This is general information written by a web design company, not legal advice. Rules change and your scheme's own conditions apply on top of the law. Check with your scheme and, where the stakes are high, with a solicitor.
Why this page exists. Almost every guide to trades websites covers colours, photographs and call buttons. Almost none covers what you are allowed to say. That is the gap, and it is the part with consequences: an advertising claim you cannot substantiate is a problem with the Advertising Standards Authority, a lapsed logo is a problem with your scheme, and an invented review is now a problem with the Competition and Markets Authority.
Scheme logos: the three rules that catch people out
1. Current registration, not past registration
A scheme mark says you are registered now. If your registration lapses, the logo comes off the site, the van and the invoice template. Leaving it up because it is awkward to remove is a misleading claim about your status.
2. The right mark, in the right form
Schemes publish usage rules covering which mark applies to which registration, the wording that must accompany it and how it may be reproduced. They exist because the marks mean different things. Downloading a logo from a search result and dropping it in the footer is how businesses end up displaying a mark they are not entitled to.
3. Scope matters
Registration is assessed against a scope of work. A mark presented in a way that implies coverage you are not assessed for, for example on a page about commercial work when your registration covers domestic installation, is misleading even though the mark itself is genuine.
The practical fix is the same in every case: publish your registration number alongside the mark. A number can be checked, which turns a decorative claim into verifiable proof, and it is the thing agents and commercial buyers look for first.
Approved, certified, accredited: the words to be careful with
UK non-broadcast advertising is governed by the CAP Code, and marketing claims must be capable of substantiation. Accreditation language is where trades sites most often drift:
- Approved. Approved by whom? Name them, or do not use the word.
- Certified. Certified to do what, and by which body? A certificate you hold personally is not the same as a business accreditation.
- Government approved. Almost never accurate and a claim regulators take seriously.
- Fully qualified. Meaningless on its own. Name the qualification.
- Guaranteed, cheapest, fastest, number one. Superlatives you would have to evidence if challenged, and comparative claims about competitors need to be substantiated too.
The safe version is always the specific one. "NICEIC registered, registration number 123456" says more, and proves more, than "fully approved and certified".
Reviews: the law changed, and it has teeth
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 brought fake reviews into the list of banned commercial practices, in force since April 2025. In plain terms:
- Writing or commissioning reviews that are not from genuine customers is prohibited.
- Presenting an incentivised review as independent, without disclosing the incentive, is prohibited.
- Publishing reviews while suppressing or hiding negative ones can itself be misleading.
- The Competition and Markets Authority can enforce directly, without going to court first, with penalties of up to 10 per cent of global turnover.
The practical consequence for a website is simple. Every published testimonial should correspond to a real customer, and you should keep the source record, the email, message or written feedback, so you can evidence it if challenged. If you cannot evidence a quote, do not publish it.
What has to appear on the page
- Limited companies. Company name, registered number, place of registration and registered office address. Convention is the footer or a dedicated page.
- Contact details. A way to reach you that is not only a web form.
- Privacy notice. If you collect names, emails or phone numbers through a form, you are processing personal data and need to explain what you collect, why, how long you keep it and what rights people have.
- Cookies and analytics. Non-essential cookies and similar technologies, which includes most analytics, need consent before they are set. A banner that only informs is not consent.
- Terms. Not legally required for an enquiry-only site, but sensible once you are quoting through it.
Claims about work and prices
Two more that catch trades businesses. Price claims must be genuine: a "from" price has to be a price you would actually do the job for, and if it excludes VAT to a consumer audience that has to be clear. And photographs should be of your own work. Using another business's job photographs, even from a supplier's marketing pack, is a misleading claim about your experience and potentially a copyright problem as well.
A short self-audit
- Is every logo on the site one you are currently registered for?
- Is your registration number published next to it?
- Could you evidence every review on the site tomorrow?
- Does every accreditation word name the body behind it?
- Are your company details in the footer if you are a limited company?
- Does your analytics only load after somebody agrees to it?
- Are the photographs of jobs you actually did?
Seven questions. If you cannot answer yes to all seven, the fixes are usually an afternoon's work and they remove a risk that is disproportionate to the effort.