PAT Register: Free Template or Software? How to Choose

You need a PAT register template to track your tested appliances. The question is whether a spreadsheet is enough or whether you need something more. The answer depends on how many appliances you manage, how many people are involved, and how much you trust your current setup to catch overdue retests.

This guide helps you make that decision honestly — including when free is genuinely fine.

When a free template is enough

A spreadsheet-based PAT register works well under specific conditions:

Fewer than 50 appliances — You can scan the whole register in a few minutes. Nothing gets lost in the scroll.
Single location — No need to coordinate across sites or filter by building.
One person manages it — No version control issues. No "which copy is the latest?" conversations.
Retests are infrequent — If you're testing most items every 24-48 months per the IET Code of Practice (see our frequency guide for recommended intervals by equipment type), you might only run a testing session once or twice a year.
No external audit pressure — You're maintaining records for internal compliance, not producing reports for a property management company or insurance auditor on demand.

If all five of those apply, a well-structured PAT testing records spreadsheet will serve you perfectly. Don't pay for software you don't need.

Download our free PAT register template → It includes all the fields recommended by the IET Code of Practice: appliance ID, description, make/model, location, test date, results, pass/fail, tester name, and next test date.

When you outgrow a spreadsheet

Spreadsheets fail in predictable ways. If any of these sound familiar, you've probably outgrown yours:

Missed retests. You set up conditional formatting to highlight overdue items. It worked for a while. Then someone added rows without copying the formatting. Now some overdue items show up in red and some don't. You found out about two of them when your insurance company asked.

Multiple locations. You started with one sheet. Then you added tabs for each building. Then someone asked for a combined view. Now you have a workbook with 12 tabs and a summary sheet held together by VLOOKUP formulas that break every time someone inserts a column.

Handover problems. The person who built the spreadsheet left. The formulas are undocumented. The new person can enter data, but they don't understand the macros, the dropdown validation lists reference a hidden sheet, and the "print register" button runs a VBA script that hasn't worked since the Office 365 migration.

Audit pressure. Your insurance company, landlord, or a health and safety consultant wants to see your PAT register. You spend two hours reformatting the spreadsheet into something presentable because the working version has half the columns hidden and the print area is wrong.

Multiple testers. Two people now do PAT testing. They both have copies of the spreadsheet. Reconciling them after a testing session takes longer than the testing itself.

These aren't theoretical problems. They're the specific reasons facilities managers start looking for software.

What to look for in PAT testing software

If you decide a spreadsheet isn't cutting it, here's what matters when evaluating PAT testing software:

Retest reminders. The single biggest reason to move from a spreadsheet. Software should automatically flag appliances that are due or overdue for retesting, and notify you by email or dashboard alert. This is the feature that prevents the "we missed 30 retests" problem.

Multi-location support. If you manage equipment across multiple sites, you need to filter and report by location without maintaining separate files.

Export and print. You'll still need to produce printed registers for audits, insurance renewals, and site folders. Check that the software can export a clean PDF or CSV that looks professional without manual reformatting.

Import from existing spreadsheet. You have existing data. You don't want to re-type 200 appliance records. Any reasonable software should let you import from CSV or Excel.

Sensible pricing. Some PAT testing software is designed for professional testers who manage thousands of clients. Their pricing reflects that. If you're managing in-house testing for one or a few sites, look for tools priced for your scale — not enterprise contracts that assume you're a testing company.

Data ownership. Can you export all your data at any time? If you stop paying, what happens to your records? These questions matter more than feature lists.

Comparison: spreadsheet vs. software

Dimension	Free spreadsheet template	Dedicated PAT register software
Cost	Free	Typically £3-£30/month depending on scale
Setup time	Minutes	1-2 hours (including data import)
Retest reminders	Manual (diary/calendar entries)	Automatic
Multi-location	Possible but clunky (tabs or separate files)	Built-in filtering and reporting
Multiple users	Difficult — version control problems	Concurrent access, audit trail
Audit-ready exports	Requires manual formatting	One-click PDF/CSV export
Data import	N/A (it's already a spreadsheet)	CSV/Excel import
Failure trend tracking	Possible with formulas	Automatic charts and alerts
Learning curve	None (if you know spreadsheets)	Low to moderate
Risk of data loss	Medium (local files, no backup unless configured)	Low (cloud-hosted, automatic backups)
Scales to 500+ appliances	Poorly	Well

Neither option is universally better. The right choice depends on where you sit on the complexity spectrum.

The hybrid approach

You don't have to choose one forever. A practical path:

Start with a template. Get your appliance register set up using a free PAT register template. Capture all the fields properly from day one — this makes migration painless later.
Use it until it causes friction. If you're spending more time managing the spreadsheet than doing the testing, that's your signal.
Migrate to software. Because you structured your data properly from the start, importing into software is a straightforward CSV upload. No re-keying, no data cleanup.

The mistake to avoid: starting with an unstructured spreadsheet (random columns, inconsistent formats, no appliance IDs) and then trying to migrate that mess into software later. Clean data in, clean data out. Read our guide to PAT testing records to make sure you're capturing the right fields from the start.

Making the decision

Ask yourself three questions:

Have I missed a retest in the past 12 months? If yes, your current system isn't working for reminders.
Does more than one person need to update the register? If yes, you need concurrent access.
Do I spend time formatting records for audits or insurance? If yes, you need better export tools.

If you answered yes to any of these, software will save you time. If all three are no, stick with the spreadsheet.

Where PATvault fits

PATvault is being built to bridge the gap between a free spreadsheet and expensive professional PAT testing software. A simple online appliance register with retest reminders, certificate exports, and multi-location support — designed for facilities managers and office administrators who do in-house testing, not professional PAT testing companies.

Import your existing spreadsheet. Get retest reminders. Export audit-ready registers. Free for up to 50 appliances, with paid plans from £3/month.

Join the PATvault waitlist → We'll let you know when it's ready.