For as long as Bas Construction has been carrying out electrical work — well over a decade now — we've been NICEIC approved. It's the accreditation most people in the UK associate with a "proper" electrician, and it's one we were proud to hold. This year, we've moved our registration across to NAPIT. This post explains why, and more importantly, why it doesn't change anything about the standard of work you'll get from us.
What NICEIC and NAPIT actually are
Neither NICEIC nor NAPIT are qualifications in themselves. They're both UKAS-accredited certification bodies, which means the government recognises them as competent to check that electricians are working safely and correctly. In practice, that means either body can:
- Register an electrician on the Competent Person Scheme, allowing us to self-certify domestic electrical work under Part P of the Building Regulations, rather than needing a separate building control inspection for every job
- Carry out regular on-site assessments of our work against BS 7671 wiring regulations
- Provide the certification and reporting software we use to issue EICRs, minor works certificates and installation certificates
Put simply: both are watchdogs, not diplomas. Moving from one to the other is a change of who's checking our paperwork and turning up to audit our sites — not a change in what we're qualified to do.
So why switch?
A few reasons pushed the decision, none of them to do with the standard we hold ourselves to:
- Assessment style. NAPIT's audits and portal have fitted our way of working better, particularly for the mix of EICR, consumer unit and EV charger jobs that now make up most of our week.
- Cost structure. Membership and assessment fees vary between schemes, and NAPIT currently offers better value for a business our size without any compromise on the rigour of the checks.
- EV charging alignment. As our EV charger installation work has grown, NAPIT's registration process for OZEV-related certification has been more straightforward to manage alongside our other accreditations.
What stays exactly the same
Everything that actually matters to you as a customer is unaffected:
- We're still fully insured and still legally able to self-certify domestic electrical work under Part P
- Every EICR, certificate and consumer unit upgrade is still tested and documented to BS 7671
- Our engineers hold the same qualifications and experience they held the day before the switch
- Our OZEV approved installer status for Andersen, Pod Point and Hive EV chargers is unaffected
If you've had work from us in the past under our NICEIC registration and need to reference it — for a house sale, a mortgage application or an insurance query — those certificates remain valid and we can still provide copies on request.
Checking who you're hiring
Whether an electrician is NICEIC or NAPIT registered, the important thing is that they're registered with one of the government-approved competent person schemes at all. You can check any installer's current status directly on the NAPIT or NICEIC websites before booking work — it takes thirty seconds and it's the single best way to avoid an unqualified "electrician" doing work on your home.
If you've got any questions about the switch, or you need a copy of a certificate from previous work, get in touch and we'll sort it out.