HM Revenue & Customs

EB5 (NEW CIS) / CISREP

Message Implementation Guidelines 
for 
Verification Reply

© HM Revenue & Customs 2005

DOCUMENT HISTORY
ISSUE	CHANGE REFERENCE	AUTHOR	DATE	
1.0	Original	Ian Mackenzie 
	11/07/05	
1.1	Format of the Accounts Office Reference changed	Stephen Wood	02/08/06	
1.2	Message structure diagram updated to indicate that a maximum of 100 LIN groups can be present.
EDIFACT NAD (SC) Third 3036 Party Name added holding the Subcontractor 2nd Name
EDIFACT message examples for the NAD (SC) segment corrected. 	Stephen Wood	16/11/06	
1.3	The Net Tax Treatment rate is now 20%.
The field status of ‘Dependent’ in table 1.3, which indicated that a business field was optional, has been replaced with a field status of ‘Optional’. 
Recognition information removed.	Stephen Wood	19/06/07	
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DOCUMENT HISTORY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
1	Getting Started
1.1	Who should read this?
1.2	SUMMARY OF CHANGES
1.3	What is this message about?
1.4	Frequency
2	Data Format - GFF and EDIFACT
2.1	Generic Flat File Format (GFF)
2.1.1.	GFF Interchange
2.2	EDIFACT Format
2.2.1.	EDIFACT Interchange
2.2.2.	EDIFACT Message
3	The CISREP Message
4	Record Layouts
4.1	GFF LAYOUT
4.1.1	GFF CISREP Example
4.2	EDIFACT LAYOUT
4.2.1	EDIFACT CISREP Example
5	Processing Checklist
5.1	Registration
5.2	ICR Check
APPENDIX A – CHARACTER SET

GLOSSARY OF TERMS
AORef	Accounts Office Reference No used to identify the Contractors Scheme	
Agent	An Agent is authorised by a Contractor to perform certain CIS tasks on the Contractor's behalf	
Business Type	Type of Business which defines the Subcontractor’s role	
CIS	Construction Industry Scheme	
CISREP	Communication routing name for the Verification Reply message	
CISREQ	Communication routing name of Verification Request message	
CRN	Company Registration Number	
Contractor	Organisation involved in the Construction Industry and which employs Subcontractors to carry out its business	
EDI	Electronic Data Interchange	
EDIFACT	Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport	
GFF	Generic Flat File	
HMRC	HM Revenue & Customs	
ICR	Interchange Control Reference	
Match	Where the System has applied a set of RULES to the data provided and after applying these RULES has sufficient confidence to confirm that a given Subcontractor or Contractor Scheme is known to CIS.	
NINO	National Insurance Number	
Partnership	A business which is owned by two or more people, but is not incorporated.	
Subcontractor	Any business which has agreed to carry out construction operations for another business or public body which is a Contractor.	
Tax Treatment	This indicates whether a Subcontractor should be paid Gross, Net or Unmatched Subcontractor Rate.	
Trading Name	The name under which a company does its business	
Trading Partner	An EDI term for the Contractor/Agent exchanging data with the HM Revenue & Customs	
Vendor ID	A unique number allocated by HMRC to Software Developers	
UTR	Unique Tax Reference	
Verification	The act by a Contractor of obtaining from HMRC the correct Tax Treatment for a Subcontractor, and the capturing of the relationship by the HMRC in CIS Core System.	

1	Getting Started
1.1	Who should read this?
This document is aimed at everyone involved in the reform of the Construction Industry Scheme and the development of systems to process Verification Reply’s via EDI, particularly software designers and programmers producing the software for integrating the Verification Reply data into the Contractor’s system. N.B. no equivalent business form exists for this particular message.
The Verification process requires a Contractor to check that a Subcontractor is registered with the HM Revenue & Customs thus enabling the HM Revenue & Customs to inform the Contractor of the appropriate rate of deduction to be made.
1.2	SUMMARY OF CHANGES
This document is part of a series of Message Implementation Guidelines which cover each of the three new CIS EDI enabled messages individually.
The changes since version 1.0 of this document are:
•	Accounts Office Reference Number ATT qualifier 103: The format of this field has changed. Characters 6 – 13 are now alpha or numeric. 
1.3	What is this message about?
The CISREP message is used to send Subcontractor Verification information from the HM Revenue & Customs system to Contractors/Agents. 
Following the submission of a Verification Request the IR will provide the Contractor/Agent with a verification reference number as part of the CISREP message. The verification reference number will cover all subcontractors verified in a single request, e.g. V0004528765
Where it has not been possible to verify any particular subcontractor, the IR system will add one or two letters to the end of the number to make it unique to that subcontractor, e.g. V0004528765AA
For unmatched subcontractors the verification number is very important.  Contractors/Agents must note the verification number given and include them on 
•	monthly returns 
•	subcontractor’s payment and deduction statement
The reference number may also be required by the subcontractor when making subsequent enquiries about any of the deductions made
The Contractor/Agent will also receive notification of correct tax treatment to be applied from that point forward.

The key data contained in the Verification Reply is:
•	Data submitted on the corresponding Verification Request, e.g. Contractor details (UTR and AORef) along with Subcontractor details, e.g. UTR, Name and NINO
•	Additional match/verify information for each subcontractor:
o	Match/Unmatched Status – “Matched” 
o	Tax Treatment Status – “Unmatched”, “Gross” or “Net”
o	Subcontractor Verification Number
Tax Treatment Status will be omitted if Status = Unmatched and Request was for a Match.
Verification Number will be omitted if request was for a Match but status = Unmatched.
The data for each subcontractor is sent in a separate LIN/LIN1 (Line group), the business type is identified by the qualifier in the NAD/NAD2A and B (Name and Address group), with the attribute data, ATT/ATT2,of the subcontractor.
The data provided to the Contractor/Agent to effect the verification is shown for each business type in table 1.3 below, the validation rules are given in Table 4.1.4 and the GFF record layouts are given in Table 6.1 and the EDIFACT segment layouts in table 6.2.
Data shown as mandatory for a business type will be provided if that type is present, data shown as optional may or may not be provided. 

