NAPIT 66245
CHAS 158368
City & Guilds 2391
TrustMark
Part P
BS 7671Plain-English guide to UK electrical qualifications — so you can tell a qualified sparky from a chancer.
NAPIT 66245CHAS 158368City & Guilds 2391TrustMarkPart PBS 7671The electrical trade runs on alphabet soup — 2391, 2382, NAPIT, CHAS, Part P, BS 7671 18th Edition Amendment 2. Every honest sparky has these on the back of their van. Every chancer hopes you won’t ask. This page translates each one into plain English: what it is, what it proves, and why it matters when you’re hiring an electrician.
If you’d rather see our actual numbers and verify them with the issuing bodies, jump to the accreditations page.
2391 is the UK qualification for inspecting and testing electrical installations. Without it, an electrician cannot competently issue an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR). It’s a closed-book exam plus a practical assessment using calibrated test equipment.
A specialist post-apprenticeship qualification covering the BS 7671 inspection schedule, test sequence, and defect coding (C1, C2, C3, FI). Holders learn to design test sequences and interpret continuity, insulation-resistance, polarity, earth-fault-loop, and RCD readings.
That the electrician can legally and competently produce an EICR — the inspection report landlords need every five years and homebuyers need at conveyancing. NAPIT and other Competent Person Schemes require 2391 (or its predecessor 2394/2395) for testing scope.
If someone offers you a cheap EICR but isn’t 2391-qualified, the report isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. Mortgage lenders, letting agents, and insurers can refuse it. Always ask to see the qualification on the certificate.
Dan Stevens holds City & Guilds 2391 Inspection & Testing. Every EICR we issue is signed by a 2391-qualified inspector using a calibrated Megger MFT multifunction tester.
2382 is the qualification proving an electrician is up to date with the current UK wiring regulations — BS 7671:2018 incorporating Amendment 2:2022. The current version is 2382-22.
A 2-hour open-book exam covering the entire BS 7671 standard. The certification is updated each time a new amendment lands — you cannot legitimately advertise as “18th Edition qualified” if you only sat the 17th Edition exam.
That the electrician knows the current rules — not the rules from when they qualified. Amendment 2 introduced significant changes including Surge Protection Devices (SPDs), AFDDs, EV-charger RCBO requirements, and updated metallic-consumer-unit guidance.
Anyone working on UK electrics post-2022 needs the current Amendment 2 version. An outdated electrician can install a fuse board that’s technically non-compliant on the day it goes in, causing problems at the next EICR or sale.
Dan Stevens is City & Guilds 2382 qualified to the current 18th Edition Amendment 2. We work to the standard published today, not the one in force when the apprenticeship finished.
2365 is the main UK route to becoming a qualified electrician. It’s the diploma achieved through a Level 2 + Level 3 college programme combined with on-site experience — the modern equivalent of a full electrical apprenticeship.
A two-stage diploma (Level 2 then Level 3) covering installation theory, practical skills, science, regulations, fault-finding, testing, and safe working. Combined with an industry NVQ and the AM2 end-test, it leads to the JIB Gold Card.
That the person doing the work has been formally taught and assessed across the whole trade — not just picked it up labouring for a mate. Without this (or the older 2330/2360), nobody should be running a fixed-wiring job in your home.
This is the difference between a tradesperson and a handyman. Anyone advertising as an electrician without a Level 3 diploma in electrical installation is not formally qualified — ask the question.
Dan Stevens completed City & Guilds 2365 Level 3 Electrical Installation followed by years of on-tools experience before going on to the post-qualification specialist tickets (2391, 2382).
NAPIT is the National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers — one of the UK’s government-authorised Competent Person Schemes for electrical work. Members are independently audited every year and are authorised to self-certify notifiable Part P work.
A scheme registered with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (now MHCLG) under the Building Regulations. Members go through annual on-site assessment of competence, insurance, paperwork, and procedures.
That the electrician has been independently checked — in person, on a real job — and is authorised by government to certify electrical work themselves. NAPIT lodges the Building Regulations Compliance Certificate with your local authority and provides a six-year Insurance Backed Guarantee on the work.
You get a certificate that proves the work is legal, lodged, and guaranteed. If you ever sell the property, a NAPIT certificate is what conveyancing solicitors are looking for. No certificate — no paper trail — problem at sale.
DS Electrical Installations (SW) Ltd is NAPIT member 66245. You can verify this directly on the NAPIT find-an-installer register at napit.org.uk — we’d expect you to.
CHAS — the Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme — is the UK’s founding SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) member. It’s the standard pre-qualification used by housing associations, local councils, schools, healthcare clients, and most commercial sites.
An annual independent audit of the contractor’s written H&S policy, RAMS (risk assessments and method statements), training records, accident reporting, insurance cover (£2m public liability minimum), and competence-management procedures.
That the business has documented health-and-safety procedures that have been independently checked — not just a hi-vis vest and good intentions. SSIP-recognised across UK procurement.
If you’re a landlord, letting agent, housing association, council, school, care home, or commercial client, your insurer or framework probably requires CHAS-accredited contractors. Without it, the contractor cannot win the job.
