Contractor logos fall into five different things: UKAS-accredited third-party certification of competence (BAFE schemes, FIRAS, Q-Mark, LPCB), statutory registers (Gas Safe, REFCOM), trade association membership (FIA, LEIA, ECA), voluntary audited registers (LCA), and SSIP health and safety pre-qualification (CHAS, SafeContractor, Constructionline). Only the first two prove technical competence for a specific service. Every one has a public register, and the register is the check.
What the law requires
No single law requires a compliance contractor to hold a particular accreditation, with two exceptions covered below. What the law requires is competence. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the responsible person to appoint competent persons under Article 18 and, once Article 9A is commenced, competent fire risk assessors. ACOP L8 paragraph 29 requires the legionella risk assessor to be competent. The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require that no person engages in work requiring technical knowledge or experience unless they have it. LOLER requires a competent person for thorough examination. In each case the duty holder decides who is competent and carries the liability if the choice was wrong.
Accreditation schemes exist to make that decision defensible. The problem for buyers is that the logos on a contractor's van represent five different kinds of thing, of very different evidential weight, and the industry does not label them. This guide sorts them. For how competence feeds into a specific purchase, see our fire risk assessment requirements guide and our lift maintenance contract comparison.
Who is responsible
The duty holder who appoints the contractor is responsible for checking competence, and cannot transfer that by relying on a framework, a managing agent or a facilities management company. Where an FM company appoints sub-contractors, the duty holder should require the FM company to evidence each sub-contractor's certification and should spot-check the registers. Our duty holder guide covers the allocation, and our local authority estates checklist covers why a framework place is not vetting.
Accreditation versus certification
UKAS, the government-appointed national accreditation body, draws the line. Certification is an audit of whether an organisation, product or individual conforms to a recognised standard or scheme. Accreditation is the assessment of the competence and impartiality of the organisation doing that audit. UKAS accredits certification bodies; certification bodies certify contractors. Only certification bodies can call themselves accredited; contractors hold certification. A certificate from a body that is not UKAS accredited is a private opinion. A certificate from a UKAS-accredited body against a published scheme is independently checked evidence. This is the first question to ask of any logo: who issued it, and is that body accredited.
The five kinds of logo
Contractor accreditation and certification schemes: what each actually certifies
| Scheme | Type | Who operates it | What it assesses | UKAS accredited | Public register |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAFE (SP101, SP203-1, SP203-3, SP203-4, SP205, SP206, SP207) | Third-party certification register, fire | BAFE registers firms certified by UKAS-accredited bodies | Competence per scheme: extinguisher servicing (SP101); fire detection and alarm (SP203-1); fixed gaseous suppression (SP203-3); emergency lighting (SP203-4); fire risk assessment (SP205); kitchen fire suppression (SP206); evacuation alert systems (SP207) | Yes, via the certification bodies | Yes |
| FIRAS | Third-party certification, passive fire | Warringtonfire | Installation contractor competence across fire stopping, fire doors and other modules | Yes, ISO/IEC 17065 | Yes |
| IFC Certification installer schemes | Third-party certification, fire | IFC Certification (Kiwa) | Installer competence for fire doors, smoke control, sprinklers | Yes | Yes |
| BM TRADA Q-Mark | Third-party certification | BM TRADA | Fire door installation and maintenance, fire stopping installation (competence); fire door manufacture (product) | Yes | Yes |
| LPCB (LPS 1014, LPS 1048, LPS 1204, LPS 1531, LPS 1500) | Third-party certification | BRE Global | Firms: fire detection and alarm (LPS 1014); sprinkler installers (LPS 1048); gaseous extinguishing (LPS 1204); passive fire installers (LPS 1531); compartmentation (LPS 1500) | Yes | Yes, RedBook |
| FDIS | Certification of individuals | Fire Door Inspection Scheme, owned by the BWF | Individual fire door inspectors, diploma plus certification | Scheme-run | Yes |
| Gas Safe Register | Statutory register | Capita for HSE | Legal requirement for all gas businesses and engineers under GSIUR 1998 Regulation 3 | Statutory | Yes, engineer licence check |
| REFCOM | Statutory F-gas company certification | REFCOM, a BESA group company, designated by Defra | Company certification required to work on stationary F-gas equipment | Statutory | Yes |
| NICEIC Approved Contractor | Competent person scheme | Certsure | Commercial and industrial installation, periodic inspection and testing; separate domestic installer scheme | Not confirmed on pages reviewed | Yes |
| NAPIT | Competent person scheme, certification body | NAPIT | Electrical and building services competence; states UKAS accreditation | Yes, per NAPIT | Yes |
| ECA, SELECT | Trade associations | ECA (England, Wales, NI), SELECT (Scotland) | Membership criteria including trading history, insurance and technical assessment via a recognised scheme | No | Yes |
