Benefits of NICEIC Affiliation
NICEIC Affiliation
Benefits of using an NICEIC-registered Contractor
NICEIC has been assessing the technical competence of contractors for over 50 years. Their aim is to protect everyone who uses electricity from unsafe electrical installations in their homes, places of work and leisure. To achieve this, they maintain a register of electrical contractors that they assess as complying with the various standards, codes of practice and scheme rules.
Contractor assessment covers a representative sample of the contractors work, their premises, documentation, equipment, and the competence of their key supervisory staff. Once contractors become registered with NICEIC, they are re-assessed on a regular basis to ensure continued compliance.
Enrolment with NICEIC is voluntary, but electrical contractors that are competent and conscientious about the service they offer customers would consider it a priority to enrol. Over 20,000 contractors are registered by NICEIC, covering the whole of the UK, including Northern Ireland. This means that you're sure to have a choice of competent contractors operating in your area.
It is believed that approximately 90% of Local Authorities in the UK restrict work to NICEIC Approved Contractors on safety grounds and householders can be assured that all work undertaken by an NICEIC-registered contractor will be safe.
The main benefits of using a contractor registered by NICEIC include:
Safety and competence
Contractors registered by NICEIC are assessed on a regular basis to ensure that they are competent and capable of meeting the relevant technical and safety standards, codes of practice and rules of the Schemes they are registered to. Each Scheme has a defined set of competence criteria that contractors must meet to achieve and maintain registration.
Compliance with building regulations
Contractors registered to NICEIC Building Regulations Schemes are authorised to self-certify their work without hindrance from Local Authority Building Control. This saves you both time and money when undertaking work that requires notification under the Building Regulations.
Insurance Backed Warranty
The NICEIC Insurance Backed Warranty covers work undertaken by contractors registered to the NICEIC Domestic Installer Scheme that is notifiable to Building Control. The purpose of the Warranty is to protect consumers should any work be found not to comply with the Building Regulations under circumstances where the contractor is no longer in business to undertake the necessary remedial work.
The financial limit placed on the remedial work is £25,000 in respect of any one installation per period of insurance and the warranty is valid for a period of six years from the date of completion of the original work.
Independent Complaints Procedure
NICEIC operates an independent complaints procedure governing the technical standards of electrical installation of its Approved Contractor and Domestic Installer Schemes. If the electrical work of a registered contractor is found to be below the accepted technical standard, NICEIC requires the contractor to correct the work, at no additional cost to the customer. NICEIC is concerned solely with the safety and technical standard of the electrical work carried out by Approved Contractors, and the standard of certification and periodic inspection reports which Approved Contractors are responsible for producing.
Guarantee of Standards Scheme
NICEIC expects its registered contractors to provide a quality service to their customers and, therefore, endeavour to resolve all complaints about the technical standard of their electrical work. If a customer and an Approved Contractor are unable to resolve an alleged deficiency in the technical standard of electrical work, the customer can make a formal complaint to NICEIC.
As described above, the NICEIC Complaints Procedure requires the an NICEIC-registered contractor to resolve the technical deficiency without additional cost to the consumer. However, if the contractor does not undertake the required remedial work, NICEIC’s Guarantee of Standards Scheme ensures it will be done by another NICEIC-registered contractor, at no cost to the customer.