What Is SERMI Accreditation and What Does It Allow?
SERMI is the scheme, named after security related repair and maintenance information, under which independent businesses are approved and their employees authorised to access the security information of vehicle manufacturers.
Inta-Lock Car Key Guides. Updated October 2026.
SERMI accreditation on a locksmith site means the business holds that approval and the person doing the work holds that authorisation. Both are granted for 60 months after checks by an inspection body, and both are withdrawn for misuse.
This guide sets out who is involved in the scheme, what the information covers, the law behind it, where it stands in the United Kingdom, and what it does and does not mean for the key of your car.
What Is SERMI Accreditation?
SERMI accreditation is the status of a business that is approved, and of an employee who is authorised, under the SERMI scheme to access the security related repair and maintenance information of vehicle manufacturers.
The name is an abbreviation. The SERMI scheme site spells it out as security related vehicle repair and maintenance information, and describes SERMI as a scheme and process on access to that information for motor vehicles.
In the regulation behind the scheme, an independent business receives an approval, an employee receives an authorisation, and the word accredited belongs to the inspection body that grants both. SERMI accredited, as locksmith and garage sites use it, describes a business with the approval and a person with the authorisation.
The purpose is that an independent business reaches the security features used by authorised dealers, under protection of security technology.
Who Is Involved in SERMI and What Does Each One Do?
Seven parties are involved in SERMI, and each one holds a separate part of the process between the request for approval and the access to manufacturer information.
| Party | What it is | What it does in the scheme |
|---|---|---|
| SERMI association | The body that owns the scheme, managed jointly by vehicle manufacturers and independent operators | Develops and maintains the scheme and acts as scheme owner to the European co-operation for Accreditation |
| Vehicle manufacturer | The maker of the vehicle and the holder of the security information | Checks the authorisation of the employee through the trust centre before its website gives access |
| Independent operator | A business that repairs or maintains vehicles and is not an authorised dealer or repairer | Applies for approval, records each security related transaction and reports misuse by its employees |
| Independent operator employee | A named person who works for an approved business | Holds the authorisation, the security token and the digital certificate, and shares none of them |
| Conformity assessment body | The inspection body that the business applies to | Checks the criteria, issues the approval and the authorisation, and inspects the business during the validity period |
| National accreditation body | The body in each country that accredits inspection bodies | Accredits and assesses the conformity assessment body |
| Trust centre | The body that manages the digital certificates | Issues the certificates and security tokens and confirms the authorisation status of an employee to the manufacturer |
The table shows why SERMI accreditation is not a badge a business awards to itself, because the approval comes from an inspection body that is itself accredited.
What Does SERMI Accreditation Mean for Your Car Key?
For your car key, SERMI accreditation means the business has been checked and approved to request security information from vehicle manufacturers, and the person at the car is individually authorised to do so.
A car key belongs to the security of the vehicle. The immobiliser reads the key before the engine starts, and the scheme covers the features a manufacturer includes to prevent a vehicle from being stolen or driven away. How a key is matched to the car is set out in the guide to what car key programming is.
- The business passed the approval criteria of the scheme
- The employee is authorised by name and holds a personal certificate
- The approval and the authorisation are open to inspection and to revocation for misuse
- The route to manufacturer security information is an approved one
- Whether a key for one particular car is possible
- Which manufacturers or models a business supports
- What the work costs
- That the check on the customer is skipped
The sources read for this guide do not list which key work on which model uses manufacturer information, so the scheme itself is no promise about one car.
A question about a key for your car in Leicester or Leicestershire? Call Matt with the registration, and whether the car is among supported models is confirmed on the call.
Call Matt on 0116 442 2084What Counts as Security Related Repair and Maintenance Information?
Security related repair and maintenance information is the information, software, functions and services required to repair and maintain the features a manufacturer includes to prevent a vehicle from being stolen or driven away, and to enable it to be tracked and recovered.
That definition comes from the European Union regulation behind the SERMI scheme. It names four things, information, software, functions and services, so the scope is wider than documents.
The definition is written by purpose and not as a parts list. It does not name a key, an immobiliser or a control unit.
Repair and maintenance information outside that definition sits outside SERMI. Manufacturers make vehicle repair and maintenance information available to independent operators under a separate article of the same type approval law.
How Does a Business Become SERMI Accredited?
A business becomes SERMI accredited in five stages, from the application to a conformity assessment body to the inspection that falls inside the validity period.
- The business applies to a conformity assessment body.
- The body checks the approval criteria. In the regulation they cover the criminal record of the business, liability insurance, proof of activity in the automotive sector and a declaration of legitimate business activity.
- The body approves the business and issues an approval inspection certificate. Employees are put forward for authorisation only after that.
- Each employee is checked and authorised by name. The criteria cover a criminal record, an employment agreement with the approved business, a valid identity document and no earlier authorisation revoked for misuse.
- The business is inspected. The regulation requires at least one random and unannounced on site inspection inside the validity period, and a further inspection is requested in the six months before the approval certificate expires.
The approval of the business and the authorisation of the employee are each granted for 60 months under the scheme, and each is revoked for misuse.
