EICR Software and AI: What Can Be Drafted, What You Decide

AI can help write EICR observations, but only as a drafting aid that turns rough site notes into clear, consistent wording. It cannot inspect anything, and it should never choose the C1, C2, C3 or FI code, the overall outcome or the test values. Those are judgements made against BS 7671, and the electrician who signs owns them.

Most search results for EICR software are vendor pages, which explain what a product does and not what a careful electrician should hand to a machine. The short version: let AI turn "kitchen sockets no rcd, ring 2" into a clean sentence, and keep the code, the outcome and the signature for yourself. Drafts go wrong in predictable ways: they add facts you never noted, borrow code language such as "potentially dangerous", and invent regulation numbers.

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What an EICR is made of, and which parts are only wording

An electrical installation condition report has several parts. Some are measurements and judgements. Some are sentences. AI is only suitable for the sentences.

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Only the observation descriptions, the limitations text and the recommendations wording are language tasks. Everything else is either measured or a professional decision. If a tool, AI-powered or not, wants to fill in the other rows for you, that is a design problem to raise with the vendor.

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The codes AI must not assign

The classification codes on the standard forms are: C1, danger present and risk of injury, immediate remedial action required; C2, potentially dangerous, urgent remedial action required; C3, improvement recommended; and FI, further investigation required without delay. In general, a report with any C1, C2 or FI is unsatisfactory, while C3 alone does not make it so. Check the exact wording on the forms and guidance you use, because that is the authority and not this summary.

Why the code is off limits for AI: the same defect can fall in different codes depending on the situation. A missing cover plate on a seldom-used cupboard and one in a child's bedroom are not the same risk. A model has not seen the room, the people or the surroundings. It tends to give the code that is statistically common for the wording, and a confident wrong code on a report is worse than a blank. That is why every example below leaves the code to the electrician.

Observation drafting: five before-and-after samples

These are illustrative. In each case the raw note is what an electrician might type or dictate on site, the draft is what an assistant could produce, and the last line shows the human step.

Sample 1: no additional protection on a socket circuit

Raw note: "kitchen sockets no rcd, ring 2". Draft: "Socket-outlet circuit 2 (kitchen) is not provided with additional protection by a 30 mA RCD. [Reference and code to be entered by inspector.]" Human step: you confirm the circuit reference, decide the code from your assessment of the installation, and add the regulation reference from your own copy of BS 7671. The assistant left the regulation number out on purpose, because models quote clause numbers wrongly with confidence.

Sample 2: bonding

Raw note: "no bonding found at gas, meter inside". Draft: "Main protective bonding conductor to the gas installation pipework was not observed at the point of entry. Inspector to confirm location, size and whether it was inaccessible." Human step: go back and check whether it was missing or hidden. If you could not see it, the right entry may be a limitation or an FI, not a defect. The draft prompted the question, and you have the answer.

Sample 3: consumer unit condition

Raw note: "cu 2 knockouts missing, sp2 open, plastic". Draft: "Two unused openings in the consumer unit enclosure are not closed with blanking pieces, leaving live parts potentially accessible." Human step: check the claim against what you saw. "Live parts accessible" is a statement of fact you must stand behind. If the live parts were not reachable, delete the phrase.

Sample 4: damaged flex

Raw note: "loft light flex perished, brittle". Draft: "The flexible cable to the loft lighting point shows perished and brittle insulation." Human step: add the exact location, confirm it is original, and select the code. Notice what the draft left out: it did not say "dangerous". Choosing that word is a code decision.

Sample 5: a limitation

Raw note: "no access bed 2 locked, couldn't do sockets there, tenant away". Draft: "Bedroom 2 was locked and not accessible at the time of inspection; accessories and circuits within that room were not inspected or tested." Human step: this matters more than any observation. Make sure the limitation matches what was agreed with the client before the visit, and that the circuit list shows which circuits were affected.

A prompt that keeps the assistant in its lane

A general assistant will happily volunteer codes and regulation numbers unless you tell it not to. Put the restrictions first and keep the task narrow.

You are helping an electrician tidy the wording of EICR observations. You are a copy editor, not an inspector.

Rules: Rewrite each raw note as one clear, factual sentence in neutral language. Do not assign or suggest a code (C1, C2, C3, FI). Do not say whether the installation is safe or unsafe. Do not quote regulation numbers. Do not add facts that are not in the note; if something needed is missing (location, circuit reference, size), write it in square brackets as a question for the inspector. Keep each observation under 40 words.

Notes:
1. [paste]
2. [paste]

Run it on a handful of real notes and compare the output with what you would have written. The biggest gain is consistency: three electricians in one firm stop describing the same defect three different ways. Another is speed, because you dictate quickly and let the draft handle grammar. For tips on dictating notes on site, see turning on-site voice notes into job sheets.

A worked example: one visit, start to finish

Take an illustrative visit by a two-van electrical firm to a three-bedroom rented house for a periodic report. The electrician inspects, tests and dictates notes in the van afterwards. It takes about two and a half hours on site. The notes contain eleven items.