Table 1.3	

Business Field	Status	Segment/Record Name	Qualifier	
Form Type	Mandatory	BGM / BGM1	21	
Contractor details 	Mandatory	NAD / NAD1A	 FC	
Contractor’s UTR	Mandatory	ATT / ATT1	102	
Contractor’s AOR	Mandatory	ATT / ATT1	103 	
Date of message	Mandatory	DTM / DTM1	 243	
Business type details – each occurrence of a business type is sent in a separate LIN/LIN1 group – within a single message there may be a mixture of  business types sent, the details below show the information sent  if  a particular business type is present in a message. 	
Subcontractor details – this shows the business data sent by HMRC, this will be the data submitted in the verification request (excluding business type) plus the resulting Matched/Unmatched status ,the Tax Treatment status(if applicable) and Verification Reference number (if applicable). 	
Subcontractor details 	Mandatory	NAD / NAD2A	SC	
Either – Subcontractor Trading name	Optional	NAD / NAD2B	SC	
Or – Subcontractor surname, first forename, second forename	Optional	NAD / NAD2B	SC	
Subcontractor UTR	Optional	ATT / ATT2	102	
Subcontractor reference number	Optional	ATT / ATT2	107	
Subcontractor CRN	Optional	ATT / ATT2	106	
Subcontractor National insurance number	Optional	ATT / ATT2	11	
Matched/Unmatched status – M or U	Mandatory	ATT / ATT2	108	
Tax Treatment - U (unmatched) = 30%, G (gross) = 0%, N (net) = 20%	Optional	ATT / ATT2	109	
Verification Reference number 	Optional	ATT / ATT2	110	
Partnership Name	Optional	NAD / NAD2B	PR	
Partnership UTR	Optional	ATT / ATT2	102	
End of Subcontractor details	
Control Total, number of LIN/LIN1 segments/records	Mandatory	CNT / CNT1		

1.4	Frequency
This message is sent by HMRC to Contractors/Agents, as a response to the receipt of the corresponding Verification Request.
2	Data Format - GFF and EDIFACT
There are two formats that the data can be sent in – Generic Flat File (GFF) or EDIFACT.
2.1	Generic Flat File Format (GFF)
This is a flat file of data containing a number of named records with the data in fixed length fields in the record - See Section 4.1 for detailed GFF layout.
2.1.1.	GFF Interchange
A GFF interchange starts with a 4* header record, which provides the data communication routing information, and ends with the CNT trailer record.
The 4* header also contains the ‘message type’ – in this case the CISREP message.
Each GFF interchange is uniquely identified by an Interchange Control Reference (ICR). The ICR is contained within the 4* header.
2.2	EDIFACT Format
EDIFACT is an EDI standard which is a file containing a number of named records with the data in delimited fields in the record – See Section 4.2 for detailed EDIFACT layout.
2.2.1.	EDIFACT Interchange
An EDIFACT interchange starts with a UNB Interchange Header, which provides the data communication routing information, and ends with a UNZ trailer.
Each EDIFACT interchange is uniquely identified by an Interchange Control Reference (ICR). The ICR is contained within the UNB Interchange Header.
2.2.2.	EDIFACT Message
An EDIFACT message starts with a UNH header and ends with a UNT trailer.
The UNH header also contains the ‘message type’ – in this case the CISREP message.

3	The CISREP Message
The following page shows the CISREP branching diagram which, on the whole, applies to both the GFF interchange and the EDIFACT message.
The UNH and UNT segments shown on the branching diagram only apply to the EDIFACT message; they do not apply to the GFF interchange, which starts with a 4* header record and is followed by a BGM1 record.
The diagram shows the sequence the data appears in, whether the data record/segment is mandatory or conditional and the maximum number of repetitions of the record/segment.
The diagram is presented in three sections, the Header section which appears once, the Detail section which is a repeatable group with up to 9,999 occurrences and the Summary section which appears once. 
	A segment is shown as a box with the segment name. It also shows whether it is mandatory or conditional and the number of times it may occur. The BGM, Beginning of Message segment, is Mandatory and can only occur  once in the message.	
	A segment group is shown enclosed in its group box, with the mandatory or conditional status of the group and the number of times it may occur is given in the bottom right hand corner.
In this example, Group 1 is mandatory, it must occur once and can occur up to 99 times. The sequence of the data within the group is that it must start with a NAD (Name and Address segment) and can be followed by up to 99 ATT (Attribute segments).	

For example, the normal structure of the start of the CISREP message is a BGM segment followed by a NAD segment qualified with code FC (Contractor) followed by the attributes of the Contractor in ATT segments.
GFF						EDIFACT
BGM1  22                              BGM+22:5:IR'
NAD1A FC                              NAD+FC'
ATT1  102 111111111                   ATT+ZZZ++102:2:IR:1111111111'
ATT1  103 123PA12345678               ATT+ZZZ++103:2:IR:123PA12345678'
ATT1  7   AZ12345                     ATT+ZZZ++7:2:IR:AZ12345'

UNH

M

1

BGM

M

1

DTM

M

1

Group 1

NAD

M

1

ATT

C

99

M

99

UNS

M

1

Header Section UNH – UNS
Data relating to the whole of the message is given here e.g. Contractor Name, Contractor UTR, Accounts Office Reference and Action Indicator.

