How AI Can Speed Up Electrical Certificates (You Still Sign)
AI can transcribe a circuit schedule and flag parts of an EICR or EIC that disagree. It cannot test, code or sign. Here is where it helps, where it must stay out, and a workflow.
Paperwork is where an EICR or EIC eats the evening. The testing is done, the board is labelled, and you're still typing 18 circuits into a schedule from a scribbled sheet. AI is good at some of that. It is bad at, and must stay out of, the parts that make the certificate worth signing.
This guide covers where AI helps, where it must not, and a workflow you can follow. Zappy sells the tools described here, so treat the product points as what they are: a description of how Zappy Pro Tools behaves, not independent testing.
Where AI helps and where it doesn't
The split is simple. AI can read and tidy information you already have. It can't produce information that only exists when you test or inspect.
| Task | AI suitable? | Why | |---|---|---| | Turning a photo, PDF, Word or Excel schedule into rows | Yes, then review | It's transcription of existing data | | Reading pasted text from notes or a previous report | Yes, then review | Same: existing data, new layout | | Spotting parts of a certificate that disagree | Yes, as suggestions | A second pair of eyes on consistency | | Test readings (Zs, R1+R2, insulation resistance, RCD times) | No | They come from your instruments, on that day | | Observation codes (C1, C2, C3, FI) | No | A professional judgement | | Overall satisfactory or unsatisfactory verdict | No | Your decision, your signature |
AI self-review is also not the same as qualified electrical review. A tool that flags a mismatch hasn't inspected the installation. You have.
Importing a circuit schedule for review
If you've got a previous schedule, a client's old report, or your own notes in another format, retyping it is wasted time. In Zappy Pro Tools you can import into the circuit sheet from:
• photos (pick several at once)
• PDFs
• Word and Excel files
• pasted text
You can mix these in a single import, and on a computer you can drag up to 10 files onto the sheet. Pages of one schedule are read together, so a circuit that appears in two files comes back once, and the review shows which files each circuit came from.
Imported circuits arrive in a review, one after another, rather than landing silently in the certificate. Rows that were filled light up briefly on the sheet so you can see what changed. Nothing is accepted until you've looked at it.
Photos of handwriting are where mistakes creep in. A 6 read as a 5 or a B32 read as a B2 is easy to miss when the rest looks tidy. Check the device type, rating and cable size column by column against the source, not just row by row.
What AI must never fill in
Imported rows should carry circuit descriptions and details that someone already recorded. Be careful with anything that looks like a measurement.
• Test readings. A reading is a fact about the installation on the day you tested. If it's imported from an old report, it describes a different day. Zappy's own installation memory keeps boards and circuits for next time, but readings are never carried over.
• Observation codes. Whether something is C1, C2, C3 or FI is a judgement based on what you saw and the standard you apply.
• The overall verdict. Satisfactory or unsatisfactory is yours to decide.
If a tool offered to fill these, that would be a reason to distrust it. Zappy's Check also won't invent them. It flags things like an earth electrode with no RA, a Zs lower than Ze, or a breaking capacity below the fault current, and leaves the fix to you.
Review with AI: a second read, only when you ask
Review with AI sits in the Check step of an EICR or EIC and is part of Zappy Pro Tools. You press it. It doesn't run in the background, and if it finds nothing it gives the AI action back.
It reads the whole certificate for parts that disagree. A typical case is a limitation recorded in the extent of inspection while a circuit that falls inside that limitation has been ticked as inspected. Another is a statement in one section that contradicts a ticked box in another.
What comes back is listed as suggestions, separate from the standard checks. That separation matters. The standard checks are rule-based (for example Zs against Ze). The AI suggestions are a reader's opinion. You can accept one, dismiss it, or go back and re-inspect.
Don't treat a clean result as approval. It means the tool didn't find a contradiction in the text. It can't tell you the earth fault loop impedance was measured at the right point.
A realistic workflow
• Set up the job. Pick the client and the installation. If you've been there before, the boards and circuits come across from the last EICR or EIC, with no readings.
• Import the schedule. Add your photos, PDFs or notes in one go. Work through the review, correcting each row against the source.
• Do the inspection and testing. Enter your own readings and codes. The quick picks under the sheet (device types, ratings, cable sizes, N/A, LIM, N/V) save typing, but you're still choosing the values.
• Check anything auto-filled. Fill blanks only fills circuits that have no name yet and tells you which rows it left out. Check what it filled.
• Run Check. Work through the rule-based flags first.
• Press Review with AI. Read each suggestion. Fix, dismiss or investigate.
• Decide the observations and verdict yourself. Then sign and issue.
Our step-by-step guide to creating an EICR digitally covers the full build in more detail. If you're unsure which certificate a job needs, see EIC vs Minor Works.
Verify before you issue
• Every imported row checked against the original source
• Device types, ratings and cable sizes match the board
• All test readings are from today's testing, none carried over
• Limitations and the extent of inspection match what you actually did
• Observation codes are your own judgement on what you found
• Every standard Check flag resolved or consciously accepted
• Each Review with AI suggestion read and either acted on or dismissed
• Overall verdict is yours, and consistent with the observations
• Client, address and installation details are right
Cost and the free tier
Zappy Pro Tools has a free tier and a paid Zappy Pro upgrade. Review with AI is part of Zappy Pro Tools. Check the current plan details in Settings > Plan & usage before relying on a specific feature for a job. If you're comparing options, our roundup of electrical certificate software is a fair place to start.
FAQ
Can AI complete an EICR for me? No. It can transcribe an existing schedule and suggest where parts of the certificate disagree. Testing, observation codes and the verdict are yours.
Does Review with AI run automatically? No. It runs only when you press it, and its suggestions are listed apart from the standard checks.
Who is responsible for the certificate? You are. Your signature says you inspected and tested the installation. A tool can't take that responsibility, however good the suggestions are.
Should I trust imported rows from a photo? Treat them as a draft. Check them against the source, especially handwriting, ratings and cable sizes.
If you'd like to try this on real paperwork, join Zappy Pro Tools or look at the wider set of Zappy Pro Tools.
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