Checkatrade Electricians and Other Ways to Hire for Part P Work

A new circuit for an electric shower, a replacement consumer unit after a fault, a charger on the drive for a new car. Each of these jobs ends with paperwork that matters when you sell your home, and the certificate comes from the electrician and the scheme they are registered with. So the useful question when comparing Checkatrade electricians with those on MyBuilder, Bark, TrustATrader or Top Rated Electricians is not which site is safest. It is which site helps you reach a registered electrician with a strong record, and what each one adds or leaves for you to check.

This guide starts with the rules for electrical work in a home, then compares how each site puts you in touch, what it checks, how it orders results and what happens if the work goes wrong. Facts about the other sites come from their own pages as published on 8 November 2026, or from copies of their own pages saved between November 2025 and October 2026 where the live site could not be read. Prices and terms can change, so check the latest version before you rely on them.

Notifiable electrical work and why it changes how you hire

In England, Approved Document P sets out three kinds of electrical work in a home that are notifiable, which means building control has to know about them or a registered person has to certify them.

• Installing a new circuit, for example for a cooker, an electric shower or a car charger.
• Replacing a consumer unit, the box also known as the fuse box.
• Adding to or altering an existing circuit in a special location, which means the space around a bath or shower, or a room with a swimming pool or sauna heater.

Everything else is not notifiable in England. That covers additions and alterations outside those special locations, plus repairs, replacements and maintenance anywhere in the house. GOV.UK gives new power and lighting points, and changes to existing circuits away from baths and showers, as examples that do not need approval. Even so, Approved Document P says non notifiable work should still be designed, installed, inspected, tested and certified to the BS 7671 wiring standard, and that councils can take enforcement action on unsafe non notifiable work.

Wales has a longer list. According to the Electrical Competent Person Register, extending a circuit in a kitchen, running a supply to a shed, fitting garden lighting or adding an outdoor socket are notifiable there. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules, and GOV.UK points to them separately.

The simplest route through all of this is to use an electrician registered with a competent person scheme. GOV.UK says you do not need to get approval yourself if you use someone registered with one. A scheme member can self certify the work and tell the council on your behalf if needed.

The certificates a homeowner should end up holding

The Electrical Competent Person Register publishes a short table of which document follows which job. The version below follows that table and Approved Document P.

For notifiable work, Approved Document P says the installer or their scheme must give the occupier the compliance certificate within 30 days of finishing, and tell building control. GOV.UK adds that the certificate shows up in solicitors' searches when you come to sell, and that without approval you will not have the certificates of compliance you may need at that point. Keep every certificate somewhere safe. The guide to electrical certificates and Part P goes through each document in more detail.

Landlords have a separate duty. In England, private landlords must have the electrics in a rented home inspected and tested at least every five years by a qualified and competent person, and arrange any required work within 28 days. Wales has a similar five year rule for social and private landlords.

How each site connects you with an electrician

Rated People is now part of Checkatrade Group. Its own pages, in copies saved in September and October 2026, say homeowners can still post a job for free and get up to 3 quotes, and that leads are now routed to Checkatrade tradespeople.

The split that matters is between finding and posting. On a directory you see the electricians first and make the call. On MyBuilder, Bark and Rated People you describe the job first and hear back from electricians who chose to respond. Bark says up to 5 professionals can respond to each request.

Timing is where this shows. For a fault that needs someone today, you will want to phone electricians directly, which a directory list or Checkatrade search allows. A job post means waiting for replies. For a planned rewire, describing the work once and comparing responses can suit you better. The guide on when you need an emergency electrician covers which faults count as urgent.

What each site says it checks on electricians

Registration with a competent person scheme is the check most closely tied to notifiable work, and it is one you can make yourself on the register. Here is what each site says it does.

• Checkatrade says its members pass up to 12 checks, including qualifications, ID, court judgments and a financial check, and that most checks are repeated over time. Its electrician page tells homeowners to ask whether an electrician is registered with a Competent Person Scheme and to look for proof of qualifications for the specific job, such as charger installation. Checkatrade's electrician page says only tradespeople who pass its checks and commit to the Checkatrade Standard appear in its listings, while its terms say free profile trades can also appear, have not been through those checks and cannot be contacted through the platform.
• TrustATrader's own pages, in copies saved in February and May 2026, say it asks electricians for proof of registration with a governing body and proof of Part P compliance, along with insurance documents and at least five verifiable references.
• MyBuilder says it checks ID and company details at registration, and asks for certifications for regulated jobs or an online skills check. Its terms say those checks are not a guarantee and that the customer should verify insurance and qualifications before agreeing a job.
• Bark says not all professionals on its site are verified. Those with the Bark Verified badge, a paid add on included with Elite Pro, have been through photo ID, background, fraud and business registration checks.
• Top Rated Electricians checks that each electrician has an active verified Google Business Profile, a working website and at least 5 Google reviews. It does not check insurance or qualifications.

Whichever site you use, the Electrical Competent Person Register lets you check an electrician by company name, for homes in England and Wales. GOV.UK names the schemes authorised for electrical work in homes as BESCA, Blue Flame Certification, Certsure (which trades as NICEIC), NAPIT and OFTEC, and anyone who joins one of them is added to that register.

Ranking, sponsored spots and the order you see

It helps to know what puts a name near the top of each list.