UNS

M

1

CNT

M

1

UNT

M

1

QTY

C

99

Summary Section
Summary of detail data is given here e.g. Number of Subcontractor LIN details.

Group 2

100

LIN

M

1

Group 3

M

99

M

Detail Section LIN Group 2
Data relating to the individual Subcontractor or Partnership is given here.

NAD

M

1

ATT

C

99

4	Record Layouts
4.1	GFF LAYOUT 
A GFF interchange is made up of a 4* header record followed by several fixed-length records specific to the CISREP. These CISREP records are made up of fixed-length fields which are delimited by a space character (not shown in table below).
Each CISREP interchange is made up of a Header section (records BGM1 to UNS1), containing data relating to the whole interchange e.g. Contractor UTR, a Detail section (records LIN1 to UNS2) containing one or more individual Subcontractor details and a Trailer section (record CNT1) containing a control count.
Each record starts with a name, e.g. NAD1A is the Header section Name and Address record, ATT2 is in the Detail section and contains an Attribute of the Subcontractor (the numbers in the record names relate to the occurrence of the record within the interchange, they do not necessarily relate to the section of the interchange).
The fixed length records vary in length, e.g. all NAD1A records are 189 characters long, all ATT1 records are 45 characters long. The records are terminated with either a line feed LF or a carriage return/line feed CR/LF. 
The format of the data is indicated as follows:-
•	a = alpha
•	n = numeric
•	an = alphanumeric

The length is indicated by the number following the format type:-
•	a4 = alpha field 4 characters in length
•	n4 = numeric field 4 characters in length
•	an4 = alphanumeric field 4 characters in length

The data format within the record contents is shown with .. between the format type and length. This means the data length is up to the length stated.
•	an..10 = alphanumeric field of up to 10 characters
•	n..11 = numeric field with a maximum value of up to 11 numeric

Alpha and alphanumeric data is left justified and padded with trailing spaces. Numeric data is right justified and padded with leading zeroes.
The records and their contents used in the CISREP interchange are shown in the following table.
GFF field contents with fixed values are shown in bold below. Fields with variable contents are shown in Normal font.

Table 4.1	

Record Name	Record Description	From	To	Format	Record Contents	Notes	
4 * Header	Header Identifier	1
	4	an4	Will contain	****		
	Header Version	5	8	an4	Will contain	“001A”		
	Data Type	9	16	an8	Will contain	“CISREP  ”		
	Data Type Version	17	20	an4	Will contain	“1.0 ” 		
	Data Type Release	21	21	a1	Will contain	space		
	Sender Identification	22	56	an35	Will contain	Sender Id 	This depends on the communication route from HMRC to receiver	
	Recipient Identification 	57	91	an35	Will contain	RECEIVER ID 		
	Test Indicator	92	92	n1	Will contain	space for a Live interchange "1" for a Test interchange		
	Urgent Marker	93	93	a1	Will contain	Space		
	Transmission date	94	101	n8	Will contain	Format CCYYMMDD		
	Transmission time	102	107	n6	Will contain	Format HHMMSS		
	Unique Reference (ICR)	108	121	an14	Will contain	An incrementing count for each new 4* header	See Processing Checklist 5.2	
	Sender Sub-Address	122	135	a14	Will contain	spaces		
	Recipient Sub-Address	136	149	a14	Will contain	spaces		
GFF example: ****001ACISREP  1.0  SENDER ID                          RECEIVER ID                          2006050509352800000000000001     For Live transmissions
	
GFF example: ****001ACISREP  1.0  SENDER ID                          RECEIVER ID                        1 2006050509354800000000000001     For Test transmissions 

BGM1	Beginning of Message 	1	5	an5	Will contain	BGM1 		
	Form type	7	9	an3	Will contain	21	21 = code for CISREP	
GFF example: BGM1  21 

NAD1A	Name and Address 	1	5	an5	Will contain	NAD1A		
Party qualifier	7	9	an3	Will contain	FC 	FC = qualifier for Contractor	
Address Line 1	11	189	an35	Will contain	Spaces		
							
GFF example: NAD1A FC                                                                                                                                                                                     	
				If used			
NAD1B	Name and Address 	1	5		Will contain	NAD1B		
	Party Name 	7	41	an35	Will contain	Contractor Name – format an..35 or spaces		
	Postcode	43	51	an9	Will contain	Spaces 		
GFF example: NAD1B BIGBUILD                                          	
							
ATT1Attribute of  Contractor	1	5	an5	Will contain	ATT1		
Attribute qualifier	7	9	an3	Will contain	102	102 = code for UTR	
Attribute 	11	45	an35	Will contain	Contractor UTR – format n10		
GFF example: ATT1  102 1123456789                         	
							
ATT1Attribute of  Contractor	1	5	an5	Will contain	ATT1		
Attribute qualifier	7	9	an3	Will contain	103	103 = code for Accounts Office Reference	
Attribute 	11	45	an35	Will contain	Contractor Accounts Office Reference – format nnnaaxxxxxxxx where x is either alpha (A-Z, a-z) or numeric		
GFF example: ATT1  103 123PA45678901                      

DTM1	Date and Time	1	5	an5	Will contain	DTM1  		
	Date qualifier	7	9	an3	Will contain	243	243 = code for Date of Message	
	Date 	11	45	an35	Will contain	Date of message - format CCYYMMDD		
	Date format qualifier	47	49	an3	Will contain	102	102 = code for format CCYYMMDD	
GFF example: DTM1  243 20060505                            102