| FIA | Trade association | Fire Industry Association | Membership requires third-party certification or active progress towards it | No | Yes |
| LEIA | Trade association | Lift and Escalator Industry Association | Membership of lift companies; publishes LM01 code of practice | No | Yes |
| LCA | Voluntary audited register | Legionella Control Association | Company registration by service category against Code of Conduct and Service Standards; annual re-registration and audit programme | No | Yes |
| WaterSafe | Register of approved plumbers | Water industry, four approved contractors' schemes | Plumbing businesses with Water Fittings Regulations qualification; can self-certify notifiable work | Scheme-run | Yes |
| WRAS Approvals | Product certification | Water Regulations Approval Scheme Ltd | Products and materials, not people | Certification body | Yes |
| Vent Hygiene Register (formerly Vent Hygiene Elite) | Register with certified reports | BESCA, BESA's UKAS-accredited certification body | Ventilation hygiene contractors working to TR19 and TR19 Grease, audited post-clean reports | Yes, BESCA | Yes |
| SSIP schemes: CHAS, SafeContractor, Constructionline, SMAS, Achilles, Compliance Chain, CQMS | Health and safety pre-qualification | Member schemes under SSIP | Health and safety management system against SSIP core criteria approved by HSE; mutual recognition by deem-to-satisfy | Not competence certification | Yes, SSIP Portal |
| Common Assessment Standard | Pre-qualification, wider scope | Build UK, via recognised assessment bodies | Desktop or site-based assessment covering health and safety, finance, quality, environment, building safety | Not competence certification | Via assessment bodies |
| ISO 9001, 14001, 45001 | Management system certification | Any certification body | Quality, environmental, occupational health and safety management systems | Only if the body is UKAS accredited; check CertCheck | UKAS CertCheck |
Reading the table: what each proves
Third-party certification of competence (BAFE schemes, FIRAS, IFC, Q-Mark, LPCB) is the strongest evidence available. It means a UKAS-accredited body has audited the firm's work, engineers and systems against a published scheme for that specific service, and re-audits it. Match the scheme to the work: SP203-1 proves alarm competence and nothing about fire risk assessment; SP205 proves the reverse. Our passive fire protection surveys guide shows how product and installer certification combine.
Statutory registers (Gas Safe, REFCOM) are not optional. A gas contractor not on Gas Safe is committing an offence, and so is the F-gas contractor without REFCOM company certification. Check the engineer's licence card number on the Gas Safe site and the company on the REFCOM register.
Trade association membership (FIA, LEIA, ECA, SELECT) shows the firm meets the association's joining criteria and subscribes to its codes. FIA is notable because it requires third-party certification as a condition of membership, so FIA membership implies BAFE or equivalent certification exists; check for it. LEIA publishes the LM01 maintenance code that our LOLER versus PUWER guide and lift contract guide rely on. Membership is useful context, not competence proof.
Voluntary audited registers (LCA) sit between the two. The LCA is not a UKAS-accredited certification body and says so, but its Code of Conduct requires record keeping for five years, annual service reviews, internal audits, sub-contractor control and communication of non-conformance, and members face an LCA audit programme. In water hygiene it is the benchmark every specification asks for. Registration is by company and by service category, so check the category matches the work. Our legionella risk assessment cost guide explains what LCA Standard 801 requires of a report.
Health and safety pre-qualification (SSIP schemes) proves the contractor has a health and safety management system that meets HSE-approved core criteria. It is what a principal contractor or public body needs before letting anyone on site. It says nothing about whether the firm can install a fire alarm to BS 5839-1. The Common Assessment Standard widens the question set to finance, quality, environment and building safety, and Constructionline's Gold tier and CHAS Elite deliver it. Constructionline tiers run Bronze (insurance and SSIP data), Silver (adds standing checks), Gold (Common Assessment Standard) and Platinum (adds a premises audit).
Management system certification (ISO 9001, 14001, 45001) proves a system exists, not that the technical work is right. Its evidential value depends entirely on whether the certification body is UKAS accredited, which UKAS CertCheck confirms in seconds.
What good evidence looks like
For every contractor on a compliance contract, the duty holder should hold a vetting record with:
- The legal entity name and company number, matched to the contract and to every certificate.
- The technical certification for the exact service, with scheme name, scope, certificate number, expiry and a screenshot or reference from the scheme's public register on the date checked.
- The statutory registration where applicable (Gas Safe engineer numbers, REFCOM company certificate).
- The SSIP or Common Assessment Standard approval with expiry, from the SSIP Portal.
- Insurance: public liability, employer's liability and, for advisory work such as fire risk assessment, EICR reporting and legionella risk assessment, professional indemnity with the limit.
