NICEIC and NAPIT are the two biggest competent-person schemes for electricians in England and Wales, and in 2026 the honest answer is that both will do the job. Both appear on GOV.UK's list of authorised scheme operators for electrical work in dwellings (updated 17 September 2026), both are TrustMark scheme providers, and both now assess against the same Electrotechnical Assessment Specification (EAS). The hard numbers: NICEIC Domestic Installer costs £695 ex VAT to join for 2026/27 and £575 to £595 a year after that; NAPIT's electrical-only form totals £786 inc VAT (£655 ex VAT). The real differences are brand pull, trade coverage and how each scheme treats a one-person firm.
- Only six operators are authorised for electrical installation work in dwellings in England on GOV.UK's list (17 September 2026): APHC, BESCA, Blue Flame, Certsure (NICEIC), NAPIT and OFTEC. STROMA and BSI are no longer on it.
- NICEIC 2026/27: £95 application + £600 first year = £695 ex VAT for Domestic Installer; Approved Contractor £1,285 ex VAT; renewals £575 (single DD) or £595 (card or instalments); notifications £4; TrustMark £145.
- NAPIT 2026: £156 deposit + £630 balance = £786 inc VAT (£655 ex VAT) on the electrical-only form; scope prices listed at £395, £655, £750 and £1,150 ex VAT; third-party certification £90, TrustMark £138 (inc VAT).
- From 1 October 2026 the EAS requires everyone doing EICRs for a certified business, subcontractors included, to hold 2391-51 or 2391-52 (or equivalent), two years' experience and CPD. Both schemes apply it.
- Neither scheme is legally superior and neither licenses you to work. Registration lets you self-certify Part P work and puts you on the Registered Competent Person Electrical register.
- Both accept certificates from third-party software as long as they follow the BS 7671 Appendix 6 model forms.
What does a competent-person scheme actually do?
A competent-person scheme (CPS) is a body authorised by the Secretary of State under the Building Regulations 2010 to assess tradespeople as competent to self-certify that their work complies. For electrical work in England and Wales that means Part P, which covers fixed electrical installations in dwellings. A registered electrician notifies notifiable jobs to the scheme, the scheme issues the Building Regulations compliance certificate to the customer and tells the local authority. Without registration, notifiable work goes through building control, with a fee and an inspection, as explained in Part P notification explained.
Registration is not a licence to practise. There is no legal licensing of electricians in England and Wales, so you can legally install, test and issue certificates without belonging to any scheme. What registration gives you is Part P self-certification, a listing on the Registered Competent Person Electrical register (live since 30 June 2014), and a third-party assessment that customers, housing associations and main contractors can point to when they ask "who checks your work?".
Scotland and Northern Ireland are different. Part P does not exist there. In Scotland, electrical work under a building warrant is certified through the Certification of Construction scheme under the Building (Scotland) Act 2003, and the only approved scheme providers for electrical installations to BS 7671 are SELECT and NICEIC (Certsure), according to the LABSS certifiers page. SELECT lost and then regained its approval in 2020. Northern Ireland has no Part P equivalent at all. See EICR landlord requirements in Scotland and Wales for the rented-sector rules.
Which schemes are authorised in 2026?
GOV.UK's page "Competent person scheme: current schemes and how schemes are authorised" was last updated on 17 September 2026. For "installation of fixed low or extra-low voltage electrical installations in dwellings" it lists six operators, and the Welsh Government page lists the same electrical operators plus Stroma in a 2023 version.
