Certifications
Certified solar installers: what MCS, NAPIT, CHAS and RECC actually do.
The badges on a solar quote decide real things: whether you get paid for the electricity you export, whether your local authority is told about the electrical work, whether your insurer and lender accept the installation, and where you stand if something goes wrong. Here is what each of the four schemes we hold does, and how to check them for yourself.
What each certification covers
Homes, landlords and businesses
- Export payments unlocked: MCS certified up to 50 kW
- Building Regulations certificate issued on every install
- Health and safety file assessed for councils and contractors
Before you sign anything
Four checks to make before choosing a solar installer.
Ask any installer for NAPIT (Building Regulations notification), MCS (the UK install standard), CHAS (independently assessed health and safety) and RECC (a Trading Standards-approved household contract). Miss one and you can lose export payments, insurance cover, or the certificate a solicitor asks for when you sell.
We hold all four. They have been through competitive tender with Newcastle City Council, Durham County Council, South Tyneside Council and the NHS, and they apply on a warehouse, a farm or a house.
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You get paid for exported power
Energy suppliers only register Smart Export Guarantee payments on MCS-certified systems up to 50 kW. No certificate, no income.
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Your paperwork arrives without chasing
NAPIT notifies your local authority and issues the Building Regulations Compliance Certificate you will need for insurance and resale.
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Your insurer, lender and funder stay onside
Certified installation is what they ask for before covering, mortgaging or financing a property with solar on the roof.
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Somewhere independent to go if things go wrong
RECC gives homeowners a free, Trading Standards-approved complaints route. Councils and contractors get an assessed CHAS health and safety file.
The tender gate
CHAS
Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme
Councils, NHS, main contractors
What is CHAS certification?
CHAS is a health and safety assessment under Safety Schemes in Procurement, the SSIP umbrella most UK public buyers use before they let a contractor on site. Assessors check our safety policies, staff training, risk assessments, accident record and insurance every year, against the same criteria a council or main contractor would otherwise have to audit themselves.
What it means for your installation
If you are a council, housing association or main contractor, you do not wait while we assemble a health and safety file: our CHAS status is already verifiable on the SSIP portal, with risk assessments, method statements and insurance documents supplied as standard. If you are a homeowner, it means the people on your roof work to the same safety standard the NHS required of us.
Verify contractors on the SSIP portal
The install standard
MCS
Microgeneration Certification Scheme
Homes, schools, smaller commercial roofs
What is MCS certification?
MCS is the UK quality mark for renewable design, installation and products. It audits how we size and specify your system and requires every panel, inverter and battery we fit to be listed on the MCS product directory. For systems up to 50 kW it is also the certificate your energy supplier needs before they will pay you for exported electricity.
What it means for your installation
Your Smart Export Guarantee income depends on it: suppliers will not register a non-MCS installation, which on a typical home is hundreds of pounds a year left on the table. Insurers, mortgage lenders and grant schemes ask for the same certificate. Larger commercial arrays sit outside the 50 kW microgeneration band; we design those to the same standard, and MCS still applies to any school, housing or SME roof that falls under it.
Find us on the MCS installer directory
The electrical ticket
NAPIT
National Association of Professional Inspectors and Testers
Every connection we make
What is NAPIT certification?
NAPIT is a government-authorised Competent Person Scheme. Solar and battery work is notifiable under the Building Regulations in England and Wales; NAPIT membership lets us self-certify it, notify your local authority and issue you a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate. The electrical work itself is inspected to BS 7671, the UK wiring regulations.
What it means for your installation
You receive a compliance certificate your local authority has actually been told about, not a hope that someone remembered to book Building Control. That certificate is what your insurer accepts and what a buyer’s solicitor asks for if you ever sell the property. There is no separate Building Control fee for work inside the scheme. MCS covers the renewable design; NAPIT covers the electrics and the legal notification.
