Create and edit a narrative

The narrative is the basic unit of the inspection report. Every observation you document becomes a narrative, attached to a specific building subsection. Lumos offers four ways to create one, and a four-part structure compliant with the BNQ 3009-500 standard.

Fundamental rule: a narrative always belongs to a subsection

A narrative does not exist in isolation in Lumos: it is always attached to a building subsection (for example Roofing & Cover > Roof Cladding, or Structure > Foundation). It is this attachment that determines its position in the final report.

This rule simplifies writing: you do not have to classify your narratives after the fact, they fall into place as you create them.

The four ways to create a narrative

1. From the pre-shown list of a subsection

Subsection open with pre-shown narratives list and Add a custom narrative button

This is the most common method. When you open a subsection in the editor, Lumos shows the list of pre-formulated narratives from the bank, applicable to that subsection. Click the one matching your observation to add it to your report immediately.

You can then adjust it (text, severity, attached photos) or leave it as-is.

2. Manually with “Add a custom narrative”

For an observation that matches no pre-formulated narrative, the Add a custom narrative button in the subsection opens the Add a narrative modal we describe in detail below.

You can:

Write entirely by hand.
Ask AI to generate the full narrative from a short description you write.
Search the bank from the modal, to start from an existing narrative and adapt it.

If you write a custom narrative you might reuse, save it in your bank to reuse in future inspections. See Create a custom narrative.

3. From a capture (field or floating button)

When you capture a photo or a voice note from Lumos Capture on the field, or via the yellow floating (+) button in the web editor, the capture lands in To Review. From this inbox, you turn the capture into a narrative by assigning a subsection, adjusting the text (from the dictation, where applicable), and validating. See To Review and The floating (+) button.

4. From the photo gallery

If you have several photos illustrating the same observation, the photo gallery lets you select them together and create a narrative from the selection. The narrative inherits the selected photos, and you assign it a subsection and a text. See The photo gallery.

Add a narrative modal with header and 4 structured panels

When you create a custom narrative (method 2), Lumos opens a modal structured in two parts.

Four fields at the top:

Section required — the building section. Pre-filled from context (for example Roofing & Cover if you were in that section).
Subsection required — the specific subsection (for example Roof Cladding).
Type required — Deficiency, Information, Limitation, or Method. See The four narrative types.
Severity required — chosen from the levels configured by your template. The default BNQ template provides 7 levels: No problem, Monitor, Warning, Deficiency, Urgent, Specialist Required, Hazard. No problem is selected by default. If you have customized your template, your severities may differ (names, colors, order).

To the right of the narrative title, a Search the bank button opens the bank to start from an existing narrative if you wish.

Narrative title

A short label summarizing the observation. Appears at the top of the narrative in the report.

Narrative body — the four-part BNQ structure

The modal offers four collapsible panels following the structure recommended by BNQ 3009-500 for a residential inspection report. Each panel has an Include in the report toggle to enable or disable its presence in the final deliverable.

1. Identification required

“Describe what was identified during the inspection.”

This is the factual observation: what you observed visually, without interpretation. It is the only required part; the other three are optional depending on the narrative type.

Rich text editor with bold, italic, and link.

2. Role / Function

“Explain the role or function of the component.”

To help your client understand what the component does. Particularly useful for clients not familiar with the technical elements of a building.

3. Consequences

“Describe potential consequences if not addressed.”

The predictable impact of the defect if not corrected. This part helps your client prioritize their interventions.

4. Recommendation

“Provide recommendations to resolve the problem.”

What you suggest as next steps: immediate intervention, planning, monitoring, additional expertise, etc. An Include a deadline phrase toggle lets you add a mention of the recommended timeframe automatically.

A note at the bottom of the modal reminds you: “This 4-part structure follows the BNQ 3009-500 guidelines for residential inspection reports.”

Generate with AI

Generate with AI button in the Add a narrative modal

A Generate with AI button lets you automatically write the content of the four parts from a short description. You write the essentials of the observation, and AI structures the narrative in the BNQ format. Validate and adjust as you wish before publishing. See Ask AI from the editor.

Display options

A Use sections in the report checkbox controls whether the subheadings (Identification, Role / Function, Consequences, Recommendation) appear in the final report, or whether paragraphs follow each other without intertitles.

Validate

The Add narrative button at the bottom of the modal adds the narrative to the subsection. You can then attach photos via drag-and-drop from the images panel (see The images side panel).

Edit an existing narrative

Click a narrative in the subsection to reopen the modal and edit the four parts, the title, the type, the severity, or the attached photos.

Delete a narrative

The delete button on the narrative card removes it from your inspection. The operation does not affect the bank (the pre-formulated narrative stays available for future inspections).