EICR Report Cover Note Template: Plain English With AI

Copy the report's observations, codes and overall outcome into a table yourself, and treat it as locked. Ask AI only to explain each line in plain English and to state next steps using the report's own urgency words. Then check every code and the outcome against the report before sending. AI never re-codes, softens or adds findings.

The note is a courtesy that travels with the report rather than part of it, and it exists because landlords misread codes. There is a second reason to be careful at the moment: the meaning of FI and its effect on the overall outcome changed in the 2026 amendment to BS 7671, so an assistant answering from memory, or an older guide, can now state the rule wrongly.

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What the cover note is for, and what it must never do

A landlord receives a long form full of codes and circuit references, and most of them only want to know three things: is the outcome good or bad, what needs doing and when, and who does it. The cover note answers those in about 250 words. It sits on top of the report and says nothing the report does not say.

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A useful note has six parts, in this order:

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1. The outcome line, copied from the report.
2. The count of observations by code.
3. One plain-English line per observation, with its code and the urgency words from the report.
4. Next steps, each with an owner.
5. What you need from the landlord: access, decisions, permission to quote.
6. A closing line saying the report is the document of record and should be read in full.

Equally important is the list of things the note never does. It never changes a code or the outcome. It never says an installation is safe, compliant or fine. It never gives legal advice or states a legal deadline. It never adds a finding the report does not contain, and it never drops a limitation. The inspector who signed the report owns the note, and AI is a drafting aid inside those limits, as using AI as an electrical contractor: admin yes, code answers no argues more broadly.

FI and the overall outcome changed in the 2026 amendment

Each observation on an EICR carries a classification code, and the short labels on the model forms are well known: C1 "danger present", C2 "potentially dangerous", C3 "improvement recommended", and FI for further investigation. What changed is how C3 and FI relate to the overall assessment. The IET's Wiring Matters article of July 2026 says that in BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 the C3 and FI codes were decoupled from C1 and C2, so a C3 or FI does not result in an unsatisfactory outcome, and that the FI wording moved from "further investigation required without delay" to "further investigation is advised". The IET dates the amendment from 15 April 2026, and its BS 7671 page says the transition period for the previous version, Amendment 2, ended on 15 October 2026.

Older guides tell a different story. Many say that a C1, C2 or FI makes a report unsatisfactory, and some forms still in circulation may print that rule. The IET's own account of the earlier history is more nuanced than those guides, which is reason enough not to rely on general knowledge. A report completed before the amendment took effect, or produced by software that has not yet been updated, may carry the older key.

For the cover note the consequence is simple. The assistant must never explain FI, or work out the overall outcome, from its own knowledge. It copies the outcome from the report, it copies the code key printed on that report, and it explains each observation using only that wording. If the key on the report says "required without delay", the note says "required without delay". If the key says "advised", the note says "advised".

Build the locked findings table first

Before any AI is involved, build one table from the report with five columns: item number, location, observation text, code and recommended action. Copy the observation text exactly as the report has it, because the point of the table is that nobody has paraphrased it. If your EICR software exports observations as a table or a CSV file, use that export. If it does not, copying takes about five minutes for a typical domestic report, and those five minutes buy you the right to say the note matches the report. EICR software and AI: what can be drafted, what you decide covers how far the software itself can go.

Add four lines above the table: the overall outcome word for word, the code key as printed on this report, the limitations and extent covered, and the next inspection date or interval. These are the things assistants drop or restate from memory, so they go in as locked text too. The whole block then goes into the prompt as plain text with an instruction that these cells are read-only. The assistant adds two columns of its own, "In plain English" and "What happens next", and nothing else.

A prompt that explains the findings but cannot change them

You are drafting a cover note for a landlord to accompany an electrical installation condition report. The findings are LOCKED.

