A band equipment and PAT register you can keep straight
One line per item: what it is, what its number is, when it was last tested and when it is next due. Excel for keeping, PDF for the wall of the lock-up. Free, no signup, nothing to fill in first.
What this is
Two versions of the same register. The Excel file has a Register sheet with the ten columns filled in as headings, thirty numbered rows waiting for your kit, two example lines showing the shape (delete them), and a second sheet with the eight rules on it. The header row is frozen, so the columns stay put however far down the list you get.
The PDF is the same register on one A4 landscape sheet, twenty-five ruled rows, with the rules in a box at the bottom. Print it, put it in the flight case, and fill it in with a pen while you are testing.
There is no money on either sheet, on purpose. A register is a list every member of the band reads, and the moment a column can carry a figure it stops being that. What a piece of gear cost belongs in your accounts, not here.
Who asks for it, and what they want to see
The request comes in three shapes. A tick box on a booking form — most venues put “all electrical equipment is PAT tested” in their supplier terms, and signing the contract is your declaration. A copy of the records before the date — the bigger wedding venues and most corporate event companies ask for them alongside your public liability insurance, a few weeks ahead. And ongoing agency compliance — the larger function-band agencies want current records before they put an act on their books, and they chase for renewals.
None of them is asking for a sticker. What they want is a list that says who did the testing and when, identifies each appliance so it can be matched to the physical item, gives a result for each, and says when the next test is due. That is what these four columns — No., Last tested, Result, Next due — are for, and it is why a per-item register beats a one-line letter every time.
What goes in each column
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| No. | The number on the label stuck to the item itself. This is the column that ties a line here to the thing in the van, so it has to match. |
| Item | What it is, in the words your band uses. “Powered speaker (left top)” beats “speaker 1” when two of you are loading out in the dark. |
| Make / model | So an insurer, a hire company or a tester knows which one it is without you going to look. |
| Serial | The manufacturer’s number, where there is one. Leads and adaptors usually have none — the label number is what identifies those. |
| Owner | Who it belongs to. Band gear is normally one person’s PA plus everybody’s own amps, and the owner is who chases a repair. |
| Last tested | The date of the test, not the month you think it happened in. |
| Result (pass/fail) | Pass or fail. A blank here means untested, which is a useful thing for the list to be able to say. |
| Next due | When to look again. Twelve months is what most bands and most venues work to; a date with nothing beside it tells nobody anything. |
| Tested by | The person or firm who did it. This is half of what a venue is asking for when it asks for the records. |
| Notes | What happened. A failure and what you did about it, a repair, a lead that has been cut up and binned. |
Both files carry these ten and nothing else. Add a column of your own if your band needs one — where an item lives, say, or which van it goes in — but keep the four a venue asks about exactly as they are.
Eight rules that keep it current
The test happens once a year. The requests come all year round, from different people, to different members of the band, usually while somebody is at work. These eight are what make the difference between a two-minute answer and a scramble, and they are printed on both files as well.
- Number every item with a durable label, and use the same number in the register — the number is what ties a line to the thing in the van.
- Record the test date and the next due date, not just “tested”. A date with no due date beside it tells nobody when to look again.
- Note who owns each piece. Band gear is usually one person’s PA plus everybody’s own amps, and the owner is who chases a repair.
- When something fails, mark it, take it out of the rig, and write down what happened to it. Never delete the line.
- When you buy something new, add it straight away as untested, so it is on the list to be done.
- Put a reminder against the earliest due date. Most lapses are not carelessness — they are a certificate that quietly expired in February.
- Keep it where every member can find it. The person who gets the email from the venue is rarely the person holding the certificate.
- Keep it as a living list, not a photograph of a certificate — and still give the rig a visual check before every use.
Questions bands ask
Does a band need a PAT register?
No law says you must PAT test every year, and no law names a register. The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require electrical equipment used at work to be maintained so that it is safe, and how you show that is up to you. In practice a register is what you are asked for: venues and agencies want to see which items were tested, when, by whom, and when they are next due. A signed line saying “all equipment tested” is better than nothing, but it is no use at all the day one item fails.
How often should band equipment be retested?
There is no fixed interval. The guidance is risk-based, and band gear scores badly on every part of it: it is carried, dropped, unplugged in the dark and plugged into whatever socket the venue has. Most testers, and most venues, work on twelve months for a gigging band’s kit, with a visual check before every use. Extension leads and IEC power cables deserve a closer look more often than that, and so does anything that has been dropped or has a plug that has been stood on.
What happens if an item fails?
Mark the line as a fail, take the item out of the rig that day, and write in the notes what happened to it — repaired and retested, or cut up and binned. Do not delete the line. A register with a failure recorded in it is evidence that the system works; a register with nothing but passes in it looks like a list nobody ever really checked. When the item comes back from repair it is retested and gets a new date, not the old one.
Or keep it in the app instead
A spreadsheet works, and this one is yours to keep. What it cannot do is remind you. In Event Band Manager the same register is live: every piece of gear has an owner and a number, PAT and other deadlines have their own categories with due dates, the certificate files live against the check that produced them, and the band is warned before anything runs out. Gear records are part of the band’s plan, not a separate purchase.