UNS1	Section Identifier 	1	5	an5	Will contain	UNS1  		
GFF example: UNS1

LIN1	Line Item	1	5	an5	Will contain	LIN1		
	Subcontractor number within message	7	12	n6	Will contain	Subcontractor record within this message – format n6		
GFF example: LIN1  000001	
								
NAD2A	Name and Address (1st  record)	1	5	an5	Will contain	NAD2A		
	Party qualifier	7	8	an3	Will contain	SC	SC= code for Subcontractor	
	Name Type indicator	9	9	a1	Will contain	Name Type indicator	T = Trading name, P = Personal name	
	Address Line 1	11	189	an35	Will contain	Spaces		
GFF example: NAD2A SCT                                                                                                                                                                                     	
								
NAD2B	Name and Address (2nd record)	1	5	an5	Will contain	NAD2B		
	Trading Name (Part 1) or Surname	7	41	an35	Will contain	Trading Name (Part1) – format an..35 or Surname – format an..35		
	Trading Name (Part 2)1st Forename	43	77	an35	Will contain	Trading Name (Part 2) – format an..21 or Sole Trader 1st Forename or initial  or spaces – format an..35		
	2nd Forename	79	113	an35	Will contain	Sole Trader 2nd Forename or initial or spaces – format an..35		
	Spaces	115	195	an80	Will contain	Spaces		
GFF example: NAD2B ABRACADABRA TRADING AND CONSTRUCTIO N LIMITED                                                                                                                                                
	
					If used			
ATT2	Attribute of Subcontractor	1	5	an5	Will contain	ATT2		
	Attribute qualifier	7	9	an3	Will contain	102	102 = code for UTR 	
	Attribute 	11	45	an35	Will contain	UTR  – format n10		
GFF example: ATT2  102 1111111111                         
	
				If used			
ATT2	Attribute of  Subcontractor	1	5	an5	Will contain	ATT2		
Attribute qualifier	7	9	an3	Will contain	107	107 = code for Subcontractor reference number	
Attribute 	11	45	an35	Will contain	Subcontractor reference number - format an..20		
GFF example: ATT2  107 VX1234                             
	
				If used			
ATT2	Attribute of Subcontractor	1	5	an5	Will contain	ATT2		
	Attribute qualifier	7	9	an3	Will contain	106	106 = code for CRN	
	Attribute 	11	45	an35	Will contain	CRN - format aannnnnn or n..8		
GFF example: ATT2  106 AB123456                           
	
					If used			
ATT2	Attribute of Subcontractor	1	5	an5	Will contain	ATT2		
	Attribute qualifier	7	9	an3	Will contain	11	11 = code for NINO	
	Attribute 	11	45	an35	Will contain	National Insurance Number (NINO) -format aannnnnna		
GFF example: ATT2  11  AB123456C                          	
							
ATT2	Attribute of  Subcontractor	1	5	an5	Will contain	ATT2		
Attribute qualifier	7	9	an3	Will contain	108	108 = code for Matched/Unmatched status	
Attribute 	11	45	an35	Will contain	M or U		
GFF example: ATT2  108 M                                  	
				If used			
ATT2	Attribute of  Subcontractor	1	5	an5	Will contain	ATT2		
Attribute qualifier	7	9	an3	Will contain	109	109 = code for Tax treatment	
Attribute 	11	45	an35	Will contain	U or G or N		
GFF example: ATT2  109 N                                  	
				If used			
ATT2	Attribute of  Subcontractor	1	5	an5	Will contain	ATT2		
Attribute qualifier	7	9	an3	Will contain	110	110 = code for Verification reference number	
Attribute 	11	45	an35	Will contain	Verification reference number - format an..13		
GFF example: ATT2  110 V1234567890                        	
					If  used			
NAD2A	Name and Address (1st  record)	1	5	an5	Will contain	NAD2A		
	Party qualifier	7	9	an2	Will contain	PR	PR = code for Partnership Details	
	Address Line 1	11	189	an35	Will contain	Spaces		
GFF example: NAD2A PR                                                                                                                                                                                      	
					If used			
NAD2B	Name and Address (2nd record)	1	5	an5	Will contain	NAD2B		
	Partnership Name (Part 1)	7	41	an35	Will contain	Partnership Name (Part 1) - format an..35		
	Partnership Name (Part 2)	43	77	an35	Will contain	Partnership Name (Part 2) – format an..21 or spaces		
	Spaces	79	195	an45	Will contain	Spaces		
GFF example: NAD2B ABRACADABRA TRADING AND CONSTRUCTIO N PARTNERSHIP                                                                                                                                            	
								
					If used			
ATT2	Attribute of Subcontractor	1	5	an5	Will contain	ATT2		
	Attribute qualifier	7	9	an3	Will contain	102	102 = code for UTR 	
	Attribute 	11	45	an35	Will contain	Partnership UTR  – format n10		
GFF example: ATT2  102 3333333333                         	
								
Further Subcontractor details (LIN1through ATT2 records) may be included here	
								
UNS2	Section Identifier 	1	5	an5	Will contain	UNS2  		
GFF example: UNS2	
								
CNT1	Control 	1	5	an5	Will contain	CNT1		
	Total number of details	7	24	n18	Will contain	Number of LIN1 records  – format n..18		
GFF example: CNT1  000000000000000001	

4.1.1	GFF CISREP Example
The following example can be copied, pasted and saved as a text (.txt) file. If you use this file for initial testing please ensure the GFF record is correctly padded to the appropriate length for the record.
Example of a “matched” CISREP for a single contractor.