OUTCOME: [copy the overall assessment word for word]
CODE KEY: [paste the key printed on this report]
LIMITATIONS: [paste exactly as in the report]
NEXT INSPECTION: [copy the date or interval from the report]
LOCKED TABLE: [paste: item, location, observation text, code, recommended action, exactly as in the report]

Rules:
1. Never change, reorder, merge, drop or add an observation, a code or the outcome.
2. Never say anything is safe, compliant, minor, fine or not a concern. Never predict what will happen.
3. For each observation write one plain-English sentence, using the urgency wording from CODE KEY exactly.
4. State no deadline, law or cost. Where the landlord might need one, write [ELECTRICIAN TO ADD].
5. Include LIMITATIONS word for word.
6. If anything is unclear, write [CHECK] and stop.

Output: (a) a two-line summary starting with the outcome and the count of each code; (b) the table with two new columns, "In plain English" and "What happens next"; (c) one closing paragraph saying the report is the document of record and should be read in full.

Rule 6 does more work than it looks. A model that is allowed to guess will tend to guess towards reassurance, because reassuring text is common in what it has read. Giving it a way to stop means ambiguity comes back to you as a flag instead of as a confident sentence. Use the same prompt every time and change only the blocks, so the checks that follow are repeatable.

Four observations on a rented house, turned into one note

The report below is invented for illustration. It is not a guide to how any observation should be coded, which is the inspector's judgement. The overall outcome on the report is UNSATISFACTORY, and the next inspection is printed as five years from the report date.

Here is the cover note after review. Every code, count and urgency phrase comes from the report, and the only words the assistant supplied are the plain-English explanations.

Subject: Electrical report for [property address]. Outcome: UNSATISFACTORY

Hello [first name], the electrical installation condition report for [property address] is attached. The overall outcome is UNSATISFACTORY. It records four observations: one C1 (danger present), one C2 (potentially dangerous), two C3 (improvement recommended) and no FI.

Garage light switch, C1, danger present: the switch cover is missing and live conductors could be touched. The circuit was isolated on the day and has not been reinstated; it stays isolated until the work is done. Kitchen sockets, C2, potentially dangerous, urgent remedial action required: the sockets have no 30 mA RCD protection and could supply equipment used outdoors. The report recommends providing RCD protection. Consumer unit enclosure, C3, improvement recommended: it is plastic and not fire-rated, and the report suggests considering a unit with a non-combustible enclosure. Circuit labels, C3, improvement recommended: the circuits are not labelled, and the report recommends labelling them all.

What I need from you: please tell me whether you would like a quote for items 1 and 2, and who can give access to the garage and kitchen. The next inspection is printed in the report as five years from its date. This note does not replace the report, which is the document of record and should be read in full. [Your name]

What the first draft got wrong, and how each fault was caught

Suppose the first draft on that report came back fluent and wrong in six places. The run is invented, but none of the faults is exotic, and each is something assistants do when left alone with a technical document.

1. Invented reassurance. It opened with "The installation is generally in good condition." The report says no such thing. The word check caught it, and it was deleted.
2. Softened urgency. It described the C2 as something to "sort out soon". The code key printed on this report says "urgent remedial action required". Reading the draft against the key caught it, and the key's words went back in.
3. A phantom third C3. It split the consumer unit into "enclosure" and "no surge protection", producing three C3 observations where the report has two. Surge protection was never in the report. The count check caught it.
4. "Made safe". It wrote that the garage circuit "is now safe". The report says isolated and not reinstated, and isolation is not repair. The word check on "safe" caught it, and the report's own words replaced it.
5. An invented deadline. It added "you have 14 days to complete the work". The report contains no deadline. Some rental rules do set one, but that is a legal statement for the landlord or their adviser to check, not for a cover note to guess. Rule 4 in the prompt should have blocked it, which is why the word check also scans for numbers.
6. Escalated wording. It turned "non-metallic enclosure, not fire-rated" into "your consumer unit is a fire risk", which jumps a C3 to something alarming. Reading line three against the report caught it, and the report's wording was restored.

