Competent Person Scheme: What It Is & How It Works?

The Competent Person Scheme (CPS) is a government-authorised certification scheme that allows qualified tradespeople to self-certify certain types of building work in England and Wales without the need for separate local authority approval. 

If you run a trade business in England or Wales, or you're a property owner who's just had construction work done, there's a good chance the CPS already affects you.

Here's how CPS works for installers and homeowners, which trades it covers, and what can happen if work isn't properly certified. 

Key points

• Each trade has its own approved scheme 🔧
  Gas Safe is the only legal option for gas work. Electricians use NICEIC or NAPIT, and glazing installers use FENSA or Certass. Picking the wrong scheme or assuming a single registration covers everything can leave you exposed.
• The compliance certificate matters more than most people realise 📄
  Without it, uncertified work can surface in local land searches and complicate or delay a property sale. Keep it safe from the moment it's issued.
• Uncertified work carries real financial and legal risk ⚠️
  The person who carried out the work can be prosecuted and fined up to £5,000. The property owner may be required to fund remedial work. For landlords, there are additional risks related to insurance validity and legal compliance for rental properties.
• ANNA can help with the business admin 🚀
  Between notification deadlines, renewal dates, invoices, and tax records, the costs add up quickly. ANNA brings invoicing, bookkeeping, expense tracking, and tax estimates into one app, so you can keep the business side running without it taking over your week.

How the Competent Person Scheme works in practice 

A registered installer can certify that work complies with building regulations without requiring a Local Authority Building Control inspector to sign off on every job.

After the work is finished, the installer notifies building control and issues a certificate of compliance. This certificate proves the work meets legal requirements and can be important if you later sell or remortgage your property.

The scheme was introduced in 2002 and originally focused on electrical work. Today, it covers a range of trades, including heating, glazing, and renewable energy installations.

Joining a CPS is optional. If an installer isn’t registered, the work can still be approved by local authority building control or an approved inspector.

Trades that CPS covers

The scheme spans a broad range of building and installation work. 

This includes:

• Electrical work, such as new circuits
• Gas work, including boilers, heating systems, and gas appliances
• Oil heating systems and storage tanks
• Solid fuel appliances, such as wood-burning stoves
• Heating and plumbing work
• Replacement windows, doors, roof lights, and glazing
• Wall insulation and energy efficiency improvements
• Ventilation and air conditioning systems

The main schemes by trade are: 

• NICEIC, NAPIT, and ELECSA for electrical work
• The Gas Safe Register for gas installations
• OFTEC for oil
• HETAS for solid fuel
• APHC for plumbing
• FENSA and Certass for replacement glazing
• BESCA for ventilation and air conditioning

You'll need to choose the scheme that specifically matches your trade. You can register with more than one if you work across multiple disciplines.

How the scheme works for tradespeople

Each scheme has its own application process, rules, and fees. Before you're approved, your work will be assessed against the required competence standard and then inspected annually for the first two years. 

Joining a scheme

To register, installers have to demonstrate they meet the relevant Minimum Technical Competence (MTC) requirements. For most trades, this means holding a Level 3 qualification.

For example, if you’re an electrician, you’ll need a Level 3 NVQ plus a Level 3 inspection and testing qualification to apply to a scheme like NICEIC. You'll also need to demonstrate that you carry adequate insurance and can access the relevant technical standards for your scope of work.

Most schemes have a probationary period before approving you for self-certification of work.

Notifying completed work

Once you’re registered, the process of reporting your completed work is straightforward. 

After finishing a job, you have to notify your scheme operator within 21 days of completion so they can issue a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate and notify the relevant local authority. 

The scheme does this on your behalf, so you don't have to deal with building control directly for each job.

CPS membership saves, on average, £241 in building control fees per piece of notifiable work. For a busy installer completing multiple jobs per month, that's a meaningful saving across the year.

💡 Did you know? 

ANNA's invoicing tools let you track job completions and record when work was done, which is useful when you need to confirm notification dates or pull together paperwork for scheme renewals.

Staying registered

CPS membership isn't permanent.

You'll need to complete ongoing assessments, stay up to date with regulations, and maintain any required qualifications. If your registration lapses, you won't be able to self-certify work until it's reinstated.

Most scheme operators provide training, code updates, and continuing professional development resources to help members stay compliant with changes to Building Regulations, electrical safety standards, and certification requirements. 

How the scheme works for homeowners and property owners

When work is carried out on your property by a registered contractor, CPS provides compliance certificates that you may need when selling or remortgaging. 

If building control decides the work doesn't meet building regulations, you won't get a compliance certificate until the problems have been fixed. 

Hiring a contractor who is not registered with a scheme usually means you are responsible for arranging building regulations approval yourself. It could also make it more complicated to sell the property, especially if you're asked to provide proof that the work complies with regulations.

You'll usually have access to insurance-backed warranties and a complaints procedure in case the work is found to be non-compliant. 

What happens if work isn't certified

Without a CPS-registered tradesperson, you’ll have to get building regulations approval directly. Failure to comply can result in enforcement action, a fine of up to £5,000 for the contractor, and potential costs to rectify any non-compliant work. 

You also won't have the certificates of compliance you may need when selling.

For landlords, this matters beyond property sales too. Uncertified electrical or gas work on a rental property can compromise your insurance validity and legal compliance with landlord obligations. 

How ANNA helps with CPS management

Running a trade business means balancing on-site work with the admin that comes after, including invoicing, expense tracking, record-keeping, and ongoing paperwork. 

While you manage your CPS registration, ANNA can help make the business side of things much easier.

Instead of juggling separate apps for cash management, invoicing, bookkeeping, and tax, you can manage everything in one place with ANNA, spending less time on admin and more time earning. 

Here's what ANNA can do:

• Professional invoicing built in: Create and send invoices in minutes, track payments automatically, and see who's paid and who still owes you money.
• Business account and bookkeeping in one app: Connect all your transactions, invoices, expenses, and records, so there's less manual admin and fewer details to keep track of.
• Smart expense tracking: Snap a photo of a receipt, and ANNA stores it alongside your business records, making it easier to stay organised throughout the year.
• Free Self Assessment filing: If you're affected by Making Tax Digital, ANNA's MTD solution is free. As part of the current offer, ANNA will also file your 2026/27 Self Assessment for free when you sign up. If you've already paid for accounting software elsewhere, ANNA will refund the fee when you switch. 
• Real-time tax estimates: See how much tax you may owe as you earn, avoid surprises, and plan ahead with confidence.
• Smart money pots: Set aside a percentage of your income, so the money is there when you need it.
• 24/7 support: Get round-the-clock help from ANNA's professional support team.

Ready to spend less time on paperwork? Sign up for ANNA and let the admin take care of itself.