****001ACISREP  1.0  SENDER ID                          RECEIVER ID                          2006050509354800000000000001                           
BGM1  21 
NAD1A FC                                                                                                                                                                                     
NAD1B BIGBUILD                                          
ATT1  102 1123456789                         
ATT1  103 123PA45678901                      
DTM1  243 20060505                            102
UNS1 
LIN1  000001
NAD2A SCT                                                                                                                                                                                     
NAD2B ABRACADABRA TRADING AND CONSTRUCTIO N LIMITED                                                                                                                                                
ATT2  102 1111111111                         
ATT2  108 M                                  
ATT2  109 N                                  
ATT2  110 V1234567890                        
UNS2 
CNT1  000000000000000001

Example of a “matched” CISREP for a single Partnership.

****001ACISREP  1.0  SENDER ID                          RECEIVER ID                          2006050509354800000000000001                           
BGM1  21
NAD1A FC                                                                                                                                                                                     
NAD1B BIGBUILD                                          
ATT1  102 1123456789                         
ATT1  103 123PA45678901                      
DTM1  243 20060505                            102
UNS1
LIN1  000001
NAD2A SCP                                                                                                                                                                                     
NAD2B THYME                               JUSTIN                                                                                                                                                   
ATT2  102 2222222222                         
ATT2  11  AB123456A                          
ATT2  108 M                                  
ATT2  109 N                                  
ATT2  110 V1234567891                        
NAD2A PR                                                                                                                                                                                          
NAD2B PARTNERSHIP A                                                                                                                                                                                
ATT2  102 333333333                          
UNS2
CNT1  000000000000000001

4.2	EDIFACT LAYOUT 
An EDIFACT message is made up of segments of data.
The segments used in the CISREP message are shown below. These CISREP records are made up of variable-length fields which are delimited by a special character, see below for details.
Each segment is made up of Composite elements and Stand-alone elements. Generally, Composite element names begin with a "C" for Composite, e.g. C002 in the BGM segment below. Composite elements within Service segments (UNB, UNH, UNT, UNZ) are different - their names begin with an "S" for Service, e.g.  S001 in the UNB segment below.
Composite elements are made up of several Simple elements, each of which has its own identifying number, e.g. 1001 in the C002 Composite element in the BGM segment below.
Stand-alone elements are just like Simple elements, except that they are not part of a Composite element, e.g. 3035 in the NAD segment below.
Composite and Stand-alone elements are shown in BOLD below.
Simple elements are shown in Normal font.
EDIFACT element contents with fixed values are shown in BOLD below.
Contents with variable values are shown in Normal font.
The information above is important because it defines how the EDIFACT data is constructed.
EDIFACT uses special characters (+ : ? and ’) to identify the position of data in a segment and consequently the meaning of the data.
•	’ is the segment terminator
•	+ is the segment tag and Composite/Stand-alone element separator
•	: is the Simple element separator
•	? is the release character. 

The release character ? immediately preceding one of the characters ’ + : ? restores their normal meaning, e.g. O?’CONNOR means O’CONNOR. 
The use of the other special characters is explained further below. 
Each segment starts with a segment tag or name, e.g. ATT is the segment tag for the Attribute segment.
A plus sign + always follows the segment name. Therefore, ATT+ means this is an Attribute segment.
The Attribute segment carries data which is an attribute of the Contractor or Subcontractor as named in the preceding NAD segment.
The layout below shows that the Contractor has a single attribute – UTR, but the Subcontractor has many attributes.
The first element of data follows the first plus sign +.
The ATT segment layout below shows that the first element is a Stand-alone element, (it does not start with an S or C), numbered 9017. The data carried in 9017 is the attribute function qualifier which in the CISREP message is ZZZ.
ATT+ZZZ means this is an Attribute segment with an element Attribute Function Qualifier of ZZZ. 
The plus sign + also marks the end of a Composite or Stand-alone element (except at the end of a segment – see later), giving ATT+ZZZ+
The next element in the ATT segment is a Composite element - C955 Attribute Type. This element is not used in the CISREP message, so to signify this the plus sign is used to show the start of the next element giving ATT+ZZZ++  
The next element in the ATT segment is a Composite element - C956 Attribute Details. This element is a Composite element containing 4 Simple elements - 9019 Attribute coded, 1131 Code list qualifier, 3055 Code list agency and 9018 Attribute. Data is present in each of these 4 Simple elements.
A colon : is used to separate each Simple element within a Composite element, e.g. ATT+ZZZ++102:2:IR:1234567890
As there are no more elements in this segment the + is not used to show the end of this element.
Instead the apostrophe or segment terminator ' is used to signify the end of the segment, thus giving the complete segment as ATT+ZZZ++102:2:IR:1234567890'
The data content sent in each segment and an example of how the EDIFACT segment will look is given in the Table 6.2.
The format of the data is indicated as follows:-
•	a = alpha
•	n = numeric
•	an = alphanumeric

The length is indicated by the number following the format type:-
•	a4 = alpha field 4 characters in length
•	n4 = numeric field 4 characters in length
•	an4 = alphanumeric field 4 characters in length

The data format within the record contents may be shown with .. between the format type and length. This means the data length is up to the length stated.
•	an..10 = alphanumeric field of up to 10 characters
•	n..11 = numeric field with a maximum value of up to 11 numeric

