Features

What Wiring Lab does, item by item

All 152 features, grouped by work area, each with its description. 110 are in both paid editions, 41 are in Pro only. The labels say what is not there yet: we would rather write it down than pretend.

Project and pages

11 features
The project is a folder on diskA project is a folder holding the main file, the attachments and the exports: you open it, move it and archive it like any other job.
Several rooms in one projectSeveral rooms or positions on the same floor, each with its own plan and its own cabling.
Multiple floors and buildings Pro onlyA site · building · floor structure, with levels and per-floor conduit prefixes.
Space matrix Pro onlyAn overview of site · building · floor · room, to find your way around multi-building projects.
AutosaveCan be switched on per project or globally.
Undo and redoA history of changes you can step back through.
Revisions and version historyA revision register with label and status, plus the file's own history.
Simple and Pro modesHides conduits, network, power and quoting for people working on small systems.
Project settings and presetsColours, bill of materials, labelling, connectors, network, power, validation, practice profile; configurations you can save and reuse.
Save As and Close projectSave As makes an independent copy of the project; Close Project closes it and leaves the software open.
Protection against opening the same project twiceA lock on the file, and a warning if the project was changed by another program.

Brief and project start-up

7 features
Client and header dataClient, job, numbering, drawing-set data.
Scope and room classificationDefines the scope using the classes of use.
Needs analysisGathers requirements following the AVIXA pyramid, with suggestions by application type.
Site surveyA survey sheet with structured fields and attachments.
Scope of workA list of deliverables with suggested items and notes.
Client questionnaireYou generate it, the client fills it in, you import it back and the answers land in the brief.
Program reportA program report in Markdown and as a PDF on your practice's letterhead.

Plan and layout

17 features
Plan workspaceVector drawing with continuous pan and zoom, sharp at any magnification.
Placing racks, plates, positions and devicesYou drop them on the plan and drag them where you want them.
Rectangular and polygonal roomsDraw the rooms; points are assigned to the right room automatically.
Conduits and free runs drawn on the planRoutes with waypoints, colour and renaming.
Junction boxesJunction points on the plan, typically on loudspeaker branches, with their terminals.
Backbone points between floors Pro onlyThe markers where a cable leaves the floor and runs up or down a riser: they are created in pairs across two pages and stitch circuits together through the floors.
Plan export to PDF and PNGThe plan drawing, ready to print or send to the client.
Plan export to DXF Pro onlyThe drawing on separate layers — plan, rooms, conduits, items, labels, notes, title block — for the architect's office.
Floor-plan import from image, PDF and flattened DXFLoad the floor plan and work on top of it. DXF is read and drawn, but as a single background: no layers, no cropping.
Scale calibration and measurementBrings the plan to real-world metres and measures distances on the drawing.
Layer control and cropping for the imported DXF Pro onlyTurns the drawing's layers on and off and crops the part you need.
Annotations and redliningText with colour and size, redlines for hand corrections.
Cable lengths taken from the drawingThe metres come from the route drawn on the plan.
Vertical rise and slack on the floorRises and drops within the same floor — down to the back box, up into the ceiling void — and slack by installation type.
Rise between floors and buildings Pro onlyLevel changes from floor to floor and along the risers, with the matching slack.
Tracing from a photograph plannedOverlays a photo with adjustable opacity so you can trace an existing layout.
Layout in its own windowThe plan in a window of its own, on a second screen.

Racks

10 features
Rack build-up, frontDraggable units, collisions prevented, free slots highlighted, accessories and blanking panels, zero-U equipment.
Rack rear viewThe back, with power, grounding, accessories and connections.
Custom frames and a frame catalogueBuild the frame you need, or pick one from the catalogue.
Wall plates and rack panels at true scaleA dimensioned drawing with the ports in the right place.
Positions and work surfacesDesks laid out automatically, and equipment moved from the position into the rack.
Rack export to PDFA front-elevation drawing with a cover sheet.
Rack export to DXF Pro onlyThe rack as a CAD drawing, for coordination with the design office.
AVIXA F502 rack complianceChecks on how the rack is built and designed.
Drilling templates in DXFPanels and plates in DXF with holes at the manufacturer's dimensions; unverified types get a cross and a question mark, never an invented hole.
Plate port editorBuild up the plate one port at a time.

