a scheme you can't locate on any register, tells you the word is doing more work than the facts behind it. Our answer on what 'vetted contractor' means looks at this in more detail, and the contractor checking checklist gives you a single list to work through. For the full picture, start with our guide to choosing and checking a building contractor.
If you use Mortaro
Our checks, and the ones you can add
Mortaro coordinates domestic building projects from first enquiry to completion. We appoint a contractor from our network, arrange the site visit, prepare your written quotation and administer the payments. The work is carried out by an independent main contractor, named in your quotation, who holds the insurance and provides the workmanship warranty.
Before introduction, every contractor in our network is checked for public liability insurance, reviews and references, the warranties they provide, trade experience and work history, and their ability to meet our standards. Those are the checks we make, and we name them rather than describing contractors as 'accredited'.
If scheme registration matters for your job, your contractor is named in your quotation before you commit, so you can look them up on the scheme's register yourself, and we will put any question about it to them for you. Our contractor network explains the checks in full.
Straight answers
Questions about accreditation schemes
Does a builder have to belong to a scheme?
For most building work, no. Membership of TrustMark or a trade association is voluntary. The main exception is gas work, which must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Some other work must meet the Building Regulations, which can be done either through a competent person scheme or through building control.
Is TrustMark the same as a competent person scheme?
No. TrustMark is a quality scheme covering a wide range of work in and around the home. A competent person scheme allows registered firms to self-certify that specific types of work comply with the Building Regulations. A business can be in one, both or neither.
Is a directory listing a form of accreditation?
Not in the same sense. Directories and review platforms are commercial services that businesses pay to join. Many run their own checks, which they explain on their own sites, and their reviews can be useful. Treat a listing as one piece of evidence, not as a certification.
What should I get at the end of certified work?
Where work is certified through a competent person scheme, you should receive a certificate confirming it complies. If you don't receive one, ask the business that did the work, and keep it safely with your other house documents.
Start here
Tell us about the work you have in mind
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