HIRING GUIDES · 4 MIN READ
Registered electrician or not: how to check in two minutes
Most electrical work in a home may only be done by a Safe Electric Registered Electrical Contractor. The register is public, the check is free, and the certificate at the end is yours by law. What to ask, where to look, what to keep.
IN SHORT
- Restricted works — a new circuit, a fuse board, anything in a bathroom, anything that needs certifying — may only be done by a Registered Electrical Contractor (REC). Doing them unregistered is a criminal offence; a Sligo court imposed €24,409 in fines and costs on 12 October 2026.
- Check at safeelectric.ie under Find a Registered Electrical Contractor. Not every REC lists publicly, so if a name is missing, ring 091 480 974 or email [email protected] to confirm.
- At the end of restricted work you must be given a Completion Certificate, signed by the contractor's qualified certifier, with a copy lodged with Safe Electric. No certificate, no proof the work is safe, and no new ESB connection.
What counts as restricted
The 2013 regulations list four kinds of domestic work that only an REC may do: a new installation needing connection to the ESB network; fitting, replacing or altering a distribution board, and any work in a bathroom, shower room or similar "special location"; installing or replacing a circuit, including its breaker; and inspecting, testing or certifying an existing installation. Safe Electric's own summary: restricted works "cover most electrical work in a home".
What is left is minor work: a like-for-like switch or socket, moving a light on an existing circuit, adding a socket to an existing radial circuit. It still has to meet the National Rules; it just does not need a registered contractor. An electric shower, an EV charger, solar PV, a rewire, a board upgrade, an extension: all restricted.
The check
- Ask, before anything starts: "Are you a Safe Electric Registered Electrical Contractor?" About 4,000 are. RECs are insured and have a sample of their work inspected every year.
- Look them up at safeelectric.ie, Find a Registered Electrical Contractor: search by county (Dublin is split by district) and town. Public listing is optional, so a missing name is not proof of anything; phone Safe Electric on 091 480 974 or email [email protected] and they will confirm.
- Ask what certificate you will get, and when. For restricted work the answer is a Completion Certificate, issued when the work is complete, by the contractor's named qualified certifier. For minor work, a certificate on request.
- On a Locufy profile, an electrician can show their Safe Electric registration with a link to the register; the identity check carries the date it was made. Use it as the starting point, not the end.
The certificate
Section 9D(13) of the Electricity Regulation Act requires an REC who carries out specified works to issue a completion certificate to the person who requested them. You get the original; a copy goes to Safe Electric. The main types: Certificate No. 1 for a new installation that needs an ESB Networks connection; No. 3 for alterations, additions, extensions and grant work. If a contractor finds a hazard they must issue a Notice of Potential Hazard. If a registered contractor refuses to certify, complain to Safe Electric.
Two of the CRU's recent prosecutions turned on certificates: a Longford man issued a fake one in 2024; an Enniscrone man twice promised one he could not issue, and the homeowner could not get a new supply connected until a registered contractor redid the work.
If the work is already done
Ask for the certificate in writing. If there is none and the contractor is registered, complain to Safe Electric. If the contractor was not registered, report it at safeelectric.ie/help/report and have an REC carry out a Periodic Inspection Report; it tells you what must be put right. The CRU prosecutes on reports from the public, and in the Sligo case the court ordered €24,409 in fines, costs and witness expenses.
“We urge customers to always check that their electrical contractor is registered with Safe Electric.”
Rory Mee, Acting Director of Energy Safety, CRU, 14 October 2026
≈4,000
Registered Electrical Contractors in Ireland
4
kinds of restricted work: new installation, fuse board/bathroom, circuits, certification
€5,000 / 6 months
maximum per offence in the District Court
By the numbers — figures from the sources listed at the end of this piece.
WHAT TO DO NEXT
Electricians near you who show their Safe Electric registration — no account needed to look.WRITTEN WITH
The listed providers who told us what a good customer asks them. Real names, real listings — nobody is invented.
Dónal KeaneElectrician · Inchicore · ★ 4.9 · 143 reviews
Fitzgerald Plumbing & HeatingPlumber · Clondalkin · ★ 4.8 · 97 reviews
Tom ReillyHandyman · Phibsborough · ★ 4.9 · 58 reviews
Questions this piece gets asked
Is there a REC number I can type in to check?
Safe Electric's public search is by county and town, not by number. Ask the contractor for their registered trading name, search that, and if it is not listed, phone 091 480 974 to confirm.
Can a registered electrician subcontract my job to someone unregistered?
The restricted work itself must be done by a registered contractor, and only the REC's qualified certifier can sign the certificate. Ask who will be on site.
Does this apply to a landlord doing work on a rental?
Yes. The rule is about the work, not who owns the house.
Sources
- S.I. No. 264/2013, Restricted Electrical Works Regulations
- Safe Electric, Controlled and restricted electrical works
- Safe Electric, Find a Registered Electrical Contractor
- Safe Electric, Completion certificates
- Safe Electric, Report illegal work
- Electricity Regulation Act 1999, s.9D (revised)
- Electricity Regulation Act 1999, s.9E (revised)
- CRU, Sligo conviction, 14 Oct 2026
- CRU, Longford conviction, 19 Feb 2024
- CRU, Ballina conviction, 22 Jan 2025
- CRU, Electrical works in the home
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Comments 3
TopNewest
- REAoife M.Customer · Dublin 8EDITOR'S PICK2 h ago
Question 5 saved me once. The deposit a roofer wanted was more than the materials for the whole job.
- PRMarta R.Provider · Plumber · Clondalkin1 h ago
Good list. I would add: ask who turns up on the second day. The person who quotes is not always the person who does the work.
- RECiara D.Customer · Cork40 min ago
Printed. Fridge door.
Signed-in Locufy customers and providers only. Comments close 30 days after publication. Report anything that names a person unfairly — we act on every report.
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