How to Create an EICR Digitally: A Step-by-Step Guide for 2026
A step-by-step walkthrough of building an EICR digitally, from starter templates and auto-filled Zs values to flagged readings, photo observations and sign-off, with the Zappy Pro Tools features that speed each stage up.
Paper EICRs eat an evening you don't have. You're copying the same board details from the last job, hunting for the right Zs figure in a dog-eared BS 7671 table, and retyping observations you've written a hundred times before. Doing it digitally cuts that grind down to the bits that actually need your judgement: the readings, the ticks, and what you found wrong. Here's the full workflow, start to finish.
Start from a template, not a blank form
The slowest part of any EICR is the stuff that's identical job to job: extent and limitations wording, supply and earthing arrangement, the shape of the board and circuit schedule. A blank form makes you type all of that out again every time.
Zappy now gives you six starter templates for common UK homes: a modern RCBO board, an older rewirable fuse board, a full rewire, a new shower circuit, a split-load board with mixed RCBO and MCB protection, and a TT earthing arrangement with an RCD main switch. Pick the one closest to the job and it pre-fills the extent and limitations, supply and earthing, and the board and circuit schedule for you. They're free on every plan.
What they don't fill in is the important part. Readings, ticks, observations, signatures and the client's details are always left blank, and any step a template has filled stays marked until you've actually checked it on site. So you can't accidentally send out a certificate with someone else's test results on it. If you run a particular board layout a lot, say three-bed semis with the same consumer unit, you can save any finished EICR as your own template from its menu and choose exactly what carries over. Rename or bin templates later in Settings > Certificates.
Fill in the basics: extent, limitations, supply and earthing
Once you've picked a template, check it actually matches what's in front of you. Confirm the extent and limitations reflect what you've agreed to inspect, not just what the template assumed. Same with the supply type and earthing arrangement, TN-S, TN-C-S or TT, these change your whole approach to testing, so get them right before you go anywhere near the board.
If the property doesn't match any template closely, start blank and build the schedule as you go. It's slower, but it's honest.
Build the board and circuit schedule
This is where the template earns its keep for repeat layouts, but for anything non-standard you're adding circuits one by one: type, protective device, rating, cable size, RCD protection. Get this right first because everything downstream, your max Zs figures and your readings to double-check, depends on it being accurate.
If you've got several similar circuits on one board, like a run of lighting circuits on the same type of RCBO, use copy to other circuits to repeat the wiring type, protective device or RCD details across the board in one go. There's an Undo if you copy something you shouldn't have. It's a small thing but it saves a lot of repetitive tapping on a big board.
RCBOs fill their RCD columns in one tap too, so you're not manually entering the same RCD rating and type on every single way.
Max permitted Zs, done for you
Looking up max permitted Zs in BS 7671 Table 41.3 on site, with cold hands and a torch in your mouth, is nobody's favourite part of the job. Enter a B, C or D breaker and its rating and the figure fills in automatically from the table, and it updates if you change the breaker type or rating later. If you've got a reason to use your own figure, you can type over it.
Take your readings
Now the actual testing. As you enter readings, anything over its permitted limit gets listed at the top of Testing so you're not scanning the whole schedule looking for the one reading that's out. Tap it and you're taken straight to that circuit.
For ring finals, your readings show Zdb plus (R1 + R2) alongside the expected ring (R1 + R2) so you can compare at a glance rather than doing the sum in your head on a ladder.
Before you leave the board
• Extent and limitations match what you agreed with the client
• Supply type and earthing arrangement are correct, not just template defaults
• Every circuit has the right protective device and rating entered
• Max permitted Zs has been checked, not just accepted
• Any reading flagged as over limit has been investigated, not ignored
• Photos taken for anything you'll want to reference in an observation
Add observations with codes and photos
Observations are where most of your time used to go: writing up what you found, picking the right code, trying to describe a dodgy connection in words alone. The add buttons for observations now sit together at the top, so you're not hunting around the screen.
You can add up to three photos to any observation. They print in a Photographs section at the back of the report, numbered P1, P2 and so on, with each observation pointing to its own photos. This is free on every plan and it genuinely changes how useful a report is to a landlord who's never seen a consumer unit in their life.
If you'd rather not type the observation out, from a photo lets AI draft the wording from up to three photos, shows the closest matching entries in the guide, and suggests what to check on site. You still edit the wording and choose the code yourself, it's a starting point, not a decision. The photos used to draft it are kept for your records but aren't printed twice.
The code itself shows once, in its colour, inside the picker, so there's no ambiguity about whether something's a C1, C2 or C3 as you're working through the list.
Once you've logged a C1 or C2, Create remedial quote and Issue danger notification sit right under your observations, so you can act on what you've found without switching screens or re-typing anything. That matters because the gap between "I found a dangerous fault" and "the client knows and has a quote to fix it" is where jobs get lost.
Sign off and send
With testing and observations done, you move to signatures and client details, the two things templates never fill in for you. Pick your certificate style, Modern, Official (a boxed form that looks like the scheme certificates clients already recognise) or Heritage (classic paperwork that prints cleanly), in Settings > Certificates. Official and Heritage are part of Zappy Pro.
On Zappy Pro you can add a cover page with the result, key dates, code counts and a QR code the client can scan to view the certificate online, a nice touch for landlords who'll be showing it to letting agents. Add your scheme details and logo if you're a registered member, set your brand colour, and preview before you send. Your scheme and registration number stay linked between Qualifications and Certificates, so updating one updates the other.
Once it's signed, send it. The client gets a proper PDF, you get a copy on file, and if there's a C1 or C2 lurking, the quote or danger notification is already sitting there waiting to go out.
How this compares to paper or generic PDF forms
| Task | Paper / generic PDF | Digital EICR (Zappy) | |---|---|---| | Board and circuit setup | Manual, every time | Templates pre-fill, you confirm | | Max permitted Zs | Look up in Table 41.3 | Auto-fills from breaker type and rating | | Spotting an out-of-limit reading | Scan the whole schedule | Flagged automatically at the top | | Repeating circuit details | Retype each one | Copy to other circuits, with Undo | | Observation photos | Loose on your phone | Up to 3 per observation, printed and numbered | | Acting on a C1/C2 | Separate quote, separate email | Create remedial quote or issue danger notification from the observation | | Client view | Paper copy or flat PDF | QR code cover page linking to the certificate online (Zappy Pro) |
If you're also sending EICRs to landlords in South Yorkshire, we've covered the compliance side in our guides to EICR certificates in Sheffield and EICR certificates in Doncaster, and how one landlord with several properties can become a repeat client in this Doncaster piece.
FAQ
Do templates fill in my readings for me? No. Templates only pre-fill the fixed parts, extent and limitations, supply and earthing, and the board and circuit schedule. Readings, ticks, observations, signatures and client details are always left blank so you check everything yourself on site.
Does the max permitted Zs figure replace my own judgement? It gives you the BS 7671 Table 41.3 figure automatically once you've entered a B, C or D breaker and its rating, and updates if you change the breaker. You can still type over it with your own figure if you have good reason to.
Can I use AI-drafted observation wording as the final report? You can use it as a starting point. The from-a-photo feature drafts wording and suggests a code based on up to three photos, but you still edit the text and choose the final code yourself before it goes out.
What happens if I log a C1 observation? Create remedial quote and Issue danger notification sit directly under your observations once you've logged a C1 or C2, so you can act straight away rather than switching tools or retyping details.
Is the photo and cover-page feature on every plan? Adding up to three photos per observation is free on every plan. The certificate cover page with a QR code, plus Official and Heritage certificate styles, are part of Zappy Pro.
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