| Operator | Trading names | Electrical scope in dwellings | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certsure LLP | NICEIC (ELECSA brand merged in) | Yes | Certsure is a partnership of the ECA and Electrical Safety First; largest scheme, "over 40,000 currently certified" per its Electrical Scheme Guide, January 2026 |
| NAPIT | NAPIT Registration | Yes | Founded 1992, authorised for Part P from the start in 2004, TrustMark provider since 2006; part of the Phenna Group since 2022; says it has over 22,000 registered installers across all trades |
| APHC | APHC Certification | Yes | Plumbing and heating body with an electrical scope for its members' allied work |
| BESCA | BESCA | Yes | Building services (ventilation, heating) with an electrical scope |
| Blue Flame Certification | Blue Flame | Yes | Gas and heating body with an electrical scope |
| OFTEC | OFTEC | Yes (dwellings only) | Oil heating body with an electrical scope |
Two names an older version of this guide listed are gone. Stroma Certification's brand was dissolved on 1 October 2023 when it merged into Elmhurst Energy, and its electrical registrations had already passed to NAPIT, which shares the same Phenna Group owner. BSI's Kitemark electrical installer scheme no longer appears on the GOV.UK list either. If a client asks for "a NICEIC, NAPIT, STROMA or ELECSA electrician", the practical choice in 2026 is NICEIC or NAPIT, with the four heating and plumbing bodies relevant only if you are already registered with them for your main trade.
How do NICEIC and NAPIT compare on paper?
| NICEIC (Certsure) | NAPIT | |
|---|---|---|
| Part P authorised (England and Wales) | Yes | Yes |
| TrustMark scheme provider | Yes (£145 ex VAT a year) | Yes (£138 inc VAT) |
| Scotland approved certifier | Yes | No |
| Registration levels | Domestic Installer; Approved Contractor | Full scope all electrical work; full scope dwellings only; defined scope dwellings only |
| EICR work covered | Approved Contractor (and DI businesses meeting the EAS) | EICR work for domestic, commercial and industrial is a selectable area on the form |
| Other trades under one registration | Electrical only (Certsure also runs gas and plumbing schemes separately) | Electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilation, renewables, EV, fire detection, PAT |
| Assessment | Office and site, about 3 hours per QS, then annually | Office and site, then annually |
| Insurance | £2m public liability; £250k PI where EICRs are offered | £2m public liability; £250k PI for third-party certification and inspection work |
| Record keeping | Six years minimum under scheme rules | Required; period not stated on the form |
| Third-party software accepted | Yes | Yes |
| Joining cost (electrical, sole trader) | £695 ex VAT (DI) / £1,285 ex VAT (AC) | £786 inc VAT (£655 ex VAT) on the 2026 form |
Brand recognition is the thing the table cannot show. NICEIC has been assessing electrical contractors since 1956 and its 2025 review reports 32,409 businesses assessed in the year. If a housing association or main contractor writes "NICEIC Approved Contractor" into a tender, no amount of equivalence argument will change the tender. NAPIT's strength is the other way round: it was built around sole traders and multi-trade firms, and if you fit gas, heating or renewables as well as electrics you can hold one registration and one assessment visit for all of it.
What does each scheme cost in 2026?
Both schemes charge an application or deposit on entry, a first-year certification fee that includes the assessment, an annual renewal, and small per-job charges. All NICEIC figures below are from its Domestic Installer and Approved Contractor scheme pages and are stated as correct for 2026/27 certification; NAPIT figures are from application form APP/FOR/0024 v1.3 (06.26) and its membership page.