Table 4.2	

Segment Name	EDIFACT Element Name	Segment Content	EDIFACT Element Contents	Notes	
UNB – Interchange Header						
	S001	SYNTAX IDENTIFIER				
	0001	Syntax identifier	Will contain	UNOA		
	0002	Syntax version number	Will contain	1		
	S002	INTERCHANGE SENDER				
	0004	Sender identification	Will contain	SENDER ID		
	S003	INTERCHANGE RECIPIENT				
	0010	Recipient identification	Will contain	RECEIVER ID  		
	S004	DATE/TIME OF PREPARATION				
	0017	Date	Will contain	Current date - format YYMMDD		
	0019	Time	Will contain	Current time - format HHMM		
	0020	INTERCHANGE CONTROL REFERENCE	Will contain	An incrementing count for each new UNB	See section 5.2	
	S005	RECIPIENT REF, PASSWORD	If used			
	0022	Recipient’s reference/password	Will contain	SENDER PASSWORD	As required by communication provider	
	0026	APPLICATION REFERENCE	May contain	CISREP		
	0029	PROCESSING PRIORITY CODE	Not Used			
	0031	ACKNOWLEDGEMENT REQUEST	Not Used			
	0032	COMMS AGREEMENT ID	Not Used			
	0035	TEST INDICATOR	May contain	Will not be present for Live interchanges or Will contain ‘1’ for Test interchanges		
EDIFACT example: UNB+UNOA:1+SENDER ID+RECEIVER ID+060505:0730+2++CISREP' For Live transmissions
	
EDIFACT example: UNB+UNOA:1+SENDER ID+RECEIVER ID+060505:0730+2++CISREP++++1' For Test transmissions

UNH - Message Header						
	0062	MESSAGE REFERENCE NUMBER	Will contain	An incrementing count for each new UNH – format an..14		
	S009	MESSAGE IDENTIFICATION				
	0065	Message Type	Will contain	CISREP		
	0052	Message version number	Will contain	1		
	0054	Message release number	Will contain	0		
	0051	Controlling agency	Will contain	IR		
EDIFACT example: UNH+200001+CISREP:1:0:IR'	
						
BGM – Beginning of Message						
	C002	DOCUMENT/MESSAGE NAME				
	1001	Document name, coded	Will contain	21	21 = code for CISREP	
	1131	Code list qualifier	Will contain	5		
	3055	Code list agency	Will contain	IR		
EDIFACT example: BGM+21:5:IR'	
						
NAD – Contractor Details						
	3035	PARTY QUALIFIER	Will contain	FC	FC = code for Contractor	
	C082	PARTY IDENTIFICATION DETAILS	Not used			
	C058	NAME AND ADDRESS	Not used			
	C080	PARTY NAME	If used			
	3036	Party name	Will contain	Contractor name – format an..35		
	C059	STREET	Not used			
	3164	CITY NAME	Not used			
	3229	COUNTRY SUB-ENTITY IDENTIFICATION	Not used			
	3251	POSTCODE IDENTIFICATION	Not used			
EDIFACT example: NAD+FC+++BIGBUILD'	
						
ATT – Attribute of Contractor						
	9017	ATTRIBUTE FUNCTION QUALIFIER	Will contain	ZZZ	ZZZ = code for Mutually defined	
	C955	ATTRIBUTE TYPE	Not used			
	C956	ATTRIBUTE DETAILS				
	9019	Attribute, coded	Will contain	102	102 = code for UTR	
	1131	Code list qualifier	Will contain	2		
	3055	Code list agency	Will contain	IR		
	9018	Attribute	Will contain	Contractor UTR - format n..10		
EDIFACT example: ATT+ZZZ++102:2:IR:S123456789'	

Segment Name	EDIFACT Element Name	Segment Content	EDIFACT Element Contents	Notes	
ATT – Attribute of  Contractor						
	9017	ATTRIBUTE FUNCTION QUALIFIER	Will contain	ZZZ	ZZZ = code for Mutually defined	
	C955	ATTRIBUTE TYPE	Not used			
	C956	ATTRIBUTE DETAILS				
	9019	Attribute, coded	Will contain	103	103 = code for Accounts Office Reference	
	1131	Code list qualifier	Will contain	2		
	3055	Code list agency	Will contain	IR		
	9018	Attribute	Will contain	Contractor Accounts Office Reference - format nnnaaxxxxxxxx where x is either alpha (A-Z, a-z) or numeric		
EDIFACT example: ATT+ZZZ++103:2:IR:123PA45678901'	
						
DTM – Date of Message						
	C507	DATE/TIME/PERIOD				
	2005	Date period qualifier	Will contain	243	243 = code for Date of Message	
	2380	Date period	Will contain	Date of Message - format CCYYMMDD		
	2379	Date period format qualifier	Will contain	102	102 = code for format CCYYMMDD	
EDIFACT example: DTM+243:20060505:102'	
						
UNS – Section Identifier						
	0081	Section Identifier	Will contain	D	D = code for Detail	
EDIFACT example: UNS+D'	
						
LIN – Line Item						
	1082	LINE ITEM NUMBER	Will contain	Subcontractor number within this message - format n..6		
EDIFACT example: LIN+1'	

Segment Name	EDIFACT Element Name	Segment Content	EDIFACT Element Contents	Notes	
NAD – Subcontractor						
	3035	PARTY QUALIFIER	Will contain	SC	SC = code for Subcontractor	
	C082	PARTY IDENTIFICATION DETAILS	Not used			
	3039	Party id, identification	Will contain	Name type indicator – format a1	T = Trading Name, P = Personal Name	
	C058	NAME AND ADDRESS	Not used			
	C080	PARTY NAME	 			
	3036	Party name	May contain	Trading Name (Part1) – format an..35 or Subcontractor Surname – format an..35		
	3036	Party name	May contain	Trading Name (Part2) – format an..21 or Subcontractor 1st Forename or initial  – format an..35		
	3036	Party name	May contain	Subcontractor  2nd Forename or initial or spaces – format an..35		
	C059	STREET	Not used			
	3164	CITY NAME	Not used			
	3229	COUNTRY SUB-ENTITY IDENTIFICATION	Not used			
	3251	POSTCODE IDENTIFICATION	Not used			
EDIFACT example: NAD+SC+T++ABRACADABRA TRADING AND CONS:TRUCTION LIMITED’	
						
