How to read a failed EICR that uses more than one code

Use the wording already settled for each code. If a sentence below is the one you need to check, open the page named in the last column rather than treating this table as a second definition.

If the report is unsatisfactory, look for the C1 and C2 items. They are the ones that explain that result. Under the current A4:2026 EICR format, an FI observation is advisory and does not by itself make the overall assessment unsatisfactory.

C3 means improvement recommended. C3 alone does not make the report unsatisfactory. A stack of C3 notes can still be worth planning. It is not the same queue as danger present.

Count the observations rather than the headings. One C2 and three C3 notes are not four failures of the same kind. The schedule tells you which sentence belongs to which code.

Start with the front page, then the schedule. The front page is one overall assessment. The schedule can still list danger present, potentially dangerous items, improvements, and something that could not be confirmed. Those lines do not collapse into one fault because they share a PDF.

If the report is unsatisfactory, look for the C1 and C2 items. They are the ones that explain that result. A C3 note on the same page stays an improvement. It does not become urgent because it is printed underneath a C2. Under the current A4:2026 EICR format, an FI observation is advisory and does not by itself make the overall assessment unsatisfactory. If FI sits beside a C2, the C2 is still the urgent remedial list and the FI item still needs the investigation that observation describes.

Read each observation's own wording, not only the letter. Two C2 lines can be different work. One may be an accessory you can see. The other may depend on a circuit that was only partly traced. The code sets the urgency. The sentence tells the contractor what was found.

Make safe anything described as danger present, and do that before you collect quotations for the rest. Then list every C2 observation, with its wording, for remedial work. Send each FI item for the investigation named there, which may be a locked cupboard or a cover that could not be removed. Park C3 improvements on a separate list so they do not delay the danger and the urgent items.

When you ask for remedial work, send the schedule rather than the word unsatisfactory. Say which lines you want priced, and say which FI lines are investigation rather than a straight repair. There is no universal repair price. The remedial quotation follows the observations, not the number of headings.

The single-code pages still own the definitions. Use them when one letter is the whole question. Use this page when the report contains more than one letter and you need the order of work.

Code meanings: C1, C2, C3, FI, and the classification guide. The short list is the code cheatsheet. Follow-up work is arranged through remedial work.