How Does Access to Manufacturer Information Work?
Access to manufacturer information under the scheme works through a personal security token and a digital certificate protected by a PIN, which the website of the manufacturer checks against the trust centre before it gives access.
The token and the certificate belong to the employee and not to the business. The regulation forbids an employee from sharing the security token, the digital certificate or the PIN.
The check happens at each request. The website of the vehicle manufacturer verifies the unique identifier and the authorisation of the employee with the trust centre named in the certificate.
The business keeps a trail. The regulation requires an approved business to record every security related transaction and operation, and to report an offence or misconduct by an authorised employee to the authorities.
What Is the Legal Basis of SERMI?
The legal basis of SERMI is Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1244, which amends Annex X to Regulation (EU) 2018/858, the European Union regulation on the approval of motor vehicles.
Annex X deals with access to vehicle diagnostic information and to repair and maintenance information. Its starting rule is that access to the vehicle security features used by authorised dealers and repairers is made available to independent operators under protection of security technology.
The 2021 regulation adds the procedure. It sets the approval of the business, the authorisation of the employee, the conformity assessment body, the trust centre and the 60 month validity. It applies from 30 July 2023.
The scheme went live country by country. The scheme site lists Sweden first, from 1 October 2023, and further European countries with start dates in 2024 and 2025.
What Is the Status of SERMI in the United Kingdom?
The status of SERMI in the United Kingdom, in the words of the scheme site, is that the United Kingdom intends to use SERMI on a voluntary basis.
The law differs from the law of the European Union. The version of Annex X on legislation.gov.uk carries the starting rule on access to vehicle security features for independent operators, and its next point was replaced in 2022 so that the Secretary of State specifies the parameters by regulations. That version carries no SERMI procedure. The regulation that created the procedure dates from 2021, after the United Kingdom had left the European Union.
The scheme operates in the United Kingdom through a conformity assessment body of its own. That body publishes conditions which follow the scheme, among them a basic criminal record check through the Disclosure and Barring Service and approval for 60 months.
The institutional sources read for this guide do not settle every point. They give no single date from which every manufacturer applies SERMI in the United Kingdom, so this guide prints no start date, no list of manufacturers and no statement on which work it is required for.
Which Questions Sit Beside SERMI Accreditation?
Four questions sit beside the scheme, and each one belongs to another page of this site.
How Does SERMI Accreditation Differ From Car Key Programming?
SERMI accreditation is a permission to request security information, while car key programming is the work of matching a key to the immobiliser of one car.
The first concerns who is trusted with the information and the second concerns what is done at the vehicle. The work itself, for a key, a remote or a proximity fob, belongs to car key programming in Leicester.
Does SERMI Replace the Check on the Customer?
SERMI does not replace the check on the customer, because the scheme checks the business and the employee and not the person who asks for the key.
The body that operates the scheme in the United Kingdom states that an approved business verifies the identity of the vehicle and of the customer before it requests security related information. The documents involved are set out in the guide to how an auto locksmith verifies car ownership.
Does a Main Dealer Hold SERMI Accreditation?
A main dealer does not rely on SERMI, because the scheme is written for independent operators and an authorised dealer reaches the security features through its manufacturer.
The law describes the information as the security features used by authorised dealers and repairers, and SERMI is the route by which an independent business reaches the same features. Where each one works is compared in the guide to an auto locksmith or a dealership.
Which Other Credentials Does an Auto Locksmith Hold?
The other credentials of an auto locksmith are of a different kind from SERMI, a trade qualification, a trade membership and a criminal record check among them.
SERMI covers access to manufacturer security information and none of those. Each credential and the work behind it is described in the guide to what an auto locksmith does.
Whether the work on your car requires manufacturer access is confirmed on the call.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does SERMI stand for?
SERMI stands for security related repair and maintenance information, the name of the scheme that controls access to the security information of vehicle manufacturers.
The scheme site writes the name in full as security related vehicle repair and maintenance information.
Is SERMI a legal requirement in the United Kingdom?
SERMI is recorded on the scheme site as voluntary in the United Kingdom, in the words that the United Kingdom intends to use SERMI on a voluntary basis.
In the European Union the scheme rests on a regulation that applies from 30 July 2023.
How long does SERMI approval last?
SERMI approval lasts 60 months, and the authorisation of an employee is granted for the same period under the regulation.
Both end earlier where they are revoked for misuse.
Does a SERMI accredited locksmith still ask for identification?
Yes, a SERMI accredited locksmith still asks for identification, because the scheme checks the business and the employee and not the customer.
Identity and authority to request the work are checked before key work, and what applies is confirmed on the call.
Does SERMI accreditation mean a locksmith makes a key for any car?
No, SERMI accreditation does not mean a locksmith makes a key for any car.
The scheme controls who reaches manufacturer security information. Which models a business supports is a separate matter and is confirmed on the call.
How is SERMI accreditation shown?
SERMI accreditation is shown by two certificates, an approval inspection certificate issued to the business and an authorisation inspection certificate issued to each authorised employee.
Both are issued by the conformity assessment body. No public register of approved businesses was read for this guide.