ATT – Attribute of Subcontractor			If used			
	9017	ATTRIBUTE FUNCTION QUALIFIER	Will contain	ZZZ	ZZZ = code for Mutually defined	
	C955	ATTRIBUTE TYPE	Not used			
	C956	ATTRIBUTE DETAILS				
	9019	Attribute, coded	Will contain	102	102 = code for UTR	
	1131	Code list qualifier	Will contain	2		
	3055	Code list agency	Will contain	IR		
	9018	Attribute	Will contain	UTR – format n10  		
EDIFACT example: ATT+ZZZ++102:2:IR:1123456789'	
						
ATT – Attribute of  Subcontractor			If used			
	9017	ATTRIBUTE FUNCTION QUALIFIER	Will contain	ZZZ	ZZZ = code for Mutually defined	
	C955	ATTRIBUTE TYPE	Not used			
	C956	ATTRIBUTE DETAILS				
	9019	Attribute, coded	Will contain	107	107 = code for Subcontractor reference number	
	1131	Code list qualifier	Will contain	2		
	3055	Code list agency	Will contain	IR		
	9018	Attribute	Will contain	Subcontractor reference number – format an..20		
EDIFACT example: ATT+ZZZ++107:2:IR:VX1234'	
						
ATT – Attribute of Subcontractor			If used			
	9017	ATTRIBUTE FUNCTION QUALIFIER	Will contain	ZZZ	ZZZ = code for Mutually defined	
	C955	ATTRIBUTE TYPE	Not used			
	C956	ATTRIBUTE DETAILS				
	9019	Attribute, coded	Will contain	106	106 = code for CRN 	
	1131	Code list qualifier	Will contain	2		
	3055	Code list agency	Will contain	IR		
	9018	Attribute	Will contain	CRN – format aannnnnn or n..8		
EDIFACT example: ATT+ZZZ++106:2:IR:12345678'	
						
ATT – Attribute of Subcontractor			If used			
	9017	ATTRIBUTE FUNCTION QUALIFIER	Will contain	ZZZ	ZZZ = code for Mutually defined	
	C955	ATTRIBUTE TYPE	Not used			
	C956	ATTRIBUTE DETAILS				
	9019	Attribute, coded	Will contain	11	11 = code for NINO	
	1131	Code list qualifier	Will contain	2		
	3055	Code list agency	Will contain	IR		
	9018	Attribute	Will contain	National Insurance Number - format aannnnnna 		
EDIFACT example: ATT+ZZZ++11:2:IR:AB123456C'	
						
ATT – Attribute of Subcontractor						
	9017	ATTRIBUTE FUNCTION QUALIFIER	Will contain	ZZZ	ZZZ = code for Mutually defined	
	C955	ATTRIBUTE TYPE	Not used			
	C956	ATTRIBUTE DETAILS				
	9019	Attribute, coded	Will contain	108	108 = code for Matched/Unmatched status	
	1131	Code list qualifier	Will contain	2		
	3055	Code list agency	Will contain	IR		
	9018	Attribute	Will contain	M or U		
EDIFACT example: ATT+ZZZ++108:2:IR:M'	

Segment Name	EDIFACT Element Name	Segment Content	EDIFACT Element Contents	Notes	
ATT – Attribute of Subcontractor			If used			
	9017	ATTRIBUTE FUNCTION QUALIFIER	Will contain	ZZZ	ZZZ = code for Mutually defined	
	C955	ATTRIBUTE TYPE	Not used			
	C956	ATTRIBUTE DETAILS				
	9019	Attribute, coded	Will contain	109	109 = code for Tax treatment	
	1131	Code list qualifier	Will contain	2		
	3055	Code list agency	Will contain	IR		
	9018	Attribute	Will contain	U or G or N		
EDIFACT example: ATT+ZZZ++109:2:IR:N'

ATT – Attribute of Subcontractor			If used			
	9017	ATTRIBUTE FUNCTION QUALIFIER	Will contain	ZZZ	ZZZ = code for Mutually defined	
	C955	ATTRIBUTE TYPE	Not used			
	C956	ATTRIBUTE DETAILS				
	9019	Attribute, coded	Will contain	110	110 = code for Verification number	
	1131	Code list qualifier	Will contain	2		
	3055	Code list agency	Will contain	IR		
	9018	Attribute	Will contain	Verification number – format an1..13		
EDIFACT example: ATT+ZZZ++110:2:IR:V1234567890'	
						
NAD – Partnership Details			If used			
	3035	PARTY QUALIFIER	Will contain	PR	PR = code for Partnership	
	C082	PARTY IDENTIFICATION DETAILS	Not used			
	C058	NAME AND ADDRESS	Not used			
	C080	PARTY NAME	 			
	3036	Party name	Will contain	Partnership name (Part 1) – format an..35		
	3036	Party name	May contain	Partnership name (Part 2) – format an..21		
	C059	STREET	Not used			
	3164	CITY NAME	Not used			
	3229	COUNTRY SUB-ENTITY IDENTIFICATION	Not used			
	3251	POSTCODE IDENTIFICATION	Not used			
						