Read NAPIT’s consumer guidance
The contract standard
RECC
Renewable Energy Consumer Code
Homeowners, landlords, housing stock
What is RECC certification?
RECC is a consumer protection code approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, written specifically for households buying solar and battery systems. It sets rules for how members behave before you sign anything: no pressure selling, performance estimates based on your actual property, protected deposits, clear contracts and cancellation rights.
What it means for your installation
If you are a homeowner, your deposit is protected, your contract has to say exactly what you are getting and for how much, and if we ever could not resolve a complaint you have a free, independent dispute route that can make binding decisions, without going to court. If you are a landlord or housing officer, the company quoting tenant roofs is already held to that code. Business-to-business contracts sit outside RECC; CHAS and the tender pack cover those.
See the RECC member listWho needs which
Which certification matters for your project?
You do not need every scheme for every job. A homeowner cares about MCS, NAPIT and RECC. A procurement officer cares about CHAS first, then whether the array is MCS-eligible. We hold all four so the pack is already complete when you ask.
| CHAS | MCS | NAPIT | RECC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Council or NHS tender | Required at pre-qualification | On any system up to 50 kW | Building regs notification | Housing / tenant work |
| Commercial warehouse or farm | Main-contractor H&S gate | If the array is under 50 kW | Electrical certification | Not a B2B code |
| School or social housing | Usually in the pack | Needed for SEG and grants | Self-certified compliance | If occupants are consumers |
| Private home | Useful, not the reason you hire us | Needed for export payments | Your compliance certificate | Your contract protection |
Tested at tender
The same certifications won council and NHS work.
Public-sector buyers do not take certification on trust; they audit it. These organisations appointed us through competitive tender, which means our certificates, insurance, references and health and safety file have been through procurement review, not just printed on a brochure. If you are running a tender yourself, we can send risk assessments, method statements and named references with the quote.
See the installs in our case studies, read about commercial solar panel installation or home solar and battery storage.
Certification questions
Solar installer certification FAQs.
Why do councils ask for CHAS?
CHAS is an SSIP health and safety scheme. Local authorities and main contractors use it at pre-qualification so they do not have to audit every bidder's health and safety file from scratch. We already sit on the SSIP portal, so the risk assessments, method statements and insurance documents that come with a tender are routine, not a scramble.
Do we need an MCS-certified installer?
Yes, if you want Smart Export Guarantee payments on systems up to 50 kW: suppliers will not register a non-MCS install. Insurers, lenders and many grant schemes ask for it as well. Larger commercial arrays sit outside that microgeneration band; we still design and install those to the same standard, and MCS still matters on any roof that does fall under 50 kW, including school and housing stock.
What does NAPIT cover that MCS does not?
MCS audits the renewable design and the products. NAPIT is the Competent Person Scheme for the electrical work and Building Regulations notification. That is the difference between a pretty certificate and a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate that the local authority has actually been told about.
Does RECC apply to commercial contracts?
No. RECC is a domestic consumer code approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute. It governs how we quote, take deposits and handle complaints for homeowners. A B2B contract sits outside it. Housing officers and landlords still get the benefit: the same company quoting tenant roofs is already held to that code.
How do I check a solar installer is MCS certified?
Search the installer directory at mcscertified.com; every certified business is listed there by name and postcode. You can verify Green Team Partnership the same way. NAPIT membership can be checked on the NAPIT website, and CHAS status on the SSIP portal. A genuine installer will never mind you checking.
Can you supply a tender pack?
Yes. CHAS status, risk assessments and method statements (RAMS), insurance documents and named public-sector references are part of how we work, not an extra. We have been appointed by Newcastle City Council, Durham County Council, South Tyneside Council and the NHS through competitive tender.
More on the FAQ hub, or how GTP works.
Need the paperwork with the quote?
Free surveyed estimates with certificates and compliance documents included, plus named public-sector references if you need them. Talk to the team that already installs for homes, landlords, three councils and the NHS.