The paper is concerned with reliable space-time IgA schemes for parabolic initial-boundary value problems. We deduce a posteriori error estimates and investigate their applicability to space-time IgA approximations. Since the derivation is based on purely functional arguments, the estimates do not contain mesh dependent constants and are valid for any approximation from the admissible (energy) class. In particular, they imply estimates for discrete norms associated with stabilised space-time IgA approximations. Finally, we illustrate the reliability and efficiency of presented error estimates for the approximate solutions recovered with IgA techniques on a model example.