What to Look for in PAT Testing Software

You've outgrown your spreadsheet. Retests are being missed, multiple people need access, and formatting records for audits takes longer than the testing itself. PAT testing software should fix these problems — but most options on the market are built for professional PAT testers, not for the facilities manager or office administrator doing in-house testing.

This guide helps you evaluate PAT testing software based on what actually matters for your use case, without naming specific products or getting into features you'll never use.

Who this guide is for

This is not a guide for professional PAT testing companies that process thousands of clients. If you're a contractor running a PAT testing business, your needs are different — you need hardware integration, client invoicing, and certificate generation at volume.

This guide is for in-house testers: facilities managers, office administrators, health and safety officers, and landlords who manage PAT testing for their own premises. You're testing your own equipment and keeping your own records. Your priorities are different from a professional tester's.

The features that actually matter

After evaluating what makes in-house PAT record management fail (we've covered the common problems in our template vs software comparison), six features consistently make the difference.

1. Automatic retest reminders

This is the single most valuable feature. It's the reason spreadsheets fail.

Your PAT register likely contains equipment on different testing cycles — office monitors every 48 months, portable heaters every 24 months, workshop tools every 12 months. Tracking all these manually requires diary entries, calendar reminders, or conditional formatting that nobody maintains.

Good software calculates the next test date automatically based on the equipment category and your environment settings, then notifies you before it's due. Look for email or dashboard alerts with enough lead time to schedule the work — a reminder the day before is useless.

What to test: During a trial, add equipment with different retest intervals. Check whether reminders arrive, how far in advance, and whether overdue items are flagged clearly.

2. Multi-location support

If you manage equipment across more than one site — multiple offices, a portfolio of rental properties, separate buildings on a campus — you need to filter and report by location without maintaining separate files.

This doesn't need to be complex. A simple location hierarchy (site → building → room) with the ability to view and export records per location covers most use cases. What breaks is when software treats the entire register as one flat list with no meaningful way to segment it.

What to test: Set up two or three locations during a trial. Can you view each location's register independently? Can you export a location-specific report for an auditor without manually filtering?

3. Data import from spreadsheets

You have existing records. You should not have to retype them.

Any reasonable PAT register software should accept a CSV or Excel import. Check the mapping process — can you map your existing column headers to the software's fields, or does it require a specific template? The easier the import, the less friction in switching.

Red flag: If a product doesn't offer CSV/Excel import, it either doesn't expect to serve in-house testers with existing records, or it wants to create switching costs. Neither is a good sign.

4. Clean data export

Your PAT records are your data. You should be able to get them out at any time.

Check for CSV, Excel, and PDF export options. PDF exports should be formatted for auditors — not raw data dumps that require reformatting. CSV/Excel exports should include all fields, not a subset.

Why this matters: If you ever need to switch software, produce records for an insurance claim, or hand over the register to a successor, export quality determines whether that's a 10-minute task or a two-day project. It's also a good signal of how the vendor thinks about data ownership.

5. Audit-ready reporting

When your insurance company, a health and safety inspector, or a local authority asks to see your PAT testing records, you need a report you can hand over without spending an afternoon reformatting a spreadsheet.

Look for one-click PDF generation that includes: appliance inventory, test results with dates, pass/fail status, overdue items flagged, and a summary of your testing regime. Bonus if it includes your testing intervals and the rationale (the IET Code of Practice categories).

What to check: Generate a sample report during a trial. Would you be comfortable handing it to an auditor as-is?

6. Sensible pricing for your scale

Most PAT testing software is priced for professional testing companies — £84-£264/year or more, because those businesses test thousands of appliances across hundreds of clients.

If you're managing in-house testing for a single site or a small portfolio, you need pricing that matches your scale. Look for:

• Per-appliance or tiered pricing rather than flat rates designed for professionals
• A free tier or generous trial — you should be able to test the software with your actual data before committing
• Monthly billing rather than annual lock-in, at least initially

A reasonable range for in-house PAT register software is £3-£10/month. If you're being quoted more than £20/month for managing fewer than 200 appliances at a single site, you're looking at professional-tier software that's over-specified for your needs.

