The four narrative types

Each narrative in the bank carries a type that qualifies its nature. This classification structures the report and helps your client prioritize what they read. Lumos defines four types.

Deficiency

A defect, deterioration, risk, or non-compliance identified during the inspection. This is the most frequent and most visible type in the report.

A deficiency generally calls for a recommendation: correction, obtaining additional information before the decision, monitoring the evolution, or complementary expertise. The standard excludes establishing the timing of the intervention — the work schedule belongs to the specialists consulted, not to the inspection report.

A deficiency can also carry a BNQ qualification (apparent defect, indication of deficiency, or safety risk), which records its nature under chapter 8 of the standard — see The BNQ qualification of deficiencies.

Each deficiency receives a severity. Severities are defined by the template and can be customized (names, colors, order, level add/remove).

The default BNQ template offers 7 levels, from least to most critical:

No Issues — no anomalies detected at the time of the inspection.
Monitor — observed sign whose evolution should be monitored.
Warning — minor anomaly observed, correction recommended.
Defect — significant anomaly affecting the condition or functioning of a component.
Possible risk — signs indicating a risk to safety or physical integrity, to be confirmed by technical expertise.
Specialist Required — exhaustive expertise beyond visual inspection.
Hazard — the observed condition presents a risk to the health or safety of people.

Each level can be flagged “Count as Urgent Problem in the report” in the template editor, which makes it appear in the “Urgent Problems” card of the PDF summary.

Examples: Structural cracks (Structure > Foundation), Deteriorated and cracked stucco (Structure > Foundation).

Information

A neutral or descriptive fact about the building, with no defect value. Information serves to document what you observed so the client understands the report’s context.

Examples: construction material, type of heating, plumbing configuration, presence of a weeping tile, type of exterior cladding.

Information has no severity — it describes, it does not judge.

Limitation

An uninspected area and the reason. The BNQ 3009-500 standard requires the inspector to explicitly flag what was not inspected so the client is informed.

Examples: attic inaccessible due to insufficient hatch, finished basement preventing observation of structural elements, roof inaccessible due to slope or weather, electrical panel access blocked by furniture.

Each limitation explains the reason for non-inspection. The client then knows they will need to commission additional expertise if they want an opinion on these items.

Method

A description of procedure, tool, or approach used during the inspection. More common in detailed reports or specialized inspections.

Examples: description of the test method for an electrical outlet, verification procedure for a shutoff valve, observation protocol for an inaccessible roof (drone, binoculars, zoom photo).

The method demonstrates the rigor of your work to the client.

How a narrative’s type is set

When you take a narrative from the bank, its type is already set by the narrative itself. A deficiency stays a deficiency.

When you create a custom narrative, you choose the type at creation. The right type makes your report more readable.

Presence in the report

Depending on your report template, narratives of each type may appear in different places: deficiencies grouped at the top of a section, information in a descriptive thread, limitations in a callout, methods in an appendix or footnote. The template defines this behavior.