The test results go straight from the tester into the firm's certified reporting software and are never retyped. Of the eleven notes, seven are defects, two are limitations, one is a recommendation and one is a query. The electrician pastes the seven defect notes into an assistant, with names and the address removed, using the prompt above. In two minutes, the assistant returns seven neat sentences with six square-bracket questions. The electrician answers those from memory and photos, edits two sentences that said more than the notes did, and adds codes one by one in the software. Three defects get a code on the spot. Two need a second look at photos, and one of those moves from C3 to C2 after thinking about where the cable runs. One becomes an FI because it could not be verified. The last turns out to be a limitation rather than a defect and moves to that section. The software proposes the overall outcome from the codes, the electrician confirms it, and then reads the whole report from the first line to the signature before signing.

Time saved: perhaps 20 minutes of typing and rewording per report. That is a small saving per job and a real one across a month of inspections. The saving does not come from the code or the verdict, which took the same time as ever.

Where the draft goes wrong

Four failure patterns show up again and again.

• Added facts. The assistant writes "in the airing cupboard" when you said "upstairs". Insist that anything missing becomes a bracketed question, and read for invented detail.
• Soft or alarming words. "Potentially dangerous" and "unsafe" are code language. A draft that uses them is making a code decision for you. Strip them.
• Wrong regulation numbers. Models invent clause numbers that look right. Never keep one you have not looked up in your own copy.
• Merged defects. Two separate problems get joined into one sentence, so one code covers both. Keep one defect per observation.

Completeness checks: a quieter use of AI

Drafting is the obvious use. A less obvious and arguably safer one is checking that the report is complete, using text only, with no values. Export or copy the list of observations and limitations (without names or addresses) and ask the assistant to act as a proofreader with a fixed list of questions.

Here are the observations and limitations from an EICR draft. Do not change them. List only: (1) any observation that mentions more than one defect, (2) any observation with no location or circuit reference, (3) any limitation that is not matched by a note about which circuits or rooms were affected, (4) any wording that sounds like a code decision (dangerous, unsafe, urgent), (5) inconsistencies in how the same item is described.

A realistic result on a draft of nine observations: "Observation 4 mentions both a missing cover and a loose terminal, so consider splitting. Observation 6 has no location. Observation 8 uses 'dangerous', which implies a code. Limitation 2 says the loft was not inspected, but observation 7 describes a loft cable." That last catch is the kind that gets a report queried later, and a human reading the same text for the fifth time will often miss it.

A small landlord portfolio, seen from the office

Consider an illustrative firm that inspects twelve flats for a landlord in one week, with two electricians dictating notes. The office administrator receives twelve sets of dictated text in different styles. Used as an editor, an assistant normalises them: same sentence shape, same terms ("consumer unit", never "fuse box" in one and "board" in another), same bracketed questions. The administrator sends the queries back to the electricians, who answer in a line each. The assistant never sees a test value, a code or a verdict. The firm ends up with twelve reports that read as if one person wrote them, which makes review by the principal inspector faster, and the landlord's cover note can be assembled from the same observations.

What a half-page of a finished observation list looks like

Here is an illustrative extract, after the electrician has done every human step. The wording came from a draft, and the final column came from the inspector alone.

Notice that every row has a photo reference. If a client or a second inspector questions an entry a year later, the photo and the wording together are your evidence. A draft with no photo behind it is a draft you should be reluctant to sign.

Asking your EICR software vendor the right questions

EICR packages now split on AI, and the labels change often. Two of the vendor pages that rank for this keyword show the range. SpeedCert lists voice dictation to build circuit schedules and "photo and AI assistance to prefill test results and tables", with AI assistance on its free plan and unlimited AI features on Pro Monthly. ProCerts advertises the opposite stance on its home page: "No AI generated slop". Neither position settles the question for you.

A prefill from a photo deserves a specific rule. Reading a number off a picture of an instrument screen or a paper schedule is a transcription step, and transcription is where a 0.35 becomes a 0.53. Treat every prefilled value as unconfirmed until you have compared it with the reading on the instrument or its download, the same way you would check figures an apprentice typed. If the software cannot show which values were prefilled, ask the vendor to mark them before you rely on the feature. Do not compare packages on a feature list alone. Put these questions to the vendor and get the answers in writing.

1. Which parts of the report can the AI write? Observation text only, or also codes, recommendations, the outcome or test values?
2. Can I switch each AI feature off?
3. Does the AI ever fill a field automatically, without me looking at it first?
4. Where does the text I enter go, and is it used to train a model?
5. Is every AI-drafted line marked in the draft so I can see what I have not yet read?
6. What does the audit trail show if a report is queried later?

The best features suppress rather than suggest: they highlight a missing circuit reference, or flag a code that is inconsistent with the schedule. A feature that quietly picks a code for you is the one to avoid. For a wider view of whether you need a specialist app at all, read AI app for electricians, or is ChatGPT enough.