Cabling

14 features
Full cable scheduleA table of every cable with origin, destination, signal, connectors, length and conduit; filters, statistics, CSV and PDF.
Creating and editing cablesNew cable, editing, reassigning either end, bulk creation.
Quick cablingA fast from · to entry that creates the cable straight away.
Device port viewFind a port, see what lands on it, create the cable from there.
MulticoreSeveral circuits in one loom, with consistent relabelling of the group.
PatchbayRenameable jacks, mults, normalling and a PDF drawing.
19 signal types with colour and codeFrom microphone to Dante to AES3, plus the signals you add yourself.
AdaptersApplied to a single port or a whole room, and counted in the bill of materials.
Importing a routing snapshotReads a saved routing configuration and brings it into the project, so the cabling stays consistent with what the DSP actually does.
Matrix panel: the signal path Pro onlyDeclares the inputs, outputs and crosspoints of any matrix — DSP, mixer, router — whatever the brand, and carries it into the drawings and the deliverables.
Dante preset importReads the Dante Controller file and derives the routing from it.
Cabling notesTechnical notes attached to cables, with a list and a PDF.
Wiring panel: drawing, matrix and table plannedThree ways of looking at the same cabling, including a printable orthogonal drawing on a grid.
Two-column patch panelTwo sets side by side; a cable made in two clicks, the way a DAW does it.

Conduits, backbones and routes

6 features
Conduit fillFill calculation with derating by cable count, citing NEC and EN 50174.
Automatic assignment of cables to conduitsDistributes cables following the drawing, and lets you freeze the assignments.
Conduit schedule in CSV and PDFA table of conduits with their cables, fill and route.
Backbones and risers between floors Pro onlyRiser pairs, circuits stitched through the floors, a bill of materials for the backbone.
Riser diagram Pro onlyA vertical riser diagram, in SVG and PDF.
Dedicated rules for cable trays and trunkingFill and bend radius worked out with the rules for cable tray and trunking, which are not the rules for conduit.

Electrical systems and grounding

6 features
Project powerOutlets, power strips, sources and fused PDUs, assigned loads, A and B redundancy.
Power draw and PDU checksWatts and amps per rack, PDU rating, outlets still free.
Heat loadWatts dissipated and BTU/h per rack, with guidance on ventilation.
Electrical profile by countryThe standard, voltage and frequency for the site; NEC and IEC ampacity tables, with values declared "not available" where the tables do not exist.
Document for the electricianA handover sheet with what the electrical contractor needs.
GroundingNodes and bonds, bonding conductor size, checks on the graph and on the building reference; diagram in SVG and PDF.

Audio calculations

11 features
Low-impedance loudspeaker networksSeries, parallel and series-parallel across several branches, with a verdict against the amplifier's minimum impedance.
70 V and 100 V constant-voltage linesAdds up the tap settings in watts, compares them with the amplifier power and shows the headroom.
25 V linesHandled the same way as 70 V and 100 V.
Loss on the constant-voltage lineLoss in dB by length, conductor size and power, against a target threshold.
Power sharing between loudspeakersHow much power reaches each loudspeaker in the chosen topology.
Suggested configurationsProposes the series-parallel combinations the amplifier can drive.
Tap-offs with terminalsBranch tap-off points, each with its bill-of-materials entry.
Loudspeaker wiring diagramA dedicated drawing with branches, tap-offs and nodes.
AVIXA A102.01 coverage uniformity commissioning Pro onlyA report from values measured on site: band, measurement points, envelope, class and designation, as a signable PDF.
AVIXA A102.01 coverage uniformity target plannedThe envelope predicted from the loudspeakers placed on the plan, with the class the design sets as its target.
Loss target for US emergency evacuation systems planned Pro onlyA stricter threshold for emergency sound systems.

Video

2 features
AVIXA V202.01 image size (DISCAS) Pro onlyFarthest and closest viewer, the compliant area, plan and section, and a verification sheet.
AVIXA V201.01 contrast verification Pro onlyChecks the contrast ratio of the image system.

Network and audio over IP

8 features
Subnets and VLANs Pro onlyAn IP plan with DHCP pools, checks for overlaps and for static addresses sitting inside a pool.
Automatic address assignment Pro onlyA guided procedure starting from the convention you chose.
Dante bandwidth calculator Pro onlyChannels, sample rate, bit depth and link speed.
Latency budget Pro onlyConverters, buffers, switch hops and DSP by protocol, against the threshold for the room.
Fibre optical budget Pro onlyLoss by fibre type, connectors and splices, compared with the link budget.
PoE budget Pro onlyChecks the switch budget against the classes and the watts per port.
Network topology Pro onlyA network diagram that runs across every page of the project.
HDBaseT, SMPTE 2110, NDI and SDVoE limits Pro onlyChecks on the distance and bandwidth limits of networked video transports.

Validation

7 features
89 checks on the projectFrom the unlabelled cable to the over-filled rack, from grounding split into islands to the overstuffed conduit; each one cites the standard it comes from.
Issues window with scopes and severitiesA list you can filter by area and severity, page issues kept apart from project issues, and a jump straight to the object.
Accepting a warning with a reasonYou take ownership of an issue by giving a reason, and it stays on the record.
Issue report in CSV, JSON and PDFThe list of problems comes out as CSV for the spreadsheet, JSON for other software and PDF to attach.
Choosing which rules runYou decide which checks are active.
Standards review, rule by ruleEvery check is re-read against the text of the standard it comes from, with the severity it deserves and the countries where it applies.
Recognising fibre cablesOptical fibre is recognised as such and gets the checks that apply to it, not the ones for copper.

