Certio vs U Certify Electrics: Phone App or Windows Software?

U Certify Electrics Pro is Windows desktop software from U Certify Ltd, listed at £59.99 ex VAT a year per machine, and it bundles BS 5839 fire alarm and BS 5266 emergency lighting certificates with the BS 7671 set. Certio is a phone, tablet and browser app with a free plan and paid plans at £4.99 and £9.99 a month, built to fill the schedule on site from a board photo, voice dictation and camera reading of a Megger MFT-X1. Choose U Certify if you type certificates up at a desk and need fire and emergency lighting paperwork in one package. Choose Certio if you want the certificate finished before you leave the job. Facts checked 2 October 2026.

What is U Certify Electrics?

U Certify Electrics Pro is certification software you download and install on a Windows computer. It is published by U Certify Ltd, company number 09744134, incorporated on 21 August 2015 with a registered office in Wimborne, and shown as active on Companies House on 2 October 2026.

The product page lists the following, and this comparison sticks to what that page says:

• EICR, Electrical Installation Certificate, Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate and a danger notice, described as "18th Edition BS7671".
• Fire alarm certificates to BS 5839 Parts 1 and 6: design, installation, commissioning, acceptance, verification, inspection and servicing, and modification.
• Emergency lighting certificates to BS 5266: completion, design, installation, verification, and inspection and testing.
• Engineer job sheets and service sheets.
• Smart input, automatic certificate numbering, quick client selection, keyboard shortcuts, digital signatures placed automatically, your logo and colours, distribution board schedules, certificate import and export, and PDF output with attachments and email.

System requirements are given as Microsoft Windows PCs and laptops, or an Apple Mac running Windows through Parallels Desktop, with 1 GB of RAM. There is a 14-day free trial download. The newest posts shown on its news page when checked were dated September 2017, so the product pages are the best current source.

What is Certio?

Certio is an electrical certification app from Certio Software Ltd, built by a working UK electrician. It produces EICRs, EICs, Minor Works certificates and PAT testing records to BS 7671, and it runs as an iPhone app, an Android app and in a web browser with one login.

The difference is how the data gets in. You photograph the consumer unit and the AI drafts the circuit schedule from the photo. You dictate readings by voice. If you use a Megger MFT-X1, Certio reads the instrument's screen live through the phone camera; that feature works with the MFT-X1 only, with more instruments to follow. For observations, it suggests C1, C2, C3 or FI wording that you then accept or edit. You remain the inspector and the signature is yours. There is a fuller summary on the Certio Fact Sheet: What the App Is, Who Makes It, What It Costs page.

How do Certio and U Certify Electrics compare side by side?

Sources: u-certify.co.uk product pages, Companies House and certio.uk, all checked 2 October 2026. "Not described" means the vendor's website does not mention it; it is not a claim that the feature is absent, so ask the vendor if it matters to you.

What does each one cost over a year?

On headline price the two are within pennies of each other for a single user. The gap opens when you add machines, because U Certify states that additional licences are needed "per Machine not per User".

If you are VAT registered you reclaim the VAT, so £59.99 is your real U Certify cost; if not, you pay £71.99. One Certio login works across phone, tablet and browser, so you are not paying per device. Certio's free plan issues certificates with a small Certio mark on the PDF and the AI features switched off, which is enough to try it on a real job first.

For a wider price check across the market, see Best Electrical Certification Software UK 2026: 8 Apps Compared.

Which certificates does each one cover?

This is where U Certify has a clear advantage. If you maintain fire alarms in HMOs or test emergency lighting in small commercial premises, you need BS 5839 and BS 5266 paperwork as well as the BS 7671 forms, and U Certify Electrics Pro includes all three families in one £59.99 package.

Certio does not produce fire alarm or emergency lighting certificates. It covers the four that most domestic and light-commercial electricians issue every week: EICR, EIC, Minor Works and PAT testing records. If you only do the occasional Grade D alarm install, Fire Alarm Certificate BS 5839-6: Grades and Categories and Emergency Lighting Certificate: BS 5266-1 Testing and Records explain what those forms need to contain.

