Any company can put a badge on its website. The question is whether it appears on the official register - because that is where the truth sits. If you are a business owner, facilities manager or responsible person choosing a security installer, this guide shows you exactly how to verify SSAIB and NSI registration, what each certification body actually covers, and why getting this wrong can affect your insurance, your police response and your duty of care.
Accreditation is not a certificate you buy once and frame. It means a company has passed an independent, third-party audit of its systems, engineers, documentation and ongoing work - and it has to keep passing that audit, typically every year. An accredited installer has demonstrated it meets the relevant British Standards. An unaccredited one has not, regardless of what its website claims.
There are two main certification bodies for UK security companies, and their scopes, while largely overlapping, are distinct. Understanding which body covers which work stops you comparing apples with oranges.
SSAIB is a UKAS-accredited, not-for-profit certification body founded in 1994. It certifies over 2,000 companies across the UK and Republic of Ireland for security systems, fire detection and alarm, monitoring, and manned security services. When a company is SSAIB certificated, its systems, processes and engineers have been independently inspected and found to meet relevant standards - including BS EN 50131 for intruder alarms. SSAIB certificated status is recognised by insurance companies and police forces for monitored alarm systems.
The correct term is "SSAIB certificated" - not "SSAIB accredited" (SSAIB is accredited by UKAS; individual companies are certificated by SSAIB). This distinction matters when reading insurance policy wording.
NSI is also a UKAS-accredited, not-for-profit certification body covering broadly the same scope as SSAIB - intruder alarms, fire alarms, CCTV, access control and guarding services. NSI conducts over 3,700 assessments of more than 2,000 approved companies annually. NSI runs a tiered scheme: Silver is the entry level; NSI Gold is the highest tier, requiring full compliance with British Standards plus a BS EN ISO 9001 Quality Management System. NSI Gold is what many insurers and police forces specify by name.
UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) is the sole national accreditation body appointed by government under the Accreditation Regulations 2009. UKAS does not certify security companies directly - it accredits certification bodies like NSI and SSAIB by independently assessing whether they are competent to certify others. When NSI or SSAIB issue a certificate to a security company, that certificate carries the weight of UKAS oversight behind it. A company that claims to be "UKAS accredited" for alarm installation is using the term incorrectly - only certification bodies hold UKAS accreditation.
BAFE is a fire-sector registration scheme only - fire detection and alarm systems (SP203-1), portable fire extinguishers (SP101), and emergency lighting (SP203-4). BAFE has no involvement with intruder alarms, CCTV or access control. A BAFE registration on its own does not mean a company has been assessed against the standards that govern security systems. BM TRADA's Q-Mark scheme is different again - fire doors and passive fire protection only.
One company can legitimately hold credentials across both security and fire disciplines. Holding NSI Gold and SSAIB simultaneously is uncommon but legitimate - both are independent competing bodies covering the same core scope, and some commercial clients' contracts or insurers specify one or the other.
Here is how to check each of the main registers yourself. None of them require an account or login.
You can also search by postcode and radius to find SSAIB certificated companies in your area. Blake's entry on the SSAIB register - Provider #6681 - is publicly accessible and covers intruder alarms, CCTV and access control.
For fire credentials, use the BAFE register; for fire door credentials, use the BM TRADA register.
If your commercial alarm is monitored, it needs a Unique Reference Number (URN) for police to respond to an activation. Under the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) Security Systems Policy - the current edition is the NPCC Police Requirements for Security Systems 2026 (published February 2026, updated June 2026) - a URN is only granted to monitored systems installed by an NSI or SSAIB certificated company, connected to an approved Alarm Receiving Centre, and designed to generate confirmed alarm conditions under BS 8243:2021. If your alarm was installed by an uncertificated firm, police will not respond under that policy, regardless of how loud or persistent the activation is. The 2026 NPCC policy makes clear that after three false calls in a rolling 12-month period, police response is withdrawn entirely - so the design quality that accreditation guarantees is not just a tick-box; it protects your URN status.
Commercial insurance policies frequently require that alarm systems are installed and maintained by an SSAIB certificated or NSI Gold approved company. According to the 2023 Commercial Victimisation Survey (Home Office, published 11 September 2024), 8% of business premises in England and Wales experienced burglary - including attempts - in the survey year, making it the second most prevalent crime after theft. If your system does not meet your insurer's accreditation condition and you make a claim following a break-in, your insurer may dispute it. The specifics depend on your policy wording - always check before appointing a contractor.
SSAIB and NSI Gold certification requires companies to follow false alarm management protocols, including designing systems to BS 8243:2021 - the British Standard for confirmed alarm conditions. A confirmed alarm requires activation of at least two independent detectors before a signal is passed to police, distinguishing genuine intrusion from a single accidental trigger. A poorly designed or non-compliant system generates excessive false alarms, and under NPCC policy, repeated false calls lead to withdrawal of police response. An accredited installer is required by their certification scheme to design your system to avoid that outcome.
