---
title: "Change schedule — change the inspection schedule on a certificate you have started"
description: "Copy items in from your schedule library, code them, remove items, notes or sections, replace the whole schedule or clear every code, on an EICR you have already started. Nothing changes until you review and apply."
source: "pirform"
---

# Change schedule

Change schedule changes the inspection schedule of the certificate you have open. You can:

- copy items, sections or a whole schedule in from your [schedule library](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/schedule-manager);
- code any item;
- remove items, notes or whole sections;
- **replace** the schedule with one from your library;
- **clear all codes** and start the codes again.

Codes you have already set stay unless you change them. Nothing on the certificate changes until you
review the changes and press **Apply**.

## Opening it

Open the certificate and go to the **Inspection Schedule** page. On the **Main Form** ribbon tab, in
the **Schedule** group, click **Change Schedule**. It sits after **Set Blanks**. You don't need to turn
anything on first.

The button is there on EICR 2022, 2024 and 2026 certificates. It works on the **Inspection Schedule**
page.

The Schedule Manager opens in its own window over the certificate. While it is open, the certificate
window shows a small panel, *Change schedule is open*. Click **Bring to front** if the Schedule Manager
window gets lost behind another one. Apply or cancel in the Schedule Manager to get back to the
certificate.

![Change schedule before anything is staged](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-empty.png)

The window has two halves:

- **From your library**, on the left. The schedule at the top is the one you copy from. Click it to
  choose another. You are offered the schedules for this certificate's amendment, and any of your own
  schedules with no amendment tag.
- **This certificate · after Apply**, on the right. This is the certificate's schedule as it will be
  when you apply. Every change shows here as you make it.

## Copying items in

Tick items in the library, or tick a section to take all of its items. **Select all** takes the whole
schedule. Notes in the library are shown in italics, marked *Note*. They have no tick box.

![The whole schedule ticked, with section 6 waiting for an answer](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-whole-schedule.png)

Item numbers decide where everything goes:

- **An item whose number is already on the certificate** is marked *On certificate* in the library.
  Copying it changes nothing. It keeps its code, its observation or limitation, its photos and
  comments, its wording and its own outcome list.
- **An item whose number is not on the certificate** is added to its section in number order, marked
  **New**. It arrives with no code.
- **Copying never renumbers items.** Observations quote item numbers, so item numbers stay as they are.
- **Copying never removes anything.** To take items away, remove them (see *Removing items, notes and
  sections*) or replace the schedule.

A section the certificate doesn't have is added with its own number, with its notes. A section can be
added even if it has no items, so you get the heading on its own.

Items with four-part numbers, such as `4.10.1.1`, are greyed out. The certificate can't hold them.

### When a section's heading is different

If the certificate already has a section with the same number but a different heading, you choose
where the library section goes:

- **Merge into** the certificate's section. Items with the same numbers are matched and keep the
  certificate's codes. The rest are added. After you choose this, you can also choose **Keep certificate
  heading** or **Use library heading**.
- **Add as new section**, with the next free section number. The items are renumbered into that section
  and keep the library heading.

There is no default. **Review…** stays disabled until you choose.

![A library section whose number is on the certificate under another heading](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-conflict.png)

If the library has the same section number twice, only the first is offered.

### When the wording is different

A matched item keeps the certificate's wording. If the library's wording is different, the row says
*Library wording differs*. Click it to see the two side by side, then choose **Keep certificate
wording** or **Use library wording**.

If the item has an observation, using the library wording rewrites the observation text to match. The
row shows what the observation will read.

![Comparing the certificate's wording with the library's](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-wording.png)

## Coding items

You can code any item on the right, new or already on the certificate. Click the outcome button on the
row and pick a code, or select the row and press a key: **P**, **1**, **2**, **3**, **X**, **V** (N/V),
**L** (LIM), **A** (N/A) or **F** (FI). **Delete** clears the code. **Enter** opens the picker, and the
arrow keys move between rows.

Each row says what the change will do on the certificate:

- **A new code that raises an observation** (C1, C2, C3, FI or X) raises one with the usual text. Add
  its comment, location and photos in the certificate afterwards.
- **LIM** raises an agreed limitation.
- **Changing between C1, C2, C3, FI and X** keeps the observation. Its code and text are updated.
- **Changing to PASS, N/V, N/A, LIM or Clear** removes the observation, with its photos. The row warns
  you, for example *Removes observation 4 · 2 photos*. The comment is kept, and comes back if you code
  the item again.
- **Changing away from LIM** removes the limitation.

Click **Undo** beside a changed code to put the old one back.

![An item with an observation recoded to PASS](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-recoded-pass.png)

Two kinds of item are limited:

- **Locked by intelligence.** If intelligence coded an item C1, C2 or C3, you can only make the code
  worse: C3 to C2 or C1, and C2 to C1. Every other code is locked. The picker names the rule that set
  it. **Clear all codes** releases the lock (see below).
- **Items with their own outcome list**, such as `Y, N/A`, offer that list and Clear.

![The outcome picker on an item locked by intelligence](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-locked-picker.png)

**Set blanks** codes blank items in one go. Choose **Being copied in** for the new items only, or **All
blank items** for every blank item on the certificate. Items with their own outcome list, and removed
items, are skipped.

![Set blanks, with its two choices](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-set-blanks.png)

**Show changes only** hides the rows that aren't changing. The search box finds an item by its number
or its wording.

## Removing items, notes and sections

Every row on the certificate has a bin button. Click it, or select the row and press **Shift+Delete**,
to mark the row **Removed**. Notes can be removed the same way. Items locked by intelligence can be
removed too.

