PAT Testing Software (UK): What to Check and the Options

PAT testing software keeps the register of a customer's appliances, records each inspection and test, and makes the record or report you hand over. For a small electrical business, the products differ most in what they run on, whether they take readings straight from your tester, how they handle a customer with several sites, and price. This page sets out how PAT testing works in CertBox, and what four other UK products say on their own websites, read on 1 November 2026.

Do you need PAT software?

Not by law. The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 (regulation 4) say electrical systems must be maintained, where needed, to prevent danger so far as is reasonably practicable. HSE's leaflet INDG236 says the law does not say how you must do this or how often, and that there is no legal requirement to keep records of tests or to label equipment, though you may find it useful to do both.

The IET Code of Practice for In-service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment, 5th edition, leaves the retest interval to a risk assessment. The IET's own article on the 5th edition says the table of testing frequencies in the 4th edition was removed.

What a PAT record or report should contain, and the cases where the law does require a record (private landlords in Scotland, social housing in England), are covered in What a PAT report should include.

What to check before you choose

• What it runs on. Some products are apps for particular phones and tablets. Others run in a web browser.
• Readings from your tester. Some software downloads results from particular instruments. Others have you enter the readings, which works with any tester.
• Customers with several sites. Whether each site's appliances are kept apart, and whether you can give the customer one report.
• Next year's visit. Whether last year's appliances come back, so the retest starts from the list.
• Labels. Whether it prints pass and fail labels, and on which printers.
• Your other certificates. If you also issue EICRs and EICs, whether the same software does those.
• Price. Whether the price includes VAT, and what you pay for a single job.

PAT testing in CertBox

CertBox runs in the web browser on a phone, tablet or computer. A PAT visit holds every appliance for one customer, at one site or several.

• Test on your phone, one appliance at a time. Type the asset ID on the label to find last year's appliance or start a new one. Where the browser supports it, you can scan the label with the camera.
• Or type, paste or import the appliances into a grid. You can paste rows from Excel, or import a CSV file exported by your tester's software, matched by its column headings.
• Mark an appliance as not found on this visit, or no longer at the site.
• The test instrument, and the questions for each site, are asked once for the visit.
• If the signal drops, each answer is kept on the phone and sent to CertBox when there is a signal.
• Sign once, and each site gets its own PAT record, filed under that site's address. Each record carries a QR code, so anyone can check it is the one you issued, and that nobody has changed it.
• Download one PAT report covering every site for the customer, with failed appliances listed first and what you did about each, and the register of appliances as a spreadsheet.
• Next year, start the visit from the last one and every appliance comes back ready to test.

CertBox does not download readings from a PAT tester, and does not print appliance labels.

Filling in a PAT visit is free. Sending it costs £4.99 for the whole visit, which covers every site's PAT record, the report and the list of appliances, paid before you email or download them. Pro, at £14.99 a month, includes it. The same account fills in EICRs, EICs, minor works and other gas and electrical certificates. See the PAT testing certificate page and pricing.

Other PAT testing software

Each row below is taken from that company's own website on 1 November 2026. Prices change, so check their site before you buy.

On labels: PAT Test Pro prints on any AirPrint printer, KEWPAT works with Kewtech's KEW80L Bluetooth label printer, and Patly prints QR labels for Dymo and Brother printers. Seaward's PATGuard Cloud page does not mention label printing.

If your tester downloads its results, check the software supports your model before you pay. If you enter readings by hand, any of these will take them.

Frequently asked questions

Is PAT testing software a legal requirement?

No. The law requires electrical equipment that can cause danger to be maintained, so far as is reasonably practicable. HSE says there is no legal requirement to keep records of inspections and tests, or to label equipment. Software is one way to keep the register and make the record you give the customer.

Can CertBox take readings straight from my PAT tester?

No. You enter readings on your phone or in the grid, or import a CSV file exported by your tester’s software. CertBox matches the file’s columns by their headings.

Does CertBox handle a customer with several sites?

Yes. A PAT visit holds every appliance for one customer at one site or several. When you sign, each site gets its own PAT record. Once the visit is paid for, or on Pro, you can download one PAT report covering every site, and the register of appliances as a spreadsheet.

How much does PAT testing in CertBox cost?

Filling in a PAT visit is free. Sending it costs £4.99 for the whole visit, which covers every site’s PAT record, the report and the list of appliances. Pro, at £14.99 a month, includes it.

Sources

Checked against these on 2026-11-01.

• Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, regulation 4
• HSE, INDG236 (rev3): Maintaining portable electric equipment in low-risk environments
• IET shop: Code of Practice for In-service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment, 5th Edition
• IET Wiring Matters, July 2020: the 5th Edition of the Code of Practice
• iCertifi: PAT Test Pro
• iCertifi: prices
• Seaward: PATGuard Cloud
• Kewtech: KEWPAT app
• Patly

Corrected and updated 2026-11-01. This article is for general guidance only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Always refer to the relevant standards and consult qualified professionals for definitive requirements.