Most people choose a tradesperson on reviews, which is the weakest check available. Reviews can be bought, filtered, or written by three people with strong feelings. They tell you how a job went for somebody else, under conditions you cannot see.
The checks that verify something are free, public, and take a few minutes between them. Almost nobody does them.
Gas: the one that is not optional
Anyone carrying out gas work in the UK must be on the Gas Safe Register. This is not a trade association or a quality badge — it is a legal requirement, and working on gas without it is a criminal offence.
Two things worth knowing:
- A registered engineer carries an ID card with a licence number, a photograph and an expiry date. Ask to see it. A professional will hand it over without a flicker.
- Registration is by category. Somebody qualified for boilers is not automatically qualified for commercial catering or for LPG. The card lists what they are actually signed off for.
The register is searchable by name, business or licence number. Check the number on the card against the register rather than taking the card as the answer.
Electrical work: the certificate is the point
Certain electrical work in a home is notifiable under building regulations. A registered competent person can self-certify it; otherwise it has to be inspected by building control, at your cost.
The consequence lands years later. Uncertified work surfaces during a sale, when a buyer's solicitor asks for paperwork that does not exist, and you are suddenly negotiating against your own extension. Ask which scheme they are registered with, and ask for the certificate when the work is finished, not six months afterwards.
Insurance: check it is current, not that it exists
Public liability insurance covers you if they damage your property or injure someone while working. It does not cover the quality of their work, and it is not a competence check — anybody can buy it.
The question is not "are you insured", to which the answer is always yes. It is "can I see the certificate", and then: is the expiry date in the future, is the name on it the name of the business quoting you, and is the sum insured plausible for the size of the job.
Cover that expired in March is not cover.
Four minutes, four checks
- The register, if the trade has one that legally matters. Gas Safe for gas. A competent person scheme for notifiable electrical work.
- The insurance certificate — name, expiry, amount.
- The written quote — what is included, what is not, what happens if it takes longer, and when payments fall due. Verbal quotes produce arguments at the worst possible moment.
- One recent customer, for a job like yours, that you contact yourself. One real conversation beats fifty stars.
The warning signs that are actually reliable
- Pressure to decide today.
- A large payment up front, before materials or work.
- Cash only, no paperwork, no VAT number when the size of the business implies one.
- No fixed address, no landline, no business name that returns anything.
- Reluctance to put the quote in writing.
Any one of these can have an innocent explanation. Three together rarely do.
What our directory does, precisely
We are not a booking service and we take no commission — you contact the business directly and deal with them yourself.
Before a listing appears we see photo ID and a current insurance certificate, then delete the copies. We keep the insurer, the policy number and the expiry date, and the listing switches itself off automatically the day that cover lapses.
What we do not do, and say so on every listing: we do not assess quality of work, and we do not check criminal records. A tick whose meaning is unclear is worse than no tick, because it transfers confidence you have no basis for. Our check means the documents existed and were current. It does not mean the job will be good.
That is still worth something — an expired-insurance listing disappears without anyone having to notice — but it is worth exactly what it says and nothing more.
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