Two of the six, the phantom C3 and the deadline, add content that was never there. Assistants fill gaps, and a domestic EICR invites it because the general topic is so well covered. The defences are the locked table, the rules in the prompt and a person reading the result one line at a time.

Wording for awkward cases: a C1 made safe, an FI, a limitation

Some observations need care beyond the standard lines. Four patterns come up often enough to keep as saved wording.

• A C1 made safe on the day. Copy the report's remark exactly. If it says the circuit was isolated, say isolated, and never write "fixed" or "safe". For example: "Code C1, danger present. The circuit was isolated on the day and has not been reinstated. It stays off until the repair is done."
• An FI on a report using the 2026 key. "FI, further investigation advised: [what could not be determined and why, copied from the report]. This code does not by itself make the report unsatisfactory." Use that second sentence only if the report's own form says so. On an older form, copy the older key instead, including "required without delay" and whatever outcome rule that form prints.
• A limitation. "The following were not inspected: [copied from the report]." Assistants drop limitations because they read like boilerplate, so give them their own block in the prompt and a rule to include them verbatim. A landlord who assumes the loft was checked when it was not is a bigger problem than a dull paragraph.
• Satisfactory with C3s. "Outcome: SATISFACTORY. Two improvements are recommended (C3). They do not change the outcome." The word to watch is "just". A note that calls C3s "just recommendations" invites the landlord to file the report and forget it. Say what the report says: improvement recommended.

Plain-English rules, and a saved glossary the assistant must use

Plain English does not mean different facts. An explanation line says what the observation is, where it is and what the report says to do, in words a landlord would use, and it adds no cause, no risk and no opinion. Compare two versions of the same line.

• Drifted: "Your kitchen sockets are a bit out of date and should probably be upgraded at some point."
• Faithful: "The kitchen sockets (circuit 4) have no RCD protection. The report codes this C2, potentially dangerous, urgent remedial action required, and recommends providing it."

The drifted line turns a C2 into a comment about age and a someday task. The faithful line keeps the code, the urgency words and the recommendation, and leaves the technical term to be explained once, in the glossary.

To define terms without changing their meaning, keep a glossary of your own and paste it into every prompt with the rule "use only these definitions; if a term is not here, keep the report's term and write [CHECK]". A starter set:

• Consumer unit: the fuse board that splits the supply into separate circuits.
• Circuit: one run of cable from the consumer unit feeding a group of sockets, lights or a single appliance.
• RCD: a device that switches a circuit off very quickly if current leaks to earth, for example through a person.
• Isolated: switched off and disconnected so that it cannot be energised.
• Remedial work: repair or improvement work that deals with an observation.

Write the definitions yourself, in the words you would use at a landlord's door. An assistant's own definitions are often fine and occasionally wrong in ways that sound right, and a landlord will repeat whatever the note says to their tenant or their agent.

The count check, the outcome check and the word check

Run three checks on every note, in this order. Together they take about five minutes.

Count check. Count each code in the report and in the note, side by side. In the invented run the tally looked like this, and the mismatch in the C3 row is the point.

Outcome check. The outcome word in the note's first line must match the box on the report exactly. If you find yourself editing it because the codes seem to point somewhere else, stop. The assessment on the report is the inspector's, and a mismatch between the codes and the outcome is a question for whoever signed the report, not something a note should quietly correct.

Word check. Search the note for: safe, compliant, passed, fine, minor, cosmetic, just, only, good condition, no risk, and any number, date or circuit reference that is not in the report. Each hit is either justified by the report's own text or removed. A second assistant pass can speed this up.

Compare the NOTE with the REPORT TABLE. List every code, number, date and circuit reference that appears in only one of them. List every word in the NOTE that describes risk or condition and does not appear in the REPORT TABLE. Do not rewrite anything.