DS Electrical is CHAS-accredited member 158368. Verifiable via chas.co.uk find-a-contractor. We can email a current PDF certificate on request before the first job.
Part P of the Building Regulations (Schedule 1, Part P — Electrical Safety) is the legal framework covering fixed-wiring electrical work in dwellings in England and Wales. It applies to new circuits, consumer-unit changes, work in special locations (kitchens, bathrooms, outdoors), and outbuildings.
A part of the Building Regulations requiring that notifiable domestic electrical work is either notified to Building Control by the homeowner (slow, expensive) or self-certified by a Competent Person Scheme member (NAPIT, NICEIC, ELECSA, etc.).
That the work has been legally notified and a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate issued. You should receive this in the post within 30 days of the job, posted by the scheme operator (in our case NAPIT).
If your fuse board has been changed without a Part P certificate, that’s a Building Regulations breach — and a real problem at conveyancing time. Solicitors ask for these certificates as standard. No certificate, no sale (or price reduction).
Because we’re NAPIT-approved (66245), we self-certify every notifiable job. You receive an EIC plus the Part P compliance certificate within 30 days — no Building Control fee, no chasing.
TrustMark is licensed by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and is the only UK government-endorsed quality scheme for tradespeople working in or around homes. A contractor can only be listed if they meet defined standards on technical competence, customer service, and trading practice.
A government-backed register held through approved scheme operators (in our case NAPIT). Members agree to the TrustMark Customer Charter — a published code covering quotations, contracts, deposits, work standards, and dispute resolution.
That the contractor has signed up to a public code of conduct with an independent dispute-resolution route. They cannot mark their own homework when something goes wrong.
If a TrustMark-listed job goes badly, you have a defined route to independent resolution. Most cowboys can’t accept that level of accountability — which is why most aren’t listed. Also required for many ECO scheme works.
DS Electrical is TrustMark-registered through our NAPIT scheme operator. Search the public register at trustmark.org.uk.
BS 7671 — the IET Wiring Regulations — is the British Standard defining safe electrical installation in the UK. The current version is BS 7671:2018 incorporating Amendment 2:2022 (effective March 2022, transition period to September 2022). It is mandatory for all new installations.
A 600-page standard owned jointly by the IET and BSI. It defines circuit design, cable selection, protective devices, earthing, special locations, EV charging, energy storage, and inspection & testing requirements.
Surge Protection Devices (SPDs) on most new domestic consumer units; AFDDs (Arc Fault Detection) recommended on higher-risk circuits; updated EV-charger rules (Type A or Type F RCBO required — we always fit Type A); revised metallic-consumer-unit guidance; new Section 722 EV charging requirements.
Any new install, rewire, fuse-board change, or EV charger installed today should be compliant with Amendment 2. If a contractor is still working to the 17th Edition or earlier 18th, the work may not be legally compliant on the day it’s commissioned.
Every certificate and EICR we issue references the current BS 7671 clause numbers. SPD fitted on every new consumer unit. Type A RCBO on every EV charger. Director holds City & Guilds 2382 to current Amendment 2.
Print this out. Take it to a phone call. Any qualified UK electrician will answer all four without flinching. Anyone who hesitates — or fobs you off — is the wrong choice.
Every legitimate electrician working in UK dwellings should be a member of a government-authorised Competent Person Scheme. If they can’t give you a number on the spot, walk away. Our answer: NAPIT 66245. Verify it at napit.org.uk.
An EIC is the legal certificate proving the work meets BS 7671. Every notifiable job should produce one. A “mate’s rates” sparky who can’t certify their own work is leaving you with an unprovable installation that may not insure or sell.
If the work is notifiable (new circuit, consumer-unit change, kitchen/bathroom work, outdoor wiring), Part P requires it to be registered with Building Control — either by the homeowner via Building Control fees or self-certified by a CPS member like us. No notification = legal problem at sale.
This is the industry-standard minimum cover for trade work in the UK. Required by NAPIT, CHAS, TrustMark, and most commercial clients. We hold £2m public liability and employer’s liability cover — current certificates available on request before any job starts.
Every accreditation we list is independently verifiable. Click through, search the number, see the entry in the public register. We’d expect you to.
National public register of NAPIT-approved contractors.
napit.org.uk →Find-a-contractor directory for SSIP-accredited firms.
chas.co.uk →2391 is the test qualification listed on every NAPIT certificate. If it’s not there, it wasn’t issued by a qualified inspector.
See full accreditations →Any pricing referenced anywhere on this site (EICRs, fuse boards, EV chargers, etc.) is a “from” starting figure for a typical job. Every property and every job is different — final pricing depends on circuit count, condition, access, materials, and any remedial work uncovered. We always quote in writing before starting work, and we never invoice for more than the agreed quote without your written approval.
Every job we do produces an EIC, a Part P compliance certificate, and a six-year Insurance Backed Guarantee through NAPIT. Call Dan to discuss.
Direct Dan Stevens, Director: 07889 334849 Dan Street, Director: 07983 106928