How much do a trades firm's registrations cost in 2026? Waste carrier, Gas Safe, CSCS, ICO and Companies House fees

A trades firm in England pays £191.02 to register as a waste carrier, £36 for each CSCS card, £52 a year to the Information Commissioner's Office unless it is exempt, and £50 a year to Companies House if it is a limited company. A new gas business adds £383.96 including VAT for its first engineer. We read every figure on this page on 1 October 2026, on the page of the body that sets it.

For the three-person firm in our example they came to £844.26 in the first year.

The fees side by side

The Gas Safe figures include VAT. Its table for 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 gives them before VAT as £148.38, £171.58, £139.78 and £44.40.

Waste carrier: the free tier does not cover building waste

GOV.UK says registration "is usually free if you only transport waste you produce yourself". Most trades cannot rely on that line. The Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 put a carrier of its own waste in the free lower tier "except where it is construction or demolition waste", and say construction includes improvement, repair and alteration.

Natural Resources Wales gives examples. A carpet fitter taking away old carpet is lower tier. Someone carrying sinks and baths they have removed is upper tier, and a fence you have taken down counts as construction waste.

So a plumber with an old bathroom suite in the van needs the paid registration. GOV.UK says you can get an unlimited fine if you do not register. Changing what the registration covers costs £49.62. Going from sole trader to limited company means a new registration at £191.02.

Each load you hand over also needs a waste transfer note. Our guide to how long to keep invoices and job records says how long to hold on to it.

Gas Safe: two fees in the first year

A business new to the register pays the application fee and the registration fee, £383.96 together including VAT, which covers one engineer and a digital licence card. Each further engineer is £53.28. A physical card is £19.09 an engineer on top.

Registration runs for 12 months. Renewing online costs £167.74. Renewing by phone or post costs £205.90, so the website saves £38.16. It does not say whether the additional engineer fee is charged again at renewal; our sums below assume it is.

CSCS: not the law, but most big sites ask

CSCS says holding a card "is not a legislative requirement" and that it is up to the principal contractor or client, though most principal contractors and major house builders require one. The application fee is £36 and apprentice cards are free. You need a pass in the CITB test from within the last two years, and CITB charges £23.50 for it. A first Labourer card is valid for two years and can then be renewed for five.

ICO: check whether you are exempt before you pay

Tier 1 covers a firm with turnover up to £632,000 or no more than 10 staff. The fee is £52, less £5 by direct debit. The ICO says many firms can rely on an exemption: you do not pay if you use personal data only for staff administration, for advertising and marketing, or for accounts and records. Where a fee is due and not paid, the maximum penalty is £4,350.

Companies House: limited companies only

The confirmation statement costs £50 a year online and £110 on paper. Setting up a company online costs £100. A sole trader pays neither.

What we could not price

NICEIC's joining page shows no fee; you apply and are told. It does ask for public liability insurance of at least £2 million, which our guide on whether a tradesperson has to have public liability insurance covers. Insurance premiums are quotes, not published fees. Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own waste registers and we did not price them.

One firm's bill

A limited company in England has an owner and a second gas engineer on the register, plus a labourer. They take old boilers and bathroom suites away in the van. The owner and the labourer hold CSCS cards for work on a house builder's sites, and the ICO's self-assessment says the firm must pay.

In a later year the firm pays the Gas Safe online renewal (£167.74), the second engineer (£53.28), the ICO (£47) and Companies House (£50): £318.02. In the year the waste registration renews, add £130.25, making £448.27.

The Gas Safe fees in the first year include £72.88 of VAT. A VAT-registered firm claims that back; our VAT registration checklist covers when you have to register.

These fees belong in the business costs you put into our day rate calculator. If you sell the copper and brass you take off jobs, our guide to tax on scrap copper covers what to declare.