Certification & Licensing
Trades Certification & Licensing by Country
Unlike software or insurance, trade certification is often a legal requirement, not a competitive edge — and the rules differ sharply by country (and sometimes by state or province). This is the map of the 15 key certification and licensing bodies across the 5 English-speaking markets we cover, for gas, electrical, plumbing, and building work. Each links to a full breakdown and the official body.
Why certification works differently abroad
In most of these markets, gas, electrical, and (often) plumbing work for hire is restricted to licensed or registered practitioners — doing it unlicensed is a criminal offense, not just a reputational risk. The schemes also double as consumer-trust signals: homeowners are taught to check for the Gas Safe, NICEIC, RGI, ECRA/ESA, or equivalent registration before hiring. A few schemes (like Canada's Red Seal or the HVAC institute HRAI) are about portable qualification and industry standing rather than a legal licence. The US is the outlier: there is no single national trades-licensing body — it is regulated state by state.
United Kingdom
Gas Safe Register (gas), NICEIC (electrical / Part P), and OFTEC (oil heating) are legal requirements — unlicensed work is a criminal offense, and software/insurance must handle RTI, CIS, and VAT natively.
Gas Safe Register
Legally required UK certification for any gas work — replaces the old CORGI scheme
NICEIC
UK's largest electrical contractor certification body — ~38,000 certified businesses
OFTEC
UK oil-fired heating certification — for technicians installing/servicing oil boilers
Australia
Licensing is state-administered (e.g., electrical and plumbing licenses per state/territory), and payroll software must lodge Single Touch Payroll (STP) to the ATO and handle superannuation and GST.
NSW Fair Trading
NSW state licensing body for trades — plumbing, electrical, builders
QBCC (Queensland Building and Construction Commission)
Queensland's building + construction licensing body — covers trades doing building work
VBA (Victorian Building Authority)
Victoria's building authority — registers builders + licenses plumbers, drainers, gasfitters
Canada
Trade certification is provincial (with the interprovincial Red Seal endorsement), and payroll/accounting software must handle CRA source deductions, GST/HST/PST, and — for Quebec — French-language and Revenu Québec requirements.
Red Seal Program
National interprovincial standard for skilled trades — recognized across all CA provinces
HRAI (Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute)
CA HVAC/refrigeration industry body — 50+ year history, certification programs
TSSA (Technical Standards and Safety Authority)
Ontario regulatory body for gas, elevators, boilers, fuels — mandatory licensing
ESA / ECRA (Electrical Safety Authority — Ontario)
Ontario electrical-contractor licensing (ECRA/ESA) — legally required to do electrical work for hire
New Zealand
Trades are registered/licensed (e.g., the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board; the Electrical Workers Registration Board), and payroll software must handle IRD payday filing, KiwiSaver, and GST.
EWRB (Electrical Workers Registration Board)
NZ electrical worker registration — ~38K registered, legally required
PGDB (Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board)
NZ plumbing/gas/drainage licensing — legally required, unlicensed work is illegal
LBP (Licensed Building Practitioners)
NZ building-practitioner licensing — required to carry out or supervise Restricted Building Work
Ireland
Gas work requires Registered Gas Installer (RGI) status and electrical work requires Safe Electric registration, while payroll/accounting must handle Revenue PAYE Modernisation (real-time reporting), RCT, and VAT.
RGI (Registered Gas Installer)
Ireland's mandatory gas-installer registration — unlicensed gas work is illegal under Energy Act 2006
Safe Electric / RECI
Ireland's mandatory electrical contractor registration — legally required for controlled electrical works
Working in the US instead?
US trades licensing is regulated state by state rather than through a single national body. Browse our US directory and state-by-state pages for software, lead-gen, insurance, and more.