UK copyright law allows limited quotations from a work for "fair use" purposes.  But not copying-and-pasting large chunks of text.  I would think that quoting enough that a customer knows what a reg. number means is probably fair use (but that's only my opinion, not legal advice).

I'm not disagreeing with you, though the term 'fair use' seems somewhat discretionary. Surely it's fair use when quoting from a common list of paraphrased regulations on an EICR (which is what I want to do). It's not like I'm planning to replicate the book and make a profit out of it. What is the point in making us all attend a course on the latest amendments to BS7671 (and buy the overpriced book) if we can't quote something out of it when letting the client know what issues they have on the site? Afterall, that is what we're legally required to do and have been instructed to do when carrying out the work. It's a sad state of affairs when plagiarism takes precedence over electrical safety.  

no  problem quoting  within reason - and we do that on here quite often where a whole reg or paragraph from a standard  is quoted.

On here we are mostly cases 1 and 2

• • • research or private study;
    • If it is used for the purposes of criticism, review or quotation

In an EICR it will be mostly 2 or 3

• review or quotation;
• Where it is utilised for the purposes of reporting current events

From the British library guidance  on when you can copy chunks out of the library books.

www.bl.uk/.../fair-dealing-copyright-explained

"

As an exception to British copyright law, fair dealing is governed by Sections 29 and 30 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, which outlines three instance where fair dealing is a legitimate defence:

• • • If the use is for the purposes of research or private study;
    • If it is used for the purposes of criticism, review or quotation;
    • Where it is utilised for the purposes of reporting current events (this does not apply to photographs)

A statutory definition for fair dealing does not exist; it will always be a matter of fact, degree and interpretation in every fair dealing case. Nor is there a percentage or quantitative measure to determine fair dealing. The Intellectual Property Office lists the key factors used to determine the validity of whether a particular dealing with a work is fair as follows:

• • • Has the use of the work impacted negatively on the market for the original work? If the creator or owner has lost potential revenue through the re-use of their work, it is not likely to be fair.
    • Was it reasonable and necessary to use the amount of work that was taken?

"
So don't try and sell your reports as an alternative to the regs, and only quote what is reasonable and necessary - namely just the regs you wish to make draw to your customers attention, not the whole lot.

Brilliant, thanks.

So now we've established I'm not a plagiarist or fraudster, any ideas how I can efficiently 'replicate' a number of regulations so that I can paraphrase them for use on EICRs? You can probably appreciate that what I'm trying not to do is to manually type a large number of common regulations that have been updated.

Brilliant, thanks.

So now we've established I'm not a plagiarist or fraudster, any ideas how I can efficiently 'replicate' a number of regulations so that I can paraphrase them for use on EICRs? You can probably appreciate that what I'm trying not to do is to manually type a large number of common regulations that have been updated.