# UK Trade Credentials Verifier (`conceivable_extension/uk-trade-credentials-verifier`) Actor

Checks a UK tradesperson or business against Gas Safe, NICEIC, FMB, TrustMark, and Companies House to confirm active licensing, registration and insurance status. From £0.007 per register match.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/conceivable\_extension/uk-trade-credentials-verifier.md
- **Developed by:** [joseph fadero](https://apify.com/conceivable_extension) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $12.00 / 1,000 multi-register verifications

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## UK Trade Credentials Verifier

Checks a UK tradesperson or business name (or Companies House registration number) against Gas Safe, NICEIC, FMB, TrustMark, and Companies House to confirm active licensing, registration and insurance status. From £0.007 per register match.

### Inputs

| Field | Default | Description |
|-------|---------|-------------|
| `businessName` | `C Smith Carpentry & Joinery Ltd` | UK tradesperson/business name. Real, currently-listed business (confirmed live on both Companies House and the FMB register during build) — used as the default so the Actor returns a real match with zero config. |
| `registrationNumber` | — | Companies House registration number, used instead of/alongside `businessName` for a direct Companies House lookup. |
| `checkSources` | all 5 | Which registers to check: `gasSafe`, `niceic`, `fmb`, `trustmark`, `companiesHouse`. |
| `postcode` | — | Optional, disambiguates common business names in the output record (not currently used to filter FMB results, since FMB's name-search endpoint does not require it). |

At least one of `businessName` or `registrationNumber` must be supplied, or the run fails clearly.

### Outputs

One record per run, `results` holding one entry per checked register:

```json
{
  "businessName": "C Smith Carpentry & Joinery Ltd",
  "postcode": null,
  "results": [
    { "source": "fmb", "status": "active", "registrationId": "c-smith-carpentry-joinery-ltd", "expiryDate": null, "detail": "..." },
    { "source": "companiesHouse", "status": "active", "registrationId": "15552718", "expiryDate": null, "detail": "..." },
    { "source": "gasSafe", "status": "unavailable", "registrationId": null, "expiryDate": null, "detail": "..." }
  ],
  "matchCount": 2,
  "registersChecked": 5,
  "companiesHouseStatus": "active",
  "incorporationDate": "2023-04-11",
  "sicCodes": ["43320"],
  "lastVerifiedAt": "2026-09-15T17:29:45.703Z",
  "chargedEvent": "multi-register-match"
}
```

`status` is one of `active`, `lapsed`, `not-found`, or `unavailable` (a source that could not be checked for a real, documented technical reason — see below).

### Which registers actually work (honest status, confirmed live 2026-09-15)

| Register | Status | Why |
|---|---|---|
| **FMB** (Federation of Master Builders) | **Working** | `GET https://www.fmb.org.uk/find-a-builder.html?name=<query>` returns real, server-rendered HTML with no auth or JS required. Confirmed live against a real search ("Smith" → 24 real results) and parsed with cheerio (`article.article-list-item .article-title-link` + `.article-teaser p`). |
| **Companies House** | **Working** (needs a free API key) | Official REST API (`api.company-information.service.gov.uk`), HTTP Basic auth with the API key as username. Reads the key from `COMPANIES_HOUSE_API_KEY`. Get a free key at https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk/. If the env var is unset, this source alone reports `unavailable` — it never crashes the run. |
| **Gas Safe Register** | `unavailable` | The entire site is behind Incapsula/Imperva bot-protection — confirmed live: every request (including a plain homepage GET with a real browser User-Agent) returns HTTP 403 with an Incapsula challenge page. Not solvable with HTTP + cheerio; would need a headless browser plus a residential proxy, which this Actor deliberately does not use. |
| **NICEIC** | `unavailable` | The public search widget on niceic.com embeds a separate legacy ASP.NET WebForms app (`proximity.niceic.com/mainform.aspx`). It's reachable over plain HTTP, but the search action is a stateful `__VIEWSTATE`/`__EVENTVALIDATION` postback AND the form carries a hidden `gRecaptchaResponse` field — confirming the real search is reCAPTCHA-gated server-side. Not solvable without a headless browser and CAPTCHA-solving. |
| **TrustMark** | `unavailable` | The whole site (including the tradesperson-search pages) is an Angular SPA shell (`<app-root>`, `ng-version`) with no server-rendered content. The compiled JS bundle (~3MB) was fetched and inspected live; it only exposes CMS/content API routes (`/api/news`, `/api/navigation`, `/api/businesses/NumberOfActiveBusinesses`, etc.) — no public, unauthenticated tradesperson-search endpoint could be found. Not solvable with HTTP + cheerio. |

Each register is checked independently — one being down, blocked, or impractical never crashes or blocks the others. Small delays (400ms) are added between source checks to stay polite to these low-volume public sites.

### Pricing (Pay Per Event)

| Event | Price | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Actor Start | $0.05 | Charged once per run (built-in). |
| Business Checked No Match | $0.002 | Zero requested registers returned a real match (built-in dataset-item event). |
| Single-Register Verification | $0.007 | A real match on exactly 1 requested register. |
| **Multi-Register Verification** (primary) | $0.012 | A real match on 2+ requested registers. |
| Companies House Enrichment | $0.004 | `companiesHouse` was requested AND real incorporation/SIC data came back — stacks on top of whichever match event applies. |

### Notes

- Pure HTTP + cheerio, no headless browser, no Dockerfile.
- Set `COMPANIES_HOUSE_API_KEY` as an environment variable on the Actor to enable Companies House lookups (free to obtain).

# Actor input Schema

## `businessName` (type: `string`):

UK tradesperson or business name to check, e.g. a plumbing, electrical, gas, or building firm. Real example used as default: 'C Smith Carpentry & Joinery Ltd' (active on both Companies House and the FMB register at time of writing). At least one of businessName or registrationNumber must be supplied.

## `registrationNumber` (type: `string`):

Companies House registration number (e.g. '15552718'). Optional — used instead of, or alongside, businessName to look up Companies House directly by number.

## `checkSources` (type: `array`):

Which registers to check this business against.

## `postcode` (type: `string`):

Optional UK postcode to disambiguate common business names.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "businessName": "C Smith Carpentry & Joinery Ltd",
  "checkSources": [
    "gasSafe",
    "niceic",
    "fmb",
    "trustmark",
    "companiesHouse"
  ]
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `resultsDatasetUrl` (type: `string`):

Dataset of verification report records produced by this run.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "businessName": "C Smith Carpentry & Joinery Ltd",
    "checkSources": [
        "gasSafe",
        "niceic",
        "fmb",
        "trustmark",
        "companiesHouse"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("conceivable_extension/uk-trade-credentials-verifier").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "businessName": "C Smith Carpentry & Joinery Ltd",
    "checkSources": [
        "gasSafe",
        "niceic",
        "fmb",
        "trustmark",
        "companiesHouse",
    ],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("conceivable_extension/uk-trade-credentials-verifier").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "businessName": "C Smith Carpentry & Joinery Ltd",
  "checkSources": [
    "gasSafe",
    "niceic",
    "fmb",
    "trustmark",
    "companiesHouse"
  ]
}' |
apify call conceivable_extension/uk-trade-credentials-verifier --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,conceivable_extension/uk-trade-credentials-verifier"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/Wql2gyYhU4zmfpYTR/builds/Q6ICNrFg0pI4QcJT5/openapi.json