| Item | NICEIC Domestic Installer | NICEIC Approved Contractor | NAPIT electrical only |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application / deposit (non-refundable) | £95 ex VAT | £95 ex VAT | £156 inc VAT |
| First year including assessment | £600 ex VAT (3 interest-free instalments available) | £1,190 ex VAT | £630 inc VAT balance |
| Total to join | £695 ex VAT (£834 inc) | £1,285 ex VAT (£1,542 inc) | £786 inc VAT (£655 ex VAT) |
| Renewal, single direct debit | £575 ex VAT | £595 ex VAT | Not printed on the form |
| Renewal, card or 12 monthly DDs | £595 ex VAT | £615 ex VAT | Not printed on the form |
| Pre-assessment (optional) | £430 ex VAT | £430 ex VAT | Not offered on the form |
| Additional assessment | £430 ex VAT | £430 ex VAT | "Other fees apply" |
| Reschedule, 2 days or fewer / under 21 days | £380 / £265 ex VAT | £380 / £265 ex VAT | "Other fees apply" |
| Void (assessor attends, nobody in) | £430 ex VAT | £430 ex VAT | Not stated |
| Change of QS or admin change | £65 ex VAT | £65 ex VAT | Not stated |
| Building compliance notification | £4 ex VAT each | £4 ex VAT each | Not printed; third-party certification £90 inc VAT |
| TrustMark listing | £145 ex VAT a year | £145 ex VAT a year | £138 inc VAT |
Three things to read into those numbers. First, NICEIC's Approved Contractor is £590 more to join than Domestic Installer and only £20 a year more to renew, so if you expect to do any commercial work or EICRs for letting agents and housing providers, the AC premium is mostly a first-year cost. Second, NAPIT's "total to pay today" of £156 is the only figure you commit to before assessment, which matters if cash is tight. Third, NAPIT's membership page shows four scope prices, £395, £655, £750 and £1,150 ex VAT, without labelling which is which; £655 ex VAT matches the £786 inc VAT on the electrical-only form, so treat the other three as the defined-scope, non-dwellings and multi-category tiers and ask NAPIT which applies before you budget. Fees change each April (NICEIC's own page tells applicants to apply before 1 April to beat the rise), so check the scheme pages on the day.
Third-party blogs quoting NICEIC DI at "£450 to £500 a year" or NAPIT at "£350 to £420" are out of date against the schemes' own 2026 documents; use the primary figures.
What is the difference between Domestic Installer and Approved Contractor?
NICEIC's two electrical registrations are aimed at different businesses, and the January 2026 Electrical Scheme Guide draws the line clearly.
Domestic Installer (DI) is for businesses "solely completing installations within the scope of Approved Document P" in England, Wales and the Isle of Man. It exists so you can self-certify notifiable domestic work. The proposed Qualified Supervisor needs at least two years' responsibility for electrical work, the technical qualifications (current BS 7671, inspection and testing), and the business needs a safe isolation procedure, test instrument accuracy records, a written health and safety policy and risk assessments, £2 million public liability insurance, and enough certified domestic work from the last 12 months for the assessor to visit.
Approved Contractor (AC) covers design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of electrical installations to BS 7671 in commercial, industrial and domestic premises, and it explicitly includes "installation condition reporting", meaning EICRs. The QS carries responsibility for the technical standard of all the firm's work, professional indemnity cover of at least £250,000 is expected where periodic inspection is offered, and the assessment looks at a wider spread of work. It is what larger clients, housing associations and main contractors usually ask for by name. A business can hold AC with DI bolted on for £95 more, which is where the £1,285 figure above comes from.
NAPIT does not use the DI/AC labels. Its form offers "Full Scope for All Electrical Work", "Full Scope for Dwellings Only" and "Defined Scope in dwellings only", and separately lets you tick Part P domestic work, domestic and non-domestic work under the EAS, temporary installations to BS 7909, and EICR work in domestic, industrial and commercial premises, with add-ons for PAT, EV charge points and fire detection to BS 5839-6. Full scope for all electrical work is the nearest equivalent to Approved Contractor.
What changed with the EAS on 1 October 2026?
The Electrotechnical Assessment Specification is the document all the electrical schemes assess against, published by the IET on behalf of the industry. The October 2024 revision came into force on 1 October 2026, and it is the biggest change to scheme assessment in years because it removes "experience alone" as a route for periodic inspection.
From that date, every "employed person" who carries out or is responsible for periodic inspection and testing for a certified business needs a Level 3 periodic inspection award (City & Guilds 2391-51 Periodic Inspection and Testing, 2391-52 Initial and Periodic, or an equivalent listed in the EAS Qualifications Guide), at least two years' experience in periodic inspection and testing, and evidence of ongoing CPD. "Employed person" is defined to include directly employed staff, agency and temporary workers, subcontracted labour, self-employed individuals and sole traders, so the subcontractor you pay per EICR is caught just as much as your own QS. NICEIC's EAS guidance says trainees and apprentices can still do the work under close supervision to build their two years.
