Guide · Evidence Notes
What a supplier evidence dossier can, and cannot, prove
A supplier evidence dossier can prove what documents say and what was seen. It cannot prove what nobody checked. Here is how to read one without being misled.
The short answer
A dossier proves only what its sources can support. A certificate proves registration; a site visit proves what was seen on the day; a company statement proves only that the company said it. The gaps are the claims that rest on no source, or on the supplier’s own word.
Three kinds of claim
- Documented: backed by a primary document or an official register, such as a certificate of incorporation or a licence.
- Observed: backed by a site visit or interview, dated, and only as good as the day it was made.
- Asserted: backed only by the supplier’s statement. Useful as a lead, not as evidence.
Where dossiers mislead
The most common problem is confidence that outruns the source: a claim marked “high confidence” when its only support is a policy statement or a news article. The second is staleness: evidence checked two years ago presented as current.
The third is the conclusion that rests on an unsourced claim. If a buying decision depends on annual output, and output appears nowhere in the evidence, the dossier has not answered the question that matters.
A worked example
The evidence register and due-diligence checklist opens with five claims about a fictional cooperative. Two pass the register’s checks, although a supplied copy of a certificate of incorporation proves registration, not current good standing. One, “no child labour in the supply chain”, rests on the cooperative’s own policy statement but is marked high confidence. Another, annual output, has no source at all, yet the conclusion depends on it. The register flags both, and turns each into a question to put to the supplier. It also flags a fifth claim, renewed buyer contracts, because its only source, a news article, was last checked in January 2024.
What to ask for
For each key claim, ask for the strongest source type available: the original document, a register extract, or an independent visit. Date every check, and set a threshold after which evidence must be re-checked.
What this guide does not cover
A register records evidence; it does not detect forged documