When choosing electrical certification software, look for current BS 7671:2018 model forms (Amendment 4 was published 15 April 2026 and Amendment 2 is withdrawn 15 October 2026), reliable offline operation, bulk export of your own data, a Qualified Supervisor sign-off workflow, and pricing that fits your certificate volume. NICEIC and NAPIT accept digital certificates from any software provided the content matches the Appendix 6 model forms and a competent person signs them. AI features such as board scanning and tester reading save time but need checking. This guide works through each criterion so you can judge any app, including Certio, on the same basis.
Key takeaways
- Scheme acceptance depends on the certificate content, not the software brand; there is no NICEIC or NAPIT "approved app" list.
- Check that the app has updated its forms and maximum Zs tables for BS 7671 Amendment 4 before the A2 withdrawal date of 15 October 2026.
- Offline mode, data export and backups protect you when signal, the provider or your phone fails.
- QS sign-off, GDPR compliance and a sensible pricing model matter more once you have more than one person issuing certificates.
- AI features are drafting tools; the signing inspector carries the responsibility.
Do NICEIC and NAPIT accept digital certificates?
Yes. An EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) is a report on the condition of an existing installation, and neither BS 7671 nor the competent-person schemes require it to be on paper. NICEIC and NAPIT assess the certificates their registrants produce and check them against the model forms in BS 7671 Appendix 6. They do not approve, license or rank third-party software.
What an assessor looks for is the same whichever app you use: the correct form for the work (EIC for a new circuit, Minor Works for an alteration to one existing circuit, EICR for periodic inspection), a complete schedule of inspections and schedule of test results, plausible values, correctly applied C1, C2, C3 and FI codes in line with IET Guidance Note 3 and Electrical Safety First Best Practice Guide 4, and the required signatures.
Some schemes offer their own certification tools. You are not obliged to use them, but if you switch, make sure your certificate numbering and record-keeping remain consistent.
Are the forms based on the current BS 7671 model forms?
BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 (Amendment 4) was published on 15 April 2026 with a six-month transition; Amendment 2 is withdrawn on 15 October 2026. The A4 headline changes include a new chapter on stationary secondary batteries (BESS), functional earthing and bonding for ICT equipment, Power over Ethernet guidance and a revised Section 710 for medical locations. Any app you buy in late 2026 should be issuing certificates referencing A4 and should have updated the maximum Zs tables and schedule fields to match.
Ask the provider directly: which edition and amendment do the forms cite, and when were they last updated? A provider that cannot answer promptly is a warning sign, because the regulations will be amended again.
| Certificate | Used for | Key BS 7671 reference |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) | New installations and new circuits | Chapter 64 (initial verification) |
| Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate (MEIWC) | Additions or alterations to a single circuit, no new circuit | Chapter 64 |
| Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) | Periodic inspection of an existing installation | Chapter 65, Regulation 653.2 |
| PAT record | In-service inspection and testing of equipment | IET Code of Practice, 5th edition (2020) |
Does it work offline, and how does sync behave?
The consumer unit is rarely somewhere with good signal. A basement plant room in a commercial EICR or the cupboard under the stairs in a Victorian terrace will often have none. Software that saves each field to the cloud as you go will hang, and in the worst case lose the reading you just took.
Check three things. First, can you complete an entire EICR, including photographs, with no connection? Second, when the connection returns, does sync merge correctly, or can it overwrite or duplicate certificates edited on two devices? Third, if you use a tablet on site and a laptop in the office, how quickly do changes appear on the other device?
Test with airplane mode on a real job rather than trusting a feature list.
Who owns your data, and can you export it?
You will need your certificates for a long time. Under the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, a landlord needs the EICR for at least five years until the next inspection, and you may need it longer to defend a dispute or an insurance claim. If the provider closes, raises prices or you simply want to move, you must be able to take everything with you.