The same revision added four low-carbon work categories, each split into dwellings and other than dwellings: EV charging equipment, solar PV, electrical energy storage systems and micro wind turbines. Anyone doing or supervising that work needs a matching Level 3 qualification, for example the EAL EV, PV and EESS awards or the City & Guilds 2919-01 and 2919-02 EV awards added to the acceptable list on 9 March 2026, plus the relevant IET Code of Practice and MCS standards on the shelf.
Neither scheme will strike you off on day one. NICEIC says its assessor will ask which categories you intend to work in and, if you cannot yet show compliance, agree an action plan recorded in the assessment report; a booked course is usually accepted as progress. NAPIT's update says the same in fewer words and notes the requirement applies to its Electrical Inspector Scheme categories A2.1 and A2.2. The ECA warned members in October 2025 that the rule bites hardest on firms that have relied on long-serving testers without the 2391, so if that is you, book the course before your next assessment. The qualification routes are set out in How to Become NICEIC Registered in 2026.
What do assessors look for on your certificates?
Whichever logo is on your van, the annual assessment is the same shape: an office review of your records and procedures, then a site visit to one or more recent jobs, roughly three hours per QS at NICEIC. Certificates are the centre of it, and the assessors' checklist is predictable.
They check that the right form was used (EIC, Minor Works or EICR, on the current model form; the A4:2026 forms replaced A2 and A3 when those were withdrawn on 15 October 2026), that every box on the schedule of test results is either filled or justified, that the test values are plausible against the circuit (a 2.5 mm² ring with r1 of 0.05 Ω will be queried), that Zs figures are within the corrected maximum, that observations are coded in line with Electrical Safety First's Best Practice Guide 4 (Issue 7.4, August 2026) and that the declaration is signed by the right person. They also expect Part P notifications to match the certificates issued, and look for copies of the compliance certificates sent to customers.
Common failings at assessment are the same ones that make an EICR indefensible later: missing Ze, PFC and RCD results, "LIM" scrawled across half the schedule with no limitation agreed in writing, C2 observations with no description of what was actually found, and certificates issued without the departures or comments sections completed. The guides on how to fill in a schedule of test results and how to write EICR observations cover the detail. NICEIC's scheme rules require records (specifications, certificates, competence records, complaints) to be kept for a minimum of six years, which is the number to apply whichever scheme you join; the data-protection angle is in certificate retention and GDPR.
Which scheme should you join?
Join NICEIC Approved Contractor if your work includes commercial or industrial installations, if you want EICR work from letting agents, housing providers and facilities managers who specify by name, or if you expect to tender. Join NICEIC Domestic Installer if you are purely domestic in England or Wales and want the best-known badge on the van at the lower price.
Join NAPIT if you are a sole trader or small domestic firm who wants a scheme built around one-person businesses, if you fit gas, heating, ventilation or renewables as well as electrics and want one registration and one annual visit, or if the price gap matters more than the brand. NAPIT's full scope for all electrical work with the EICR box ticked gives you the same legal standing as an Approved Contractor for everything except the client who has already written "NICEIC" on the purchase order.
Beware of forum anecdote on assessors. Assessment experience depends far more on the individual assessor and on how well prepared you are than on which scheme runs it, and both schemes now assess to the same EAS. Switching is possible at renewal; the practical cost is the new scheme's joining fee plus a fresh assessment, so time it for when your renewal is due.
How Certio helps
Certio produces the EICR, EIC, Minor Works certificate and PAT records on the BS 7671 model forms and turns them into branded PDFs. Photograph the consumer unit and the circuit schedule drafts itself; point the phone camera at a Megger MFT-X1 and the reading goes straight into the schedule of test results, or dictate it while your hands stay on the probes. Suggested observation wording with the regulation reference is there for you to check and confirm. The judgement stays yours; the typing goes. Starter is £4.99 a month, charged when you sign up.