- Named engineers or assessors with their individual competence where the scheme certifies individuals (FDIS, IFE registers) or where the work is advisory.
- A re-check date, because certification lapses and registers change.
Common failures and enforcement consequences
- SSIP treated as competence. The most common error: a SafeContractor or CHAS badge accepted as proof the firm can do fire, water or electrical work.
- Wrong scheme scope. BAFE SP101 (extinguishers) accepted for alarm maintenance; LCA water treatment category accepted for risk assessment.
- Certificate copy accepted without a register check. Lapsed, revoked or misrepresented certificates are only visible on the register.
- ISO certificate from a non-accredited body.
- Entity mismatch. The certificate belongs to a sister company or the previous trading entity.
- FM company's own accreditation taken to cover its sub-contractors.
The consequence of a vetting failure surfaces after an incident or an inspection, when the enforcing authority asks the duty holder how it satisfied itself the contractor was competent. A register screenshot dated before appointment answers the question. A logo on an invoice does not. Where a fire risk assessment, EICR or legionella assessment turns out to be inadequate, the enforcement action lands on the duty holder, which our 28-day enforcement notice guide covers, and the contractor's competence evidence is the duty holder's main defence.
Working with TICDesk
TICDesk is a UK procurement desk for testing, inspection and compliance work. Every provider we introduce has been checked against the registers in this guide for the specific service, with insurance and entity match confirmed, before we put them in front of you. Tell us the discipline, the building and your deadline, and we introduce up to three vetted firms, typically within 48 hours. The service is free to the client; TICDesk earns a success fee from the contractor. Visit our desks for fire safety, water hygiene, electrical, lifts and HVAC, or open a brief.
Frequently asked
What is the difference between accreditation and certification?
UKAS, the government-appointed national accreditation body, defines certification as an audit of whether an organisation, product or person conforms to a standard or scheme, and accreditation as the assessment of the competence and impartiality of the body doing that audit. UKAS accredits certification bodies; the certification body certifies the contractor. So a contractor holds certification, not accreditation, and the value of the certificate depends on whether the body issuing it is UKAS accredited.
Is BAFE registration proof of competence?
BAFE is the independent register of fire safety organisations that have achieved third-party certification to a BAFE scheme, audited by a UKAS-accredited certification body. BAFE does not certify; it registers the certified. Registration under a specific scheme, for example SP203-1 for fire alarms or SP205 for fire risk assessment, is strong evidence of competence for that scope. Registration under one scheme says nothing about another, so match the scheme to the work and check it on the BAFE register.
What is SSIP and what does CHAS or SafeContractor prove?
Safety Schemes in Procurement is the mutual recognition scheme for occupational health and safety pre-qualification. Member schemes such as CHAS, SafeContractor, Constructionline, SMAS and Achilles assess contractors against SSIP core criteria approved by HSE, and a contractor passing one can be deemed to satisfy the others. It proves the contractor has a health and safety management system. It does not prove technical competence to install a fire alarm or assess legionella risk.
Is the Legionella Control Association a certification body?
No. The LCA describes itself as a membership standards organisation that maintains a directory of audited service providers. Companies register by service category, agree to the LCA Code of Conduct and Service Standards, re-register annually and are subject to a programme of LCA audits. It is not UKAS-accredited certification, but it is the recognised benchmark in water hygiene and the LCA directory is the check. Registration is of the company, not the individual assessor.
Do electrical contractors need NICEIC or NAPIT?
For commercial work there is no statutory register; the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require competence, not membership. NICEIC (a trading name of Certsure) and NAPIT operate competent person schemes authorised by government for self-certifying building work, and their commercial and industrial schemes assess contractors for installation and periodic inspection work. NAPIT states it is UKAS accredited. ECA and, in Scotland, SELECT are trade associations with joining criteria. Check the scheme register and ask for the certificate scope.
Which registers are legally required?
Two in this field. Gas Safe Register is the statutory register under Regulation 3 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998; by law every gas business and engineer must be on it, and engineers carry a licence card that can be checked online. REFCOM is designated by Defra as a mandatory F-gas company certification scheme; working on stationary refrigeration and air conditioning without it is an offence under the F-gas regulations. Everything else is voluntary.
How do I check a contractor's accreditation is genuine?
Use the scheme's own public register, never the contractor's website or certificate copy. BAFE, LCA, FIRAS, Q-Mark, LPCB RedBook, NICEIC, NAPIT, Gas Safe, REFCOM, WaterSafe, the Vent Hygiene Register, FDIS and the SSIP Portal all have searchable directories. For ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001, UKAS CertCheck verifies whether a certificate was issued by a UKAS-accredited body. Check the scope and expiry, and confirm the registered legal entity matches the one on your contract.
Sources & further reading
