Every line item in Xactimate has a hidden field that most contractors never touch. Press F9 on any line, shingles, ice and water shield, step flashing, and a note window opens. It looks like an afterthought. It's not. That note is where supplements are actually won or lost.
As someone who has worked claims, I can tell you exactly how an adjuster reviews a supplement: they scan the line items, then they look for the notes. A line item with a note that explains itself gets approved. The same item with no note gets cut, not because it isn't owed, but because nobody made the case.
Key Insight: The F9 note is the argument. A line item with an F9 note citing IRC R905.1.2 gets approved in minutes. The same line item with an empty note field gets flagged, kicked back, or denied. On a typical supplement, the notes can be the difference between a full approval and a partial pay, for example, roughly $7,000 vs. $2,000 in this illustration.
What Exactly Is an F9 Note?
In Xactimate, pressing F9 on a highlighted line item opens the item note field, a free-text box attached to that specific line. The note lives inside the estimate file itself. In ESX format, it's stored as an ITEM_NOTE element on the line item, so it travels with the estimate, prints on the estimate pages, and shows up on the adjuster's screen when they open your file. When an adjuster clicks that line item, your note is the first thing they see.
Most contractors leave it blank. The best supplementers in the business treat it like a mini legal brief: one or two sentences that answer the only question that matters, "why is this line item here?"
Why F9 Notes Win Supplements
Adjusters in 2026 are handling heavy active claim loads at once. They are not calling you to ask why you added a line item. They are reading the estimate, usually fast, often in between claims. If your justification isn't written down on the line item, it might as well not exist.
The F9 note wins for three reasons:
- It pre-answers the objection. The adjuster's first instinct on an unfamiliar line item is to cut it. A citation-backed note converts that into "okay, this one's justified."
- It shifts the burden of proof. Once the note cites a code section, the denial has to be written, and writing a denial against a published citation is work most adjusters won't do.
- It survives the desk. Your verbal conversation with the field adjuster doesn't reach the desk adjuster who writes the final number. The note does.
The Four Justification Categories
Not all justifications are equal. Run every supplement line item through a decision tree with four categories, in priority order:
| Priority | Category | What It Looks Like |
|---|---|---|
| 1: Strongest | Code Requirement | "Required per IRC R905.1.2: ice & water shield in all valleys and roof-to-wall sections." |
| 2 | Manufacturer Installation Requirement | "Required per GAF installation instructions and warranty terms: starter strip at eaves and rakes." |
| 3 | OSHA / Safety Compliance | "Decking delaminated, no solid nailing surface. Required for OSHA compliance and worker safety." |
| 4: Weakest | Previously Existed | "This item previously existed on the structure and was damaged in the loss. Owed per policy coverage." |
The logic is simple: when a line item isn't in the insurance scope, ask does the code require it? If yes, cite the code, the strongest justification there is. If no, does the manufacturer require it? Then: is it an OSHA or safety issue? Then: did it exist before the loss? If it existed before, it's owed. If none of the four apply, don't add the line item, an unjustified line weakens everything around it.
Code Citations That Win
These are the code citations that do the heavy lifting in roofing supplement F9 notes:
| Citation | What It Requires |
|---|---|
| IRC R905.1.2 | Ice & water shield in all valleys and around roof penetrations (roof-to-wall sections). |
| IRC R905.1.2 | 36-inch wide ice barrier on all valleys. |
| IRC R905.2.8.3 | Flashing at wall and roof intersections, step flashing, counter flashing, chimney flashing. |
| IRC R905.2.8.5 | Drip edge at eaves and gables. |
| IRC R903.2 | All roof penetrations must be flashed to prevent moisture intrusion. |
| IRC R806.1 | Attic ventilation required, 1/300 ratio. |
Before vs. After: What a Winning Note Looks Like
Here's the difference between a denied line item and an approved one:
Losing note: "Need this for the roof."
Winning note: "Ice & water shield required per IRC R905.1.2 in valleys and at roof-to-wall sections. This item was missed from the insurance scope. Photo evidence: east-valley-1.jpg, west-wall-2.jpg."
See the difference? The second note has three things: a citation, a statement that the item was missed from scope, and photo evidence. That's the full argument in two sentences.
Where the Best Notes Come From: The Job Site
The most profitable F9 notes aren't written in the office, they're written by the crew on the roof. When your crew notices dormer flashing with no flashing, a zip boot that needs replacing, a missing chimney cricket, or downspouts the carrier paid for but missed, they photograph it and write the finding down. That finding becomes a line item with a citation-backed F9 note and photo reference attached.
This is where technology like EagleView hits its limit: aerial imagery can't see what's under a pipe boot or behind a chimney. A crew member standing on the deck can. The on-site finding, the one satellite photos physically cannot catch, is what the F9 note turns into paid claim dollars.
Pro tip: Always reference photo evidence inside the F9 note itself. "Photo evidence: dormer-1.jpg" is the single highest-conversion sentence you can put in an item note. Adjusters approve what they can see.
How ESXPress Writes F9 Notes for You
This is exactly what our justification engine does on every conversion, part of the ESXPress feature set. It walks the four-category tree for every line item, attaches the strongest available citation, and writes the note into the ESX as a proper ITEM_NOTE, with the estimate's sections preserved as folders that mirror the insurance scope, so adjusters see a familiar structure instead of a wall of items. You get citation-backed F9 notes on every line, before you ever open Xactimate.
Manual note-writing on a 40-line supplement takes hours and most contractors skip it entirely. The engine does it in minutes, and it never forgets the citation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do adjusters actually read F9 notes?
Yes, and more importantly, they read them when they matter. The desk adjuster deciding whether to approve or cut a line item sees the note the moment they click the line. A citation-backed note is the difference between a line item that survives review and one that gets cut for "lack of documentation."
Can one line item have more than one justification?
Absolutely. A line can be justified multiple ways, for example, chimney flashing is required by IRC R905.2.8.4 and previously existed on the structure. When multiple categories apply, lead with the strongest one (code), and mention the others in the same note. More justification never hurts; less does.
What if I don't have a code citation for an item?
Work down the tree: check manufacturer installation instructions and warranty terms next (starter strips, ridge cap nailing patterns), then OSHA/safety, then whether the item previously existed on the structure. If you reach the bottom with nothing, the item probably shouldn't be on the supplement. Every item you can't justify weakens the ones you can.
Related: the Xactimate supplement guide and the roofing supplement software comparison.
Related: ESX file format.