Look for bulk PDF export of all issued certificates, export of the underlying data (CSV, JSON or similar) so a future app could import it, and clear terms stating that the certificates and customer records are yours. Read the section of the terms of service on account termination: some providers delete data promptly after cancellation.
Does it support Qualified Supervisor sign-off?
A Qualified Supervisor (QS) is the person a competent-person scheme holds responsible for the technical standard of a registered firm's work. If anyone other than the QS completes certificates, the firm needs a review-and-sign workflow: the inspector fills in the report, the QS reviews the schedule and observations, and the QS signs the relevant section before issue.
Good implementations show the QS a queue of certificates awaiting review, let them add comments, and lock the certificate once signed. Certly and Tradecert describe explicit QS sign-off features; ask any provider how theirs works and whether it costs extra per user.
How are backups handled?
A phone gets dropped, stolen or left on a roof. Check whether certificates are backed up automatically, how often, and whether you can restore to a new device without support tickets. For a cloud product, ask where the data centre is located and what the provider's own backup policy is. For a device-native product, confirm whether backup relies on iCloud or Google backups and whether that is switched on.
Keep your own periodic export as well. Redundancy is cheap compared with re-inspecting an installation because the report vanished.
Is it GDPR compliant?
Certificates contain personal data: a tenant's address, a landlord's name and contact details, a client's signature. Under UK GDPR you are the data controller and the software provider is your processor. Look for a published privacy policy, a data processing agreement or equivalent terms, a stated data location, and the ability to delete a customer's records if they ask. If the provider uses third-party AI services to process photographs of boards or documents, ask whether those images leave the UK or EU and how long they are retained.
Which pricing model suits you?
Providers use four broad models, and the right one depends on your volume and team size.
| Pricing model | How it works | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Flat monthly or annual | One fee, unlimited certificates | High-volume sole traders |
| Per user | Base fee plus a charge per additional user | Small firms where each user needs a login |
| Per certificate or credit | Pay for each certificate or block of credits | Very low-volume users |
| Token-based AI | Base subscription plus tokens for AI features | Users who want AI occasionally |
At the time of writing, published examples include Elec-Mate from £6.99 per month, Certly at £14.99 plus VAT monthly or £149.99 plus VAT annually, and Tradecert Pro at £18 per month plus £7 per extra user with a free trial including 200 AI tokens. Work out your monthly certificate count and how many people need access, then compare the annual total rather than the headline figure. For Certio's plans see Certio pricing.
How reliable are AI features?
AI is now common in this category. The main types are board scanning (photograph the consumer unit and the app drafts the circuit schedule), tester reading capture (the camera reads the multifunction tester display, either live or from a photo), voice entry (say the reading and it is entered) and observation suggestions (the app proposes C1, C2, C3 or FI wording with regulation references).
These save real time, but with caveats. Board scanning struggles with faded labels, mixed manufacturers and boards photographed at an angle. Tester reading capture can misread a decimal point or a unit on a glare-affected screen, so the app should show you what it captured before it commits. Voice entry can be confused by site noise. Observation suggestions can propose a code that is technically arguable but not what you would have chosen after seeing the installation.
None of this makes AI useless. It means the workflow must include a check. The inspector signing the EICR is responsible under BS 7671 for every value and code on it, and IET Guidance Note 3 and Best Practice Guide 4 remain the references for coding, not the app's suggestion. When trialling, compare the app's draft against your own board reading on ten circuits and count the corrections.
What else is worth checking?
- Signature capture and client sign-off on the device, including for the person ordering the report.
- Photograph attachment to observations, which makes a C2 much easier to explain to a landlord.
- Certificate numbering that you control and that survives a change of provider.
- PDF quality: a landlord's letting agent should be able to read it on a phone.
- Support: a UK-based contact who understands BS 7671, not just the app.
- Trial period long enough to complete a real EICR, not a demo board.
For a side-by-side comparison of the main UK apps see Best Electrical Certification Software UK (2026): 6 Apps Compared.
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 £5 a month.