The sign-off steps that keep you covered

Whatever tools you use, the sequence below keeps the declaration honest. It takes about 15 minutes per report once it becomes habit.

1. Agree the extent and limitations with the client before you start, in writing.
2. Inspect and test on site. Tick the schedule as you go and take photos of every defect and every limitation.
3. Enter test results directly from the instrument where your software allows, and nowhere else.
4. Draft observation wording from your notes, with or without AI, one defect at a time.
5. Assign each code yourself with the photo in front of you, and note any FI honestly.
6. Check the overall outcome follows from the codes and is stated correctly.
7. Read the finished report once, start to end, as if you were the client's lawyer.
8. Get any review your scheme or firm requires from a second qualified person.
9. Sign, date and issue. Keep the photos, notes and draft history together.

Step 7 is the one most often skipped, and it is where AI-drafted wording gets caught. Read the report on paper or a different screen from the one you wrote it on, because errors are easier to see that way.

Cover notes and recommendations: the other safe use

Once the report is signed, an assistant can help with the communication around it. A landlord wants a plain-English note: what the report found, which items need action and in what order, and how to arrange remedial work. That is a good AI job, because the facts are already settled and the task is clarity. The tutorial on EICR cover notes in plain English covers it in detail. Keep the note consistent with the report: if the report says C2, the note must not soften it to "worth looking at".

When the customer then asks for a price for the remedial work, you are into quoting. Put a clear scope, assumptions and exclusions on it, as in writing a domestic quote with AI. Never promise a price from the report alone if access or hidden conditions could change the job.

Training a junior without letting the draft do their thinking

An apprentice or newly qualified inspector can learn a lot from seeing a rough note become a clean observation. The risk is that they learn the wording and skip the reasoning. A sensible rule for a firm: the junior writes the raw note and proposes the code first, on paper, before any assistant is used. The senior then compares the proposal with the draft wording and talks through any disagreement on the code. The assistant polishes sentences. It never replaces the conversation in which a junior learns why the same defect can be coded differently in two different rooms.

Privacy and records

An EICR links a named person, an address and the condition of the electrics. Strip names, addresses and any access details (key safes, alarm codes) from anything you paste into a general assistant. Business plans from the main vendors do not train on your content by default, and consumer plans have a switch for it, but the simplest rule is to paste the defect and nothing else. Keep the signed report, schedules, photos and notes for as long as your scheme, insurer or the law where you work requires, and ask them what that period is.

If you would like a drafting routine set up for your own firm, with clear boundaries between what the assistant writes and what you decide, that is what an AI implementation consultation can cover. The routine above works fine on its own, and the signature stays where it has always been: with you.

EICR and AI questions from electricians

Can AI decide whether an observation is a C1, C2 or C3?

It should not. The code is the inspector's professional judgement about danger at the installation in front of them, made against BS 7671 and the guidance for the report forms. An assistant can show what each code means in general, but it has not seen the installation, so leave the choice to the person who signs.

Is it safe to paste test results into ChatGPT or Claude?

Avoid it. Test values belong in your certified software or on the schedule you sign, and an assistant adds risk of transcription errors. Remove names and addresses from any text you do paste, and check your plan's data settings. Wording help needs only the defect description.

Does my EICR software already include AI?

Some do and some do not, and features change often. Ask your vendor three questions: what the AI drafts, whether it ever sets a code or the overall outcome, and where your data goes. Anything that sets a code or an outcome without your decision is a red flag.

Who is liable if AI wording is wrong?

The person who signs the report. The signature says you inspected and tested and that the contents are your judgement, however the sentence was first drafted. Read every line as if you wrote it, because in law and in a dispute you did.

Further reads

• AI Electrical Certification Apps: What to Check Before You Pay — What to check in a certification app before you pay.
• Electrical Installation Certificate: What AI Can Draft and You Must Sign — The same draft-versus-sign split for installation certificates.
• AI for Electrical Code: Can ChatGPT Answer Code Questions Safely? — Why regulation answers from a chatbot need checking.
• Tradify for Electricians: Quotes, Jobs and AI SmartTools Set-Up — A job-management tool with AI features for electricians.
• AI Training for Electricians: What the Crew Should Learn First — What the crew should learn about AI first.
• Landlord Compliance Checklist: Track Gas Safety and EICRs With AI — What landlords and agents do with the report afterwards.
• Emergency Lighting Certificate With AI: Test Log to Signed Paperwork — A worked emergency lighting test log, from site readings to a signed certificate: what AI can draft and what the competent person records and signs.
• How Can AI Help Electricians? Seven Office Jobs to Hand Over — Seven office jobs an electrician can hand to AI, each with a named tool, a sample output and a clear line on what you still approve yourself.
• AI Tools and AI Development: The Complete 2026 Guide — the AI hub, including every tutorial in the AI-for-business series.

Sources: BS 7671 classification codes (C1, C2, C3, FI) as used on standard EICR forms; SpeedCert and ProCerts home pages (checked November 2026); ChatGPT and Claude plan pages. This tutorial is not a substitute for the standard or your scheme's guidance.