An assistant checking an assistant's work is a second opinion, not proof, and it can miss the same things for the same reasons. Keep the human read-through: finger on the report, eyes on the note, one observation at a time.

Privacy, sign-off and where the note stops

Privacy. The note needs observations, codes and the outcome, nothing else. Strip names, addresses, meter numbers and phone numbers before pasting, and use placeholders such as [property address] and [first name]. Use a business plan that does not train on your content by default, or turn off the model-training switch in the privacy settings of a personal plan. Keep the full PDF out of chat tools.

Sign-off. The person who signed the report approves the note before it leaves, and the note says it was prepared by your company and does not replace the report. Keep a copy with the report so the two can be matched later. Electrical installation certificates follow the same rule: AI drafts, you sign.

Where the note stops. It does not give legal advice about landlord duties, deadlines or tenant notices. Those depend on the rules that apply to the property, so point the landlord to their managing agent or adviser, and use an [ELECTRICIAN TO ADD] marker only when you can state the point correctly yourself. For landlords and agents who want to track when inspections fall due, a compliance tracker for gas safety and EICRs covers that side, and whether ChatGPT can answer electrical code questions safely explains why the code questions themselves stay with you.

Questions electricians ask about AI and the EICR cover note

Can AI explain EICR codes without the report in front of it?

It can describe the codes in general, but the wording on forms has changed, so general knowledge can be wrong for your report. Under the 2026 amendment to BS 7671, FI no longer makes a report unsatisfactory, while older guides may still say it does. Paste the code key printed on your own report and tell the assistant to use only that.

Should the cover note go to tenants as well?

That depends on the rules that apply to the property and on what the landlord or managing agent has agreed, so ask rather than assume. Write the note for the landlord and treat the report as the document of record. If the landlord wants something for a tenant, a different reader needs different content, so write it separately.

What if my report is on an older form?

Use the key and outcome rule printed on that report, not the newest guidance. The note copies the report's own outcome word for word and never works the outcome out itself. If the codes and the outcome seem inconsistent with each other, query it with the person who signed the report before anything is sent.

Is it safe to paste a report into ChatGPT or Claude?

Strip names, addresses, meter numbers and phone numbers first, then paste the observation text only. Use a business plan that does not train on your content by default, or switch off the model-training setting on a personal plan. Keep the full PDF out of chat tools; the note needs only the observations, codes and outcome.

Further reads

• AI Electrical Certification Apps: What to Check Before You Pay — What to check before paying for AI inside an electrical certification app.
• AI Assistant for Landlords: WhatsApp Maintenance Requests and FAQs — How landlords handle tenant messages while repairs are arranged.
• Home Inspection Report Template: Build a Comment Library With AI — A comment-library approach for another kind of inspection report.
• Electrician Quote Template: Can AI Write a Domestic Quote You Can Send? — Quote the remedial work an unsatisfactory report leads to.
• Fire Door Inspection Report: AI Drafting and What You Must Record — Another inspection report where findings have to stay exact.
• How Can AI Help Electricians? Seven Office Jobs to Hand Over — Seven more office jobs an electrician can hand to AI.
• Can AI Write a Legionella Risk Assessment? Competent-Person Limits — AI can tidy a legionella report and turn findings into plain actions. It cannot inspect the system; a competent assessor owns the findings and the sign-off.
• AI Due Diligence on Real Estate: Read Leases, Surveys, Searches — Upload the lease, survey and searches, build an issue list, rate the red flags and arrive at the solicitor with sharper questions. It never replaces advice.
• AI Tools and AI Development: The Complete 2026 Guide — the AI hub, including every tutorial in the AI-for-business series.

Sources: the IET's Wiring Matters article on the FI classification code (July 2026) and the IET's BS 7671 and shop pages for the dates of BS 7671:2018+A4:2026; trade summaries of C1, C2, C3 and FI definitions; Anthropic and OpenAI privacy and plan documentation as recorded in the series fact sheet.