How does the on-site workflow differ?

Twelve circuits at 15 or more columns each is upwards of 180 entries on a schedule of test results before you write a single observation. How those entries get from the instrument to the certificate is the real difference between these two products.

With desktop software, most electricians write readings on paper on site, then type them up at home. Every value is handled twice, and transcription is where wrong digits and swapped circuits creep in. U Certify's smart input, keyboard shortcuts and quick client selection are aimed at making the typing stage fast, and a laptop on site removes the double handling if you are happy carrying one into a loft or riser cupboard.

With Certio the phone is the clipboard. The board photo gives you a draft schedule to check against the installation, you speak the readings as you take them, and the certificate is ready to sign and send from the doorstep. That matters for landlord work: the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 give the landlord 28 days to pass the report to the tenant, and any C1, C2 or FI needs action within 28 days or sooner, so a report sent the same day starts everyone off on the right foot.

Whichever you use, the test sequence and what you record are the same. IET Guidance Note 3 sets out the order of tests and How to Fill In a Schedule of Test Results, Column by Column walks through the schedule column by column. Software does not change your responsibility for the results; check anything an AI drafts before you sign.

Think about records too. U Certify's site describes saving, loading, importing and exporting certificate files and does not describe cloud sync, so plan your own backups. The Building Safety Act 2022 extended the Defective Premises Act limitation period to 15 years for dwelling work completed after 28 June 2022, so domestic certificates need to be retrievable for at least that long; see Electrical Certificate Retention and GDPR for Electricians and Digital vs Paper Electrical Certificates: What Schemes Accept.

Which forms do they print, and what about Amendment 4?

BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 was published on 15 April 2026 and the previous version is withdrawn on 15 October 2026. From that date, new work should be certified on forms based on the Amendment 4 model forms in Appendix 6, with NICEIC noting that work designed before that date may be completed to the previous standard.

Neither product should be assumed to be ready without checking. Certio's forms follow the current BS 7671:2018 model forms and the app is being updated for Amendment 4 before the withdrawal date. U Certify's website says "18th Edition BS7671" and does not name an amendment, so email their support and ask which model-form version the current build prints before you buy or renew. The same question is worth putting to any vendor; Electrical Certification Software: What to Look For (Buyer's Guide) has a full checklist.

Who should choose U Certify Electrics?

• You complete certificates at a desk on a Windows PC and are happy with that routine.
• You need fire alarm and emergency lighting certificates in the same package as your BS 7671 forms.
• You want an annual licence with no monthly payment.
• You work from one machine, so the per-machine licence costs you £59.99 ex VAT and no more.

Who should choose Certio?

• You want to finish and send the certificate from site on your phone.
• You would rather dictate readings and check an AI-drafted schedule than type every cell.
• You use a Megger MFT-X1 and want readings taken from its screen by camera.
• You want help wording observations consistently, with the coding decision still yours; see EICR Observation Codes Explained: C1, C2, C3 and FI and How to Write EICR Observations That Stand Up.
• You want to try it free before paying, or want quotes and invoices in the same app on the Pro plan.

Some firms will sensibly run both: Certio on site for EICRs and installation certificates, and a desktop package for fire and emergency lighting paperwork. Other comparisons include Certio vs TestFast: Which EICR App Suits Your Work? and Certio vs Electrical Certificate App: Which Suits You?.

How Certio helps

Certio produces the EICR, EIC, Minor Works certificate and PAT records on the BS 7671 model forms and turns them into branded PDFs. Photograph the consumer unit and the circuit schedule drafts itself; point the phone camera at a Megger MFT-X1 and the reading goes straight into the schedule of test results, or dictate it while your hands stay on the probes. Suggested observation wording with the regulation reference is there for you to check and confirm. The judgement stays yours; the typing goes. Starter is free for 7 days, then £4.99 a month.

Written by the Certio team. Last checked 2 October 2026.