• Top Rated Electricians ranks electricians by their Google star rating weighed by the number of Google reviews, using a Bayesian average. A rating built on many reviews counts for more than the same rating built on a few. The method is published on the About page and nobody can pay to change their place in it. Up to three Featured spots can appear on county and town pages, labelled Sponsored, and they do not affect the ranking.
• Checkatrade's terms give relevance, reviews, availability, location and market conditions as the main factors. It also sells Sponsored Listings, paid placements that may appear above regular results.
• MyBuilder ranks profiles on relevance first, then distance, then customer feedback, then responsiveness, measured as replies sent in the past week. Trades active for 2 months or less get a random boost. A paid monthly sponsored placement is also available, and MyBuilder says it is labelled and leaves the organic factors unchanged.
• Bark sorts matches by Best match unless the customer filters them. Bark says its paid Elite Pro plan lets members appear higher in the seller list shown to customers.
• No formal ranking rule was found in the TrustATrader pages read. It says members with recent reviews, photos and full profiles get the most work.

Reviews behind the ratings

The number of reviews and how recent they are are worth weighing alongside the headline score. A perfect rating from a handful of customers is a short record, and a high rating from many customers is a longer one.

• Top Rated Electricians draws on Google reviews, which any customer of the business can leave, however they first heard of the electrician. A profile here shows the star rating, how many reviews sit behind it and how they split across one to five stars.
• On Checkatrade a review can come from someone who enquired, was quoted or had the work done. Each one passes verification and fraud checks before it goes live, and members may also invite past customers who came to them some other way.
• MyBuilder accepts a review from a homeowner who hired through it after the work begins or a deposit is paid. A trade can add reviews from up to five customers met outside the platform, each verified with a paid invoice.
• Bark lets a professional gather reviews from anyone they have worked for and bring in reviews already on Google or Facebook.
• TrustATrader says it only allows registered consumers to leave reviews because it needs their contact details in case of a bad review, and that it follows up less positive reviews with the consumer and makes spot-check calls.

Electric car chargers and the grant installer rule

Charger installation is a good example of a job where the installer's status affects what you can claim. If the charger is fed by a new circuit from the consumer unit, that makes it notifiable work in England. On top of that, the government grant has its own installer rule.

• GOV.UK says the chargepoint grant for renters and flat owners gives 75% off the cost of buying and installing a socket, up to a maximum of £500, and OZEV says the grants are extended for a final year until 31 March 2027.
• You cannot apply if you own and live in a house, unless it has been converted into flats.
• Only an installer authorised by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles can claim the grant, and to be authorised an installer gives a Competent Person Scheme number or an Electrical Contractors' Association membership number.
• GOV.UK has a postcode search for approved installers, so you can check an electrician's status before you book.

Checkatrade's electrician page makes a similar point, telling homeowners to look for proof of qualifications for the specific job, such as charger installation. On any site, ask the electrician whether they are authorised for the grant if you expect to claim it. The guide on electric car charger installation at home covers costs and supply questions.

Guarantees and where to take a complaint

Two of the sites offer their own guarantee, and the electrician's scheme offers another route.

• Checkatrade offers a free, discretionary guarantee against sub standard workmanship, paying at most £1,000 for each approved claim. It applies when the homeowner reached the trade by phone, quote form or message through Checkatrade, or paid with Checkatrade Pay, and the claim is made within 6 months of the job finishing.
• TrustATrader's own pages, in an archived copy, say the agreed job must be registered for free before work begins, that it is then covered up to £1,000 for poor workmanship, and that the homeowner must review the trader within 30 days of completion. The full guarantee terms were not read.
• The MyBuilder and Bark pages read for this guide did not show a guarantee for homeowners.
• Top Rated Electricians has no guarantee of its own. Ask each electrician what cover comes with their work, and whether their scheme offers a warranty.

For electrical work there is a further layer that does not depend on any website. GOV.UK says competent person schemes have insurance backed warranties and complaints procedures. The Electrical Competent Person Register says that if a problem cannot be sorted out with the electrician, you can contact the scheme operator they are certified by. That route only exists if the electrician is registered, which is one more reason to check before work starts.

Matching the site to the job

Each site suits a different way of hiring, and nothing stops you using more than one.

Top Rated Electricians suits you if you would like to look over the electricians listed for your town, ordered by Google rating and review count, then ring the ones you like without posting a job. Up to three can be saved to a shortlist and set side by side on one screen. Then check their registration yourself, because the site does not.

Checkatrade suits you if its published checks and its discretionary guarantee are what you value most, and you are happy to contact the trade through Checkatrade so that the guarantee can apply.

MyBuilder, Bark or Rated People suit you if you would rather describe a planned job once and let electricians respond.

TrustATrader suits you if you want a directory of members that it says it has checked, with its own guarantee for registered jobs.

Before the electrician starts

1. Decide whether the job is notifiable. In England a new circuit, a new consumer unit or a change to a circuit near a bath or shower is notifiable.
2. Search the Electrical Competent Person Register by company name to confirm the electrician is registered, whichever site you found them on.
3. Read the newest Google reviews on their profile, not only the score, and look for jobs like yours.
4. Ask which certificate you will receive and confirm that the compliance certificate will follow within 30 days for notifiable work.
5. For a charger, check the installer is authorised for the grant if you plan to claim it.
6. Get the price, the timetable and the payment terms in writing before work begins.

When you are ready to compare local names, find an electrician near you and see how electricians in your area are ranked on their Google reviews.