What regulates a trade website
Three things: the licensing or registration regime for your trade (which often has display requirements and rules about claiming competence), general consumer law (prices, quotes, cancellation, misleading claims), and the laws that apply to any website (privacy, cookies, accessibility, company details). Each changes by country and, in federal systems, by state or province. This is orientation, not legal advice; your licensing body and a local adviser are the authorities.
United Kingdom
Licensing and display: gas work requires Gas Safe registration and the number is expected in advertising; electrical work under Part P through a competent person scheme (NICEIC, NAPIT, ELECSA) with the registration displayed; no general licensing for builders, though TrustMark and trade bodies are common. Displaying scheme logos you are not registered with is a trading standards matter.
Consumer law: the Consumer Rights Act and the Consumer Contracts Regulations (cooling-off rights for contracts agreed off-premises, including in the home, with written cancellation information required); the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations on misleading claims; the DMCC Act 2024 on pricing. Quotes should state whether they include VAT.
Company details: the Companies Act requires a limited company's registered name, number and office on its website; sole traders state their trading name and an address.
Privacy and cookies: UK GDPR and PECR; privacy notice; ICO registration for most.
Accessibility: Equality Act; WCAG 2.1 AA.
United States
Licensing and display: state contractor licensing boards for plumbing, electrical, HVAC and general contracting in most states, with many requiring the licence number in all advertising including websites (California, Florida, Arizona, Washington and others are explicit). Some cities license separately. Unlicensed advertising is an offence in several states.
Consumer law: the FTC on deceptive advertising; state consumer protection acts; home improvement contract laws in many states (written contracts, cancellation rights for door-to-door and in-home sales under the FTC Cooling-Off Rule, deposit limits in some states such as California's 10 percent rule).
Company details: state business registration; licence number display as above.
Privacy and cookies: state privacy laws for businesses over their thresholds; no federal cookie consent; TCPA rules if you text customers (consent required for marketing texts).
Accessibility: ADA applied to websites via litigation; WCAG 2.1 AA the standard; small businesses are targeted.
Canada
Licensing and display: provincial and sometimes municipal. Ontario's Electrical Safety Authority licence for electrical contractors (number required in advertising); provincial trade certification for plumbers and gas fitters; some provinces (BC, Alberta) require builder licensing and home warranty enrolment for new homes and display of the licence.
Consumer law: provincial consumer protection acts with rules for home services, estimates (Ontario caps final price at 10 percent over a written estimate unless agreed), cancellation rights for in-home contracts, and misleading advertising under the Competition Act. Quebec's Consumer Protection Act is strict on pricing and contracts.
Company details: provincial business registration; Quebec requires French on websites serving Quebec.
Privacy and cookies: PIPEDA; Quebec's Law 25 with consent and policy requirements.
Accessibility: AODA in Ontario; Accessible Canada Act federally; others variously.
Australia
Licensing and display: state and territory licensing for plumbers, electricians, gas fitters and builders, with licence numbers required in advertising in most states (NSW Fair Trading, Victorian Building Authority and Energy Safe Victoria, QBCC in Queensland, and so on). Advertising building work over a threshold without a licence is an offence.
Consumer law: the Australian Consumer Law on misleading conduct and consumer guarantees; state home building contract laws (written contracts and deposit limits above thresholds, cooling-off periods); unsolicited consumer agreement rules for in-home sales.
Company details: ABN and, for companies, ACN on documents; licence numbers as above.
Privacy and cookies: Privacy Act for businesses over the threshold; a privacy policy expected regardless if you collect personal data through forms.
Accessibility: Disability Discrimination Act; WCAG 2.1 AA.
European Union
Licensing and display: national. Germany's Handwerk system requires master craftsman qualification for many trades and its display; other countries register trades variously. Gas and electrical work regulated nationally.
Consumer law: the Consumer Rights Directive (information duties, 14-day withdrawal right for contracts concluded away from business premises, including in the home); the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive; national implementation; prices inclusive of VAT.
Company details: the E-Commerce Directive's information requirements (the "Impressum" tradition in Germany and Austria is the strict version): legal name, address, contact, registration and VAT numbers on the site.
Privacy and cookies: GDPR and ePrivacy consent.
Accessibility: the European Accessibility Act from June 2025 for many private digital services above the micro-enterprise threshold.
What is the same everywhere
- Display your licence or registration number where the trade has one, and link it to the register.
- Do not claim a scheme, qualification or insurance you do not hold.
- Show prices and quotes honestly, stating whether tax is included.
- Tell customers their cancellation rights for work agreed in their home, in the contract.
- Publish company details and a privacy notice.
- Build to WCAG 2.1 AA.
Where this sits
Every trade website we build runs through a country checklist at the content stage covering licence display, credential claims, price and quote statements, company details, privacy and cookies, and accessibility. The trust bar with linked registration numbers satisfies most of the display rules on its own, which is one reason it is on every page.