FAQ
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Frequently asked questions
- A property compliance platform for UK landlords, property managers, letting agencies and engineers. You book certs, store them, get reminded before they expire, and manage your whole portfolio in one app.
- Gas Safety (CP12), Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR), Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), PAT Testing, Boiler Service, Legionella Risk Assessment and Fire Safety. Every cert a UK rental property needs, booked through one platform.
- Greater London, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Nottingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Expanding monthly — check the app for your postcode.
- Yes, both. Mobile apps for landlords and engineers; a web portal for agencies and property managers.
- CertNow is built for UK residential rental compliance. The regulatory framework (Gas Safety Regulations 1998, EICR 5-year rule, MEES EPC minimums) is UK-specific. We currently cover England, Wales and Scotland.
General
- What is CertNow?
- A property compliance platform for UK landlords, property managers, letting agencies and engineers. You book certs, store them, get reminded before they expire, and manage your whole portfolio in one app.
- Which certificates does CertNow cover?
- Gas Safety (CP12), Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR), Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), PAT Testing, Boiler Service, Legionella Risk Assessment and Fire Safety. Every cert a UK rental property needs, booked through one platform.
- Which cities do you operate in?
- Greater London, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Nottingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Expanding monthly — check the app for your postcode.
- Is CertNow available on iOS and Android?
- Yes, both. Mobile apps for landlords and engineers; a web portal for agencies and property managers.
- Do you work outside the UK?
- CertNow is built for UK residential rental compliance. The regulatory framework (Gas Safety Regulations 1998, EICR 5-year rule, MEES EPC minimums) is UK-specific. We currently cover England, Wales and Scotland.
Landlords
- How does EPC auto-fetch work?
- When you add a property, we query the gov.uk EPC register using the address. If a valid EPC exists, it appears in your vault within seconds — no manual upload needed.
- How do renewal reminders work?
- You get push notifications, emails and in-app badges at 30, 14 and 7 days before any expiry. You can customise the lead time per cert type.
- Can I share certs with tenants or my letting agent?
- Yes. Every cert has a share link with optional expiry. Perfect for tenant handovers, council checks and agent handoffs.
- Can I add my existing certificates?
- Yes. Upload your existing CP12, EICR, PAT or EPC and CertNow reads the expiry date, stores the document in your vault, and schedules renewal reminders.
- Can my tenant give access to the property?
- Yes. CertNow has a tenant-access flow — when you book, you share a secure one-time link with your tenant, who confirms the appointment and coordinates with the engineer via in-app chat.
Engineers
- How much does it cost to join as an engineer?
- Free. No signup fee, no subscription. We take a flat 12% platform fee on completed jobs.
- When do engineers get paid?
- Every Friday, via Stripe Connect. Paid directly to your bank account — no invoicing, no chasing.
- How long does engineer verification take?
- 24–48 hours. Every application is manually reviewed by our compliance team.
- What documents do engineers need?
- Public liability insurance, photo ID, and trade registration relevant to your services (Gas Safe, NICEIC, DEA, etc.).
- How quickly can an engineer attend a job?
- Most bookings are accepted within 2 hours and attended within 48 hours. In metropolitan areas we often match within 30 minutes. Urgent same-day slots are available where engineer availability permits.
Agencies
- Is there a demo for property managers?
- Yes. Book one from the “For property managers” page — a product specialist will walk you through the B2B portal in 30 minutes.
- Can I use my own in-house engineers?
- Yes. Add your in-house team to the portal, or overflow to the CertNow network — you choose per job.
- Do you integrate with CRMs?
- On the Enterprise plan: yes, we have integrations with Reapit, Alto and Jupix. APIs available on request.
- Can I white-label the tenant pages?
- Growth and Enterprise tiers include branded tenant-tracking pages with your logo and colour scheme.
- Do you offer a free trial for property managers?
- Yes. Every property-manager plan starts with a 14-day free trial — no credit card required. Onboard your full portfolio, connect your team and experience live job dispatch before you commit.
Billing
- How do landlords pay for bookings?
- Card or Apple/Google Pay at the point of booking. Payment is held by Stripe and released to the engineer after the job is marked complete.
- How much does CertNow cost for landlords?
- CertNow is free for landlords to sign up and manage properties — you only pay when you book a service. Property managers can upgrade to the portfolio plan from £19/month.
- What is the agency subscription price?
- Starter £49/month per branch, Growth £149/month per branch, Enterprise custom pricing. All include the full job marketplace.
- Do you charge VAT?
- Yes. All prices shown are inclusive of VAT for UK customers.
- What happens if I cancel a booking?
- Cancellations more than 24 hours before the scheduled slot are free. Within 24 hours, a £15 cancellation fee applies to cover engineer travel reservations. Rebooking is free within 7 days of a cancelled job.
- Can I get a refund if a job goes wrong?
- If the engineer fails to complete the job as specified, we refund in full. Disputes are mediated by our support team.
Privacy & data
- Where is my data stored?
- In the UK/EU, on AWS eu-west-2. Encrypted at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.3).
- Are you GDPR compliant?
- Yes. Full DPA, right-to-erasure, data export on request, ICO registered.
- Do you share data with third parties?
- Only essentials: Stripe for payments, Twilio for SMS. Never sold, never used for ads.
- Is CertNow ISO certified?
- We're ISO 27001 certified for information security.
- Are your engineers vetted?
- Every engineer on CertNow is Gas Safe registered (for gas work), NICEIC approved (for electrical), DBS checked and publicly liability insured. We verify all credentials within 48 hours and re-check annually.