Features that don't matter (for in-house testing)

Professional PAT testing software includes features designed for testing companies. If you're managing in-house testing, these add complexity without value:

Hardware integration / data download. Professional tools connect directly to Seaward, Megger, or Kewtech PAT testers to download results automatically. If you're using a basic PAT tester and entering results manually, you don't need this. It also locks you into specific hardware brands.

Client management. Testing companies manage separate client accounts. You have one client: yourself. Multi-client features clutter the interface.

Invoicing and job management. Professional features for billing clients and scheduling testing appointments. Not relevant for in-house testing.

Certificate generation at volume. Professional testers produce certificates for each client. You need an audit report, not individual certificates. (Though if you do need occasional certificates, a separate certificate template handles this without paying for a full professional suite.)

Advanced fault-finding and diagnostics. Some software includes diagnostic workflows for investigating failed equipment. Unless you're qualified to repair electrical equipment, this is unnecessary.

Cloud vs desktop vs mobile

Three deployment models exist. Each has trade-offs.

Cloud (web-based)

Access from any device with a browser. Data stored on the provider's servers. Automatic updates. Multiple users can access simultaneously.

Best for: Multi-location organisations, teams with more than one person updating records, anyone who wants access from a phone or tablet during walkthroughs.

Considerations: Requires internet access. Check where data is stored (UK servers preferred for GDPR simplicity). Check what happens to your data if you cancel the subscription.

Desktop

Installed on a single computer. Data stored locally. One-time purchase (usually) with optional annual support fees.

Best for: Single-location, single-user operations that don't need remote access.

Considerations: Backup is your responsibility. No access from other devices. If the computer fails, your records may be lost unless you've configured backups. Increasingly a legacy approach — most vendors are moving to cloud.

Mobile app

Phone or tablet app. Convenient for walkthroughs — scan barcodes, take photos, enter results on the spot.

Best for: Supplement to a cloud system during physical testing rounds. Not ideal as the only interface for managing an entire register.

Considerations: Check whether the mobile app is a standalone product or requires a desktop/cloud subscription. Some apps are tied to specific hardware brands and won't work independently.

The migration question

Switching from a spreadsheet to software is a one-time effort. How painful it is depends on two things:

Your existing data quality. If your spreadsheet has consistent columns, unique appliance IDs, and no merged cells, import will be straightforward. If it's a mess of inconsistent formatting and missing fields, you'll spend time cleaning data before importing — but that cleanup is overdue regardless.

The software's import process. A good import lets you map your existing columns to the software's fields, preview the result, and fix errors before committing. A bad import requires you to reformat your spreadsheet to match a rigid template.

Before you switch, make sure your PAT register structure includes the fields recommended by the IET Code of Practice. If your existing records are missing fields (no appliance IDs, no test values, no next-test dates), take the migration as an opportunity to get the register right.

Decision checklist

Use this before committing to any PAT testing software:

• Does it send automatic retest reminders? The core feature. If not, you're back to manual tracking.
• Can you import your existing spreadsheet data? CSV/Excel import should be available and tested during the trial.
• Can you export all your data at any time? CSV, Excel, and PDF. Confirm before entering data.
• Is the pricing appropriate for your scale? In-house testing for <200 appliances should not cost professional-tier prices.
• Is the interface designed for non-technical users? If it assumes you know what earth leakage current is, it's built for electricians, not facilities managers.
• Does it support your location structure? If you manage multiple sites, test the multi-location features during the trial.
• Where is your data stored? UK servers simplify GDPR compliance.
• What happens to your data if you cancel? You should be able to export everything before your subscription ends.

Run our PAT compliance checker to identify gaps in your current setup — it'll help you know exactly what features to prioritise when evaluating software.

Where PATvault fits

PATvault is being built specifically for in-house PAT testing — the gap between free spreadsheets and expensive professional software. An online appliance register with automatic retest reminders, multi-location support, audit-ready exports, and spreadsheet import. Priced for facilities managers, not testing companies.

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