What is TrustMark?

Glossary · Regulations and registration

How TrustMark works

TrustMark describes itself as the only UK Government-Endorsed Quality Scheme for work carried out in and around the home. It started in 2005, is a not-for-profit organisation and operates under a Master Licence Agreement issued by the Department for Business and Trade.^{[1]TrustMark, Who is TrustMark?}

It works through scheme providers. It licenses and audits more than 40 scheme providers, which are accreditation bodies and trade associations. Those providers have around 18,000 registered businesses across 115 service types, from electricians and plumbers to carpet cleaners. The providers in turn license their registered businesses and make sure they keep to standards of technical competence, trading practices and customer service.^{[1]TrustMark, Who is TrustMark?} Complaints guidance adds that scheme providers can be trade associations, certification bodies or competent person schemes.^{[3]TrustMark, Complaints Process} NAPIT, for example, says it became a TrustMark scheme operator in 2006.^{[5]NAPIT, About us}

What protection it offers

The vetting, the guarantee and the financial protection are all described on TrustMark’s consumer protection page.^{[2]TrustMark, Consumer Protection} Its homeowner guidance says registered businesses are vetted and monitored, and that homeowners can use a dispute resolution process if something goes wrong.^{[4]TrustMark, Information and Guidance for Homeowners} It also advises you to ask the business about the guarantee before contracting for work.^{[2]TrustMark, Consumer Protection}

The complaints process

TrustMark sets out three stages that must be followed in order. First, raise the complaint with the registered business and give it a reasonable time to put things right. Second, escalate to the business’s scheme provider, which should investigate and mediate. Third, if it is still unresolved, you can take it to the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman, provided the earlier stages are complete and you do so within 12 months of the initial complaint.^{[3]TrustMark, Complaints Process}

TrustMark cannot help if the business no longer holds a registration or has ceased trading, if it was not registered when it did the work, if the work was completed more than 6 years ago, if the complaint is a financial or contractual matter, or if legal action has begun.^{[3]TrustMark, Complaints Process}

Example

Chloe has a job done in her house in Garforth by a business that displays the TrustMark logo. A fault appears two months after the work. She writes to the business first, as stage one asks, and gives it time to respond. When there is no reply she looks the firm up on TrustMark’s Find a Business page, which shows its scheme provider, and escalates to that provider at stage two.^{[3]TrustMark, Complaints Process} She does this before the 12 month window to reach the ombudsman closes.^{[3]TrustMark, Complaints Process}

What people get wrong

Many people treat the TrustMark logo as proof in itself. A logo is a claim, not a check. TrustMark’s own homeowner page says consumers now check with schemes that a business has the right to use an accreditation, and its Find a Business page shows which scheme provider a firm is registered with.

TrustMark is also not the same as Part P. The Building Regulations compliance certificate for notifiable electrical work comes from an installer registered with an authorised competent person scheme, not from TrustMark.^{[6]Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Electrical safety: Approved Document P (2013 edition)} Our page on the Building Regulations compliance certificate explains the difference, and NICEIC vs NAPIT covers two of the schemes.

The bottom line

TrustMark is a government-endorsed quality scheme that works through scheme providers. It offers vetting, an expected two-year guarantee, financial protection and a three-stage complaints route. It does not replace the certificates electrical work needs, and it can only help with businesses that were registered when the work was done. Check the register for any firm that shows the logo, and ask about the guarantee before you sign.