Technical documents: SDS, TDS and CoA
How to link a Safety Data Sheet, technical data sheet or certificate of analysis to a product, verify it with a reason, and how it affects quote approval.
In Vuntus, a Safety Data Sheet (SDS), Technical Data Sheet (TDS) or Certificate of Analysis (CoA) is uploaded as a PDF on the product page in your catalog and linked to the product once the owner or a manager verifies it with a reason. A quote that contains chemicals cannot be approved without a verified SDS linked to the product; Vuntus does not read the SDS contents and does not check regulatory compliance.
The SDS was formerly called the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet); this page uses SDS, as the app does.
Who can do what?
- Upload a document and propose a link: the Owner, Manager and Sales roles.
- Verify or reject a link: only the Owner and Manager roles. The screen says: “Only the company owner or a manager can verify.”
- Viewer: sees the documents and their status but cannot act.
Linking a document to a product
- Open the product page
Open the product in Catalog. The Technical documents section on the page lists the documents linked to this product version and their status.
- Upload the PDF
Choose the file with Upload technical document (PDF); only PDF is accepted, up to 5 MB per file. The file is virus-scanned first. You cannot propose a link until the screen says file passed the scan; select Refresh status if needed.
- Enter the document details
Choose the Document type: Safety Data Sheet (SDS), Technical Data Sheet (TDS), Certificate of Analysis (CoA) or Other. You enter the manufacturer or issuer, product name, product codes, document revision, issue and revision dates, language and country or market shown on the document; leave anything not on the document blank. A Batch ID is required for a CoA.
- Record your basis and propose the link
In Source section, write what your review is based on (EXAMPLE: page 1, Section 1.1 — product identifier). Select Propose link; the link appears in the list as Awaiting review.
- An authorised person verifies it
The owner or a manager chooses Verify with reason or Reject. When verifying, they write which section of the document shows that it belongs to this product; the reason goes into the audit trail. The link becomes Verified.
What is compared when you propose a link
When you propose a link, the details you entered are compared with the product record, and the result of each check appears in the list as a short note:
| Check | What it looks at |
|---|---|
| Product code | Is one of the codes you entered this product’s code? |
| Manufacturer | Is the document’s issuer the product’s manufacturer? If not, it must be shown that this is the same product. |
| Grade / concentration | Does the product name on the document match the grade and concentration on the product record? The same substance can be sold in a different grade or concentration. |
| Batch | Does the CoA belong to the batch being linked? A CoA for one batch cannot be linked to another batch. |
| Language / market | Does the document’s language and country scope match the requirement? |
How this affects quote approval
There are two separate checks for chemical products. Keeping them apart answers both “why can’t I confirm this line?” and “why can’t I approve this quote?”.
| Check | Where | What happens if it is missing |
|---|---|---|
| SDS record in the catalog | The sds_country, sds_language and sds_version columns in the catalog CSV | A line for a substance or mixture (substance, mixture) cannot be confirmed during review. An article (article) needs no SDS. A product with no class cannot be confirmed. Details: Catalog and price list. |
| Verified SDS link | The Technical documents section on the product page | The quote can be created but stays Waiting for documents and cannot be approved. |
On the request page, the Technical documents linked to the quote section shows the document each line uses. A line with no link shows a warning that the quote cannot be approved because of it, with an Add and verify SDS link. When the quote draft is created, each line's verified documents are written into the draft; when the quote is approved, that selection is pinned to the revision and listed on the quote document under Technical documents attached to this quote.
A quote draft freezes the document status at the moment it is created. If the SDS link was verified after the draft, that draft still cannot be approved: have the document verified, reopen the request and create the quote again (the recipient and date are kept). For details, see Why can’t I issue the quote?.
When a newer version is verified
When a newer document is verified for a product, the request page shows “A new version of a technical document is available”. This is for information only: the current link is not treated as rejected. The approved quote’s attachment and content do not change; to include the new document, create a new revision and approve it again.
What does verification show, and what doesn’t it?
The note at the bottom of the product page draws the line clearly: verification means an authorised person has accepted that the document belongs to this product. It is not an independent expert certification or regulatory approval. What sales should check when a customer asks for an SDS: SDS requests at the quote desk.
- Vuntus does not read SDS contents and does not write SDSs.
- It does not state REACH, UK REACH, CLP or ADR compliance, and it does not check hazard classes or transport information.
- It does not know on its own whether a document is the current version; the revision is the value you enter.
- It does not read text from a scanned PDF; the details are always entered by hand.
The document’s content and its regulatory compliance remain the responsibility of the supplier who prepared it and of your company’s specialists.
Frequently asked questions
Does Vuntus check the contents of the SDS?
No. Vuntus only requires that an SDS linked to the product has been verified, with a reason, by an authorised person. It does not read the document’s contents, does not write SDSs and does not check REACH, CLP or ADR compliance. Verification is not regulatory approval.
Can the Sales role upload an SDS?
Yes. The Sales role can upload the document and propose the link. Only the owner or a manager can verify or reject the link. An unverified link is not enough for quote approval.
Why is a CoA linked to a batch?
A certificate of analysis carries the test results of a specific production batch and does not apply to every batch of the product. That is why a batch ID is required when you upload a CoA, and a CoA for one batch cannot be linked to another.
The catalog has an SDS record, so why can’t I approve the quote?
The SDS columns in the catalog are needed to confirm the line during review, but they are not enough for quote approval. Quote approval needs a verified SDS link on the product page. Have the link verified, then reopen the request and create the quote again.