What happened
A company has been fined after supplying false electrical safety certificates to two car wash businesses in Runcorn, despite both sites being declared unsafe. The story comes from the HSE Media Centre.
According to HSE, inspectors — working alongside Cheshire Police, Trading Standards and immigration authorities — investigated Super Hand Car Wash on Halton Road and Top Star Hand Car Wash on Bridge Street. Both premises were found to have dangerous electrical systems, and HSE inspectors took enforcement action forcing both businesses to stop work immediately.
The owners were advised to use an NICEIC-registered electrical contractor, or similar, to make the electrics safe. Epco Energy Solutions Limited — members of the NICEIC at the time — were engaged and certified the installations as safe to use. But when one of HSE's specialist electrical inspectors examined the certificates, the details did not match what was actually on site. A follow-up visit found the installations were still dangerous and presented a risk of serious injury or electrocution to workers and the public.
HSE says the certificates had been generated using password-protected NICEIC members-only software and electronically signed with the sole director's signature. Epco Energy Solutions Limited was found guilty at Warrington Magistrates Court of breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, fined £20,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £15,239.
HSE inspector Rose Leese-Weller said: "These car washes where [sic] dangerous and unsafe – to both those working there and to members of the public visiting the sites."
Why it matters to contractors
This one should sting any electrical or M&E contractor who signs their name to a certificate. The fine wasn't for doing bad work and getting caught — it was for declaring unsafe installations safe. A certificate is a legal statement of competence and a record that someone with your training stood over the installation and verified it. Issue one that doesn't reflect reality and you're not just risking your registration; you're exposing people to electrocution and yourself to prosecution.
The water-plus-electricity combination in car washes is an extreme example, but the principle applies everywhere. Under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, installations must be maintained in a safe condition and only worked on by someone competent. Membership of a body like the NICEIC signals that competence — but it's the honesty behind the paperwork that keeps people alive.
The practical lesson: your records have to match what's actually on the ground. Inspectors check. A certificate that looks tidy but describes an installation that doesn't exist is worse than no certificate at all.
What to check on your site
- Certificates reflect reality. Every test result, circuit detail and observation on the paperwork matches the installation in front of you.
- Only competent people sign. Electrical work is signed off by someone trained and assessed to do it — not rubber-stamped from the van.
- Scope is clear. If you've only made part of an installation safe, say so. Don't certify the whole thing.
- Defects are recorded and flagged. If something is still dangerous, the paperwork must say it's dangerous — and work stops.
- Your inspection and test records are kept. Keep the evidence behind every certificate so you can show your working.
- Toolbox talks cover safe isolation and electrical risk so your team understands why honest records matter.
Documents that help
SafetyPod templates won't make you compliant on their own — competence and honest certification do that — but they give you a consistent paper trail to work from. For electrical contractors, the Electrician Risk Assessment Pack pulls together the risk assessments, permits and monitoring forms you need on site. For controlling live and isolation work, see the RAMS & Permits Bundle and the guide to what a permit to work is. To brief your crew, the Toolbox Talks Complete Pack gives you ready-to-deliver briefings with attendance records.
The bottom line
A certificate is only worth the truth behind it. Record what you actually found, sign for what you actually did, and never declare something safe that isn't.
Not sure which documents your jobs need? Try the free H&S Document Checker and build your paper trail from there.