For commercial premises, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 places duties on the "responsible person," and the Building Safety Act 2022 (Section 156, in force from October 2023) strengthened requirements on responsible persons to demonstrate competence in selecting fire and security providers. Choosing accredited contractors is the clearest way to show you took that duty seriously - and that matters if the adequacy of your systems is ever questioned by an insurer, regulator, or in legal proceedings.
We hold NSI Gold and SSAIB certification simultaneously. Because NSI and SSAIB cover the same core scope and are independent competing bodies, that can raise a reasonable question: why both?
The honest answer is that we have built our accreditation history over more than two decades. We achieved SSAIB certificated status in 2002 and NSI Gold in 2005. Holding both means our installations are audited against the standards of two independent inspection regimes - every year. Some of our commercial clients, particularly those with specific insurance or contractual requirements, specify one body or the other. Holding both means we satisfy either requirement without asking a client to compromise.
We also hold BAFE registration (Reg #300159) across three schemes: SP203-1 (fire alarm design, installation, commissioning and maintenance), SP101/ST104 (portable fire extinguishers) and SP203-4 (emergency lighting). Our BAFE registration is delivered through our NSI Gold certification - so our security and fire work sits under one accredited relationship rather than two separate registrations. Both registers are public, so you can confirm this yourself on the BAFE and NSI websites.
For fire doors and passive fire protection, we hold BM TRADA Q-Mark certification across FDI (installation), FDM (maintenance) and FSI (fire stopping) scopes - verifiable on the BM TRADA register.
This breadth of accreditation reflects what we call our Dedication to Accreditation: "If we're not qualified to provide a service, we won't offer it." Every scheme we hold requires annual audit. Every scope we cover has to be substantiated - not just claimed. Our accreditations page lists exactly what we hold and why every credential links to a live public register you can check yourself.
Family-run from our Southend HQ since 1979, we have carried formal third-party accreditation since 2002 - over two decades of continuous, independent audit. If you have recently taken over a premises and are unsure whether the existing system was installed by an accredited company, our alarm system takeovers service covers exactly that situation. Big enough to cope with multi-site commercial projects, small enough to care about every installation detail.
Go to the SSAIB supplier search at supplier.ssaib.org, select the relevant category (such as "Intruder Alarm Systems") and enter the company name. Complete the CAPTCHA and search. If the company does not appear, it is not certificated - regardless of what its website or sales material says. You can also search by postcode to find SSAIB certificated companies in your area.
Neither is objectively higher. Both SSAIB and NSI are independently UKAS-accredited certification bodies recognised equivalently by police forces and most insurers for URN eligibility. NSI runs a tiered scheme - Silver and Gold - where Gold adds a BS EN ISO 9001 Quality Management System on top of the same technical standards that Silver requires. SSAIB does not use a tiered structure; its single certification level is broadly equivalent to NSI Gold in standards compliance. The practical difference for most commercial buyers is minimal: what matters is that your installer holds one or both, and that you verify it on the public register before signing a contract.
Under the NPCC Police Requirements for Security Systems 2026, a Unique Reference Number (URN) - which enables police response to a monitored alarm - is only granted to systems installed by an NSI or SSAIB certificated company, monitored by an approved Alarm Receiving Centre, and designed to generate confirmed alarm conditions. Without a valid URN, your monitoring centre cannot request a police response under that policy. Any police attendance then depends on other circumstances, not on your alarm. If your installer holds neither certification, your monitored system cannot be assigned a URN.
Yes - it is uncommon but entirely legitimate. We do: we achieved SSAIB certificated status in 2002 and NSI Gold in 2005. Both are separate, competing UKAS-accredited certification bodies. Holding both means our installations are audited against two independent regimes annually, and we can satisfy whichever body a client's insurer or contract specifies without asking the client to compromise.
Many commercial insurance policies do specify that alarm systems must be installed and maintained by an SSAIB certificated or NSI Gold approved company. If your system was installed by an uncertificated firm and you make a claim following a break-in, your insurer may dispute or reduce the claim. Always check your policy wording before appointing a contractor - the specific conditions vary by insurer and policy type.
If you want to check whether your existing system meets current standards, or discuss a new installation for your commercial premises, we offer a free, no-obligation survey. Book your free business fire and security survey or call us on 01702 447800.
No pressure, no hard sell - we will tell you what we find and what your options are. If the work falls outside our accredited scope, we will point you towards a firm that is qualified to carry it out. You can also explore our commercial alarm systems to understand the range of solutions we design and install.