Labelling

5 features
Automatic label generationCable labels are built from the convention you chose, and hand-written labels are left alone.
6 labelling conventionsAVIXA J-STD-710, TIA-606-C, Dante and AES67, live and broadcast, simple, plus one of your own built from placeholders.
Printable QR labelsA page ready to print for site.
CSV for professional label printersReady-made profiles for the main label printers.
Label conformity checkChecks the labels against the standard you chose.

Bill of materials, price lists and quotation

8 features
Bill of materialsFrames, equipment, accessories, cables, connectors, adapters and conduits; per page or one for the whole project, with quantities worked out automatically.
Scope and filters for the bill of materialsChoose which rooms to include and filter by section.
Hardware and mounting Pro onlyInstallation items linked to the products.
Price lists Pro onlyImported from a file, with a price per item and a margin.
Quotation Pro onlyTotals, labour, margin, a PDF to sign, and re-import of the signed quotation.
Request for quotation to suppliers Pro onlyA price-request file.
Tender bill of materials Pro onlyThe bill of materials in specification form, in CSV, PDF and Markdown.
SparesA percentage of spares on top of the quantities, with a warning if it is switched off.

Drawings and handover

15 features
Project drawingsCover sheet, index, block diagram, single-line diagram, network topology, loudspeaker wiring, rack front and rear, plan, cable schedule, conduit schedule, bill of materials, notes.
Sizes from A4 to A0Sharp vector PDF at every size, portrait and landscape.
Title block with a template libraryA CAD-style band or a compact box, with practice, logo, scale, revision and discipline; templates you can reuse across projects.
Multi-page drawing set Pro onlyOrder, duplicate, renumber and enable the drawings; an automatic index; one single PDF of everything.
Installer's packThe working set for whoever installs it, in one archive with its own index.
Handover pack Pro onlyAn archive with the drawing set and every attachment.
Operation and maintenance manual Pro onlyGenerated from the project, in Markdown and PDF.
Method statement Pro onlyA method document in Markdown and PDF.
AVIXA F502.02 test plan Pro onlyTests with status, measured values and notes.
Punch list with photographs Pro onlyOutstanding items with evidence photos and a PDF.
Acceptance certificate Pro onlyCriteria, signature and the certificate as a PDF.
Warranties and renewal diary Pro onlyExpiry dates for warranties, contracts and maintenance.
AVIXA D401.01 classification Pro onlyClassifies the project according to the standard.
AVIXA D402.02 verification register Pro onlyA per-system register with 160 entries, outcomes by phase and a PDF report.
PDF layout with no text running overText is measured against the actual font and wrapped: in tables and data sheets it does not run outside the column.

Diagrams

6 features
System block diagramBuilt from the devices and the connections, with layout and graphic touch-ups.
Single-line functional diagramAlso as a tree, with no crossings.
Signal flow matrixPaths by signal type, exportable.
Grounding diagramNodes, bonds and conductor sizes.
Riser diagram Pro onlyVertical connections between floors.
Loudspeaker wiring diagramBranches, tap-offs and nodes.

Catalogue and libraries

9 features
Product catalogueSearch by type, a tabbed product sheet, categories and sub-categories.
Your own products and librariesYour own cables, connectors, adapters and devices, starting from a copy of a catalogue product if you like.
Guided import with column mappingRecognises the columns in your file and offers import profiles you can save.
Find duplicatesTracks down duplicated products and devices.
Products frozen into the projectEvery project carries a copy of the products it uses: it stays readable even if the catalogue changes.
J-STD-710 standard symbolsThe official vocabulary with categories, mounting codes and symbols.
Libraries of plates and rack panelsTemplates with ports, grid and snapping, applied to the instances.
Software and licence catalogueSoftware with its licence type, assigned to project hosts and counted in the bill of materials.
Catalogue images in the packageProduct photographs are included in the installation: you can browse the catalogue with images offline as well.

The application

10 features
Works without the internetAll the work sits on your own disk. No account, no projects in the cloud.
macOS and WindowsSame version, same day.
Light and dark themesTwo complete themes, with colours meant for a whole day in front of the screen.
English interfaceThe software in English, and then in the other languages of this site.
Imperial units and US paper sizes plannedInches, degrees Fahrenheit, Letter and ANSI paper.
Audio, Pro and Viewer editionsThree editions with different feature sets.
Updates from inside the applicationChecks for and installs updates without downloading everything again.
A link to your own AI planned Pro onlyThe assistant you already use reads the project's real data through an open standard.
Multi-seat working and shared libraries planned Pro onlySeveral people on the same catalogue and the same practice libraries, each from their own seat.
Links to other applications planned Pro onlyData exchange with design and project-management software.
Pro only present in the Pro edition onlyplanned feature planned, still to be written
The features with no label are all there at release. Those labelled “planned” arrive later, with the updates, and are not part of the price of what you buy. The comparison between the editions shows the same items as a table.

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