Are you looking for the right heating engineer you can trust?
With so many heating trade bodies and endorsements out there, it can be difficult to know which you should actually care about.
As an experienced heating engineer, I can tell you now that some are more important than others. In fact, I’m a fully-fledged member of some of these bodies, whereas I’ve tried joining others only to find it’s a waste of money, and a disservice to the customer.
Below, I’m going to tell you the trade bodies you should pay attention to when looking for a heating engineer.
1. The Gas Safe Register
This is by far the most important one to look for. It’s illegal for anyone to service or install a gas appliance if they aren’t on the Gas Safe Register. One thing I really like about this website is that you can tick all the boxes of the work you need done, and it will only return engineers who are qualified to carry out the work.
All engineers fitting gas must renew their Gas Safe Register membership each year. Also, in order to stay registered, each tradesman must re-sit their gas exams every five years to prove their competency.
2. Which? Trusted Traders
I like to think of Which? as the champion of the ordinary UK consumer. A Which? trusted trader is essentially an installer that has been fully vetted by Which? to ensure they follow certain procedures regarding complaints, written quotations, being transparent on price, invoicing, and overall customer care.
TIP: For more information on Which? trusted traders, read my blog entitled: ‘Is it Worth it to Choose a Which? Trusted Trader?’.
3. Council endorsements
This one, to me, is slightly less important. Although most traders which happen to be council-endorsed just happen to mean exactly that – that they carry out work for council tenants, or on behalf of the council – your local council is able to carry out checks on rogue traders, or give details of companies that have been in trouble with trading standards.
However, I’ve never personally felt the need to be a council-endorsed trader. This is mainly due to the fact that they don’t seem to carry out the same checks, or monitor standards the same as Which? do.
4. HVCA
Heating, Ventilation and Contractors’ Association is directly for heating contractors, and do a lot of checks on companies. However, it’s mainly focus on the bigger companies who carry out commercial work who are associated.
A lot of large, blue chip companies will only deal with companies who are accredited with HVCA. And that’s not really my field, as I specialise in the domestic market to the consumer.
And the trade bodies you should care less about…
This is really just my opinion, but I have been approached by Federation of Master Builders, Guild of Master Craftsmen, SNIPEF, and CIPHE. The first two mentioned don’t really carry out checks on their members, so I have failed to see the point in joining.
SNIPEF (Scottish Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers Federation) do a lot of training and are a well-regarded organisation, however they’re not really associated with heating (as they are a plumbing federation). And for that reason, there’s no need for us to join CIPHE either. I’d say if you’re only on the lookout for a heating engineer (and not someone to fix up your bathroom at the same time), you should disregard all of these endorsements.
Conclusion
There are so many heating trade bodies and endorsements out there offering their little badge to put on the side of vans or headed paper, and the theory behind it is that it’s meant to make heating companies look more qualified or professional. The most important ones to remember are:
- Gas Safe Register – all gas engineers should have this
- Which? Trusted Trader – to ensure peace of mind
And if you’re looking for a specialised plumber, then SNIPEF is a good shout.
Got a question about anything I’ve mentioned above? Feel free to leave a comment below – I promise to reply!
