Dodgy Certificates:
The Test & Research Centre is a UK-based Certification Body, Test Laboratory and Training Facility that specialises in access equipment.
Author: John Darby, General Manager, Test & Research Centre
22/10/25
If I had a pound for every time someone asked that, I’d probably be somewhere warm, drink in hand.
At the Test & Research Centre, dodgy certificates are nothing new. Some come from credible sources and stand up to scrutiny. Others… not so much. The real issue? The market’s flooded with documents that look official but are worth less than a used napkin.
Picture this: someone sends us a test certificate for a ladder. It looks convincing; company logos, a trail of technical numbers, an official-looking stamp, even a signature with just the right amount of doctor’s scrawl.
All very polished, until you dig a little deeper.
Turns out the test lab didn’t exist. The “address” was supposedly a suite above a safety deposit box store in London. The company did appear on Companies House, but it had been struck off in January 2016. The certificate date? 1st March 2019. Perhaps 1st April would’ve been more fitting.
At first glance, it seemed legitimate. But a quick bit of research told a different story. And unfortunately, this isn’t a one-off. We see these things far more often than you’d think.
Importers fall into this trap all the time. You find a factory overseas promising that their products are “certified.” Soon enough, there’s a shiny PDF in your inbox covered in stamps and signatures. Sorted, right?
Not quite. In the UK, you carry the legal responsibility once you place that product on the market. The General Product Safety Regulations don’t care what your supplier claims. As the importer, you’re the “producer” in the eyes of the law.
If all you have is a fake certificate and something goes wrong, it’s your name on the paperwork when Trading Standards come knocking. Or worse, when someone gets hurt.
Google the lab’s name and address. If it turns out to be a coffee shop or a block of flats, you’ve got a problem. Check their website too. Is it full of generic stock photos and vague claims, or do they clearly explain what they test and how?
Legitimate UK test labs have proper UKAS accreditation or are members of recognised industry bodies like the BMTA. No accreditation? That’s a warning sign.
If you’re testing a ladder and the certificate says “EN 313” instead of “EN 131,” that’s not a typo, it’s a red flag. The same goes for certificates that omit key clauses or test methods.
Certificates with no expiry date, inconsistent test dates, or ones that appear to have been issued yesterday (yes, we’ve seen that) should make you suspicious. If testing was done more than two years ago, you also need to consider whether the product might have changed since then.
If the product code or model number on the certificate doesn’t match what’s in your hands, that’s not proof, it’s wallpaper. Unbranded or unmarked products with certificates you can’t trace are a major risk.
If any of this sounds familiar, pause and double-check before you buy.
If you’re an importer or distributor, don’t beat yourself up—fake certificates have fooled even experienced professionals. The British Safety Industry Federation has been warning about them for years, and some cases, even have links to organised crime.
The good news is there’s help available. If you’ve got samples claiming to meet certain standards, we can test them properly and compare the results with what you’ve been told. It’s not uncommon to find that the paperwork doesn’t match the product. Better to find out now than after a product causes an accident.
Golden rule: if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. And if someone sends you a certificate with more stamps than a collector’s album, give us a call before you sign anything. It could save you a lot of stress and maybe a few grey hairs.
The Test & Research Centre is a UK-based Certification Body, Test Laboratory and Training Facility that specialises in access equipment.
We provide ladder and mobile access tower testing and certification services for manufacturers, importers and regulators, to check that products conform with current British and European Standards.
We work with, and are supported by, the Ladder Association and PASMA (Prefabricated Access Suppliers’ and Manufacturers’ Association), the leading not-for-profit industry bodies in their sectors. We also work closely with the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) and Trading Standards teams across the UK to offer advice, support and market surveillance testing on consumer access equipment.
The Test & Research Centre was founded to help make access products and their users safer.
If you are a manufacturer, supplier or importer of non-powered access products and you are looking to have a product tested or Certified, please get in touch to discuss how the Test & Research Centre can help.
34 Regal Drive, Soham, Cambridgeshire, CB7 5BE.
A UK-based Certification Body, Test Laboratory and training facility that specialises in access equipment.
