This Technical Specification provides the requirements and a structure for a data documentation format, to be used for transparent and unambiguous documentation and exchange of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data, thus permitting consistent documentation of data, reporting of data collection, data calculation and data quality, by specifying and structuring relevant information.

The data documentation format specifies requirements on division of data documentation into data fields, each with an explanatory description. The description of each data field is further specified by the structure of the data documentation format.

This Technical Specification is applicable to the specification and structuring of questionnaire forms and information systems. However, it can also be applied to other aspects of the management of environmental data.

This Technical Specification does not include requirements on completeness of data documentation. The data documentation format is independent of any software or database platform for implementation.

This Technical Specification does not require any specific sequential, graphic or procedural solutions for the presentation or treatment of data, nor does it describe specific modelling methodologies for LCI and LCA data.