A removed row stays where it is, struck through, so you can see what is going. It loses its outcome
button and shows what goes with it, such as its observation and photos, its limitation or its
intelligence code. Click **Undo remove**, or press **Shift+Delete** again, to keep it.

![A locked item marked Removed](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-removed-locked.png)

To remove a whole section, with its heading, items and notes, click **Remove section** in the section's
heading bar. It is greyed out while you are copying library items into that section: untick them first.
If you undo one item in a removed section, the heading comes back and the other items stay removed.

![A whole section marked Removed](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-removed-section.png)

Items you are copying in have no bin button. Untick them in the library instead.

## Replace with this schedule

**Replace with this schedule…** makes the certificate's schedule exactly the one chosen in the library.
It is the same as Pirform's old Change Schedule with **Reapply**. The button is in the library's
**Select all** bar.

First it tells you what it will do, with counts:

- it ticks every item in the schedule;
- it marks Removed every item, note and section that isn't in the schedule, with their observations
  and limitations;
- matched items take the library's wording and headings, and the library's notes are used;
- matched items keep their codes, observations and limitations.

![Replace with this schedule asks first](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-replace-confirm.png)

Click **Stage the replace** to go ahead, or **Cancel**. A banner at the top of the certificate says the
replace is staged. **Undo replace** puts everything back as it was before.

![A replace staged: removed rows struck through, matches keeping their codes](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-replace.png)

You can still change anything row by row. Click **Undo remove** to keep an item. Choose **Keep
certificate wording** or **Keep certificate heading** to keep the certificate's text. If you untick a
library item, its match on the certificate is marked Removed.

If a library section has a different heading, nothing in that section is marked Removed until you
choose **Merge** or **Add as new section**. If you merge, the heading becomes the library's unless you
choose **Keep certificate heading**.

![A replace waiting for section 5's heading to be answered](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-replace-pending.png)

Choosing another schedule ends the replace. The ticks are cleared, but your codes, removals and Clear
all codes stay.

## Clear all codes

**Clear all codes…**, beside **Set blanks**, clears every code on the certificate. It is the same as
Pirform's old Change Schedule with **Start blank**. It first tells you how many coded items it clears,
which observations and limitations go with them, and how many items intelligence coded.

![Clear all codes asks first](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-clear-all-confirm.png)

Click **Clear all codes** to go ahead. A banner says the codes are cleared, and each cleared row says
*Cleared* with the old code struck through. Code any row again, or click **Undo** on it. **Undo clear
all**, in the banner or on the button, puts every code back.

Clear all codes releases intelligence locks. A locked item says *Intelligence · lock released*, and its
picker offers every code. Intelligence isn't re-run, so a cleared intelligence code won't come back
after Apply. Items with their own outcome list are cleared too. Blank items and items you are copying
in aren't affected.

![Clear all codes staged](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-clear-all.png)

## Collapsing sections

Click the arrow at the start of a section's heading bar to collapse it. A collapsed section shows how
many items it has and how many are changing, for example *23 items · 17 changes*. **Collapse all
sections**, at the top right, collapses every section; **Expand all sections** opens them again.

A heading question you still need to answer stays in view in a collapsed section. The search box still
finds items in collapsed sections.

![Collapsed sections with their summaries](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-collapsed.png)

## Review and Apply

Click **Review…** to check everything before it happens. The review lists, in this order:

- **Declaration**: what the change does to the report's overall condition (see below).
- **Removed**: each removed section, item and note, and each observation or limitation that will go,
  with its text. For an observation, tick **Keep it as a standalone observation** to keep it on the
  Observations tab, with its photos, no longer linked to the schedule.
- **Observations renumbered**: observation numbers close up after removals, for example *8 → 6*. Check
  any comment or report text that quotes an observation number. A kept standalone observation keeps
  its place.
- **Added**: the new items and notes, by section, with any code you set.
- **Reworded**: headings, then items.
- **Recoded**, or **Codes cleared** when you only used Clear all codes.
- **Raised**: each new observation or limitation, with the text it will have.

![Review of a replace, with removals and renumbered observations](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-replace-review.png)

![Review after removing an item and keeping its observation](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-removed-kept-standalone.png)

### The overall condition

If the change affects the report's overall condition, the review shows a **Declaration** card that says
what will happen. This follows your option **Automatically change overall condition with items
affecting safety**. Every observation counts except an X on an intake item (1.1.1, 1.1.2 and so on).
Observations you added by hand count too.

![The Declaration card: a new C2 makes the report Unsatisfactory](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-review-declaration.png)

![Clearing all codes makes the report Satisfactory](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-clear-all-review.png)

### Applying

Change schedule does not re-run intelligence. Read the warning, tick **I understand, and will verify
every reference to the schedule manually afterwards**, then click **Apply**. Check the codes,
observations, limitations and intelligence on the certificate afterwards.

![Review before applying](https://www.shineforms.co.uk/docs/_img/schedule-manager-change-schedule-review.png)

The Schedule Manager window closes and the certificate is updated. The status bar says what changed,
for example *Change schedule with 'Commercial': 3 items added, 1 section removed, 2 recoded.*

To change nothing, click **Cancel**, press **Esc** or close the window.

Before it changes anything, the certificate checks the library again. If the schedule has been changed
or removed since you opened Change schedule, nothing is changed and you see *The schedule changed while
you were choosing — please try again*.

There is no undo. If you don't want the changes, close the certificate without saving it.