EDIFACT example: NAD+PR+++ABRACADABRA TRADING AND CONSTRUCTIO:N PARTNERSHIP’	
ATT – Attribute of Partnership						
	9017	ATTRIBUTE FUNCTION QUALIFIER	Will contain	ZZZ	ZZZ = code for Mutually defined	
	C955	ATTRIBUTE TYPE	Not used			
	C956	ATTRIBUTE DETAILS				
	9019	Attribute, coded	Will contain	102	102 = code for UTR	
	1131	Code list qualifier	Will contain	2		
	3055	Code list agency	Will contain	IR		
	9018	Attribute	Will contain	Partnership UTR – format n10  		
EDIFACT example: ATT+ZZZ++102:2:IR:B345678901'	
						
Further Subcontractor details (LIN through ATT segments) may be included here		
UNS – Section Identifier						
	0081	Section Identifier	Will contain	S	S = code for Summary	
EDIFACT example: UNS+S'	
						
UNT – Message Trailer						
	0074	NUMBER OF SEGMENTS	Will contain	message segment count including UNH and UNT segments, format n..6		
	0062	MESSAGE REFERENCE NUMBER	Will contain	same value as in UNH, format an..14		
EDIFACT example: UNT+19+200001'	
						
UNZ – Interchange Trailer						
	0036	INTERCHANGE CONTROL COUNT	Will contain	count of messages within interchange, i.e. 1, format n..6		
	0020	INTERCHANGE CONTROL REFERENCE	Will contain	same value as 0020 in UNB, format n..14		
EDIFACT example: UNZ+1+2'	
4.2.1	
EDIFACT CISREP Example
The following examples can be copied, pasted and saved as a text (.txt) file. Please ensure the line feeds at the end of each segment are removed. These have been added for readability; an EDIFACT file would normally be constructed as one long string of data.
Example of a “matched” CISREP for a single contractor.

UNB+UNOA:1+SENDER ID+RECEIVER ID+060505:0730+2++CISREP'
UNH+200001+CISREP:1:0:IR'
BGM+21:5:IR'
NAD+FC+++BIGBUILD'
ATT+ZZZ++102:2:IR:1123456789'
ATT+ZZZ++103:2:IR:123PA45678901'
DTM+243:20060505:102'
UNS+D'
LIN+1'
NAD+SC+T++ABRACADABRA TRADING AND CONS:TRUCTION LIMITED’
ATT+ZZZ++102:2:IR:1111111111'
ATT+ZZZ++108:2:IR:M'
ATT+ZZZ++109:2:IR:N'
ATT+ZZZ++110:2:IR:V1234567890'
UNS+S'
CNT+2:1'
UNT+16+200001'
UNZ+1+2'

Example of a “matched” CISREP for a single contractor within a Partnership.

UNB+UNOA:1+SENDER ID+RECEIVER ID+060505:0730+2++CISREP'
UNH+200001+CISREP:1:0:IR'
BGM+21:5:IR'
NAD+FC+++BIGBUILD'
ATT+ZZZ++102:2:IR:1123456789'
ATT+ZZZ++103:2:IR:123PA45678901'
DTM+243:20060505:102'
UNS+D'
LIN+1'
NAD+SC+P++THYME:JUSTIN’
ATT+ZZZ++102:2:IR:2222222222'
ATT+ZZZ++11:2:IR:AB123456A'
ATT+ZZZ++108:2:IR:M'
ATT+ZZZ++109:2:IR:N'
ATT+ZZZ++110:2:IR:V1234567890'
NAD+PR+++PARTNERSHIP A’
ATT+ZZZ++2:2:IR:3333333333'
UNS+S'
CNT+2:1'
UNT+19+200001'
UNZ+1+2'

5	Processing Checklist
5.1	Registration
All EDI users, whether Software Providers, Contractors or Agents, must register with HMRC before they can test their data. It is recommended that you register your intent to use EDI as soon as possible after commencing development.
Online Services Helpdesk:  0845 60 55 999 or <mailto:helpdesk@ir-efile.gov.uk>
5.2	ICR Check
Each file sent to an Contractor/Agent has an “Interchange Control Reference number” (ICR) in its header. This increments by one for each file sent. The ICR in the first file will be 1. The ICR number should be checked and if a duplicate ICR number is received or an ICR number is missing from the sequence, contact the Online Services helpdesk to investigate the problem.
Online Services Helpdesk:  0845 60 55 999 or <mailto:helpdesk@ir-efile.gov.uk>

APPENDIX A – CHARACTER SET
Business data for the GFF or EDIFACT CISREP message is restricted to the following 95 ASCII characters:

Letters, upper case		A to Z
Letters, lower case		a to z
Numerals		0 to 9
Space character		
Tilde		~
Exclamation mark		!
Quotation mark		"
At sign		@
Hash		#
Dollar		$
Percentage sign		%
Ampersand		&
Apostrophe		'
Opening parentheses	(
Closing parentheses	)
Asterisk		*
Plus sign		+
Comma		,
Hyphen/minus sign	-
Full stop		.
Oblique stroke (slash)	/
Colon		:
Semi-colon		;
Less-than sign		<
Equals sign		=
Greater-than sign		>
Question mark		?
Opening square bracket	[
Backslash		\
Closing square bracket	]
Up caret		^
Underscore		_
Opening curly bracket	{
Closing curly bracket	}
Pound sign		£
Euro		€

N.B.
EDIFACT uses the characters + : ? and ' to identify the position of the business data in a segment and consequently the meaning of the data.
The ? is used as a release character immediately preceding one of the characters ' + : ? to restore their normal meaning, e.g. O?'CONNOR means O'CONNOR.