OFTEC’s competent person scheme is designed for oil, solid fuel and renewable heating technicians. The scheme also offers registration for technicians who hold Part P electrical qualifications and who install energy efficiency measures under PAS2030.

Unlike GasSafe, OFTEC registration is not mandatory but it is equally important to maintaining industry standards and protecting consumers. Those businesses who are not registered with OFTEC but deliberately use the logo to mislead customers could be carrying out poor quality work, damaging the reputation of all responsible registered technicians and at worst, putting the safety of consumers at risk.

OFTEC registration director, Adrian Lightwood, commented: “The OFTEC badge is there to protect customers and provide them with confidence and peace of mind that they are employing a competent person who is fully qualified, insured and checked to carry out heating works.

“We work hard to ensure the OFTEC name remains synonymous with the highest professional standards and therefore clamp down hard on anyone who falsely claims OFTEC registration.

“We recognise that in some cases, registration may have lapsed and a business has simply forgotten to remove the logo, or a technician who has completed OFTEC training has wrongly assumed they can then automatically display the logo. However, we also know there are others who are fraudulently using the OFTEC identity to gain more business.

“We take these incidences very seriously and work closely with regional trading standards who have the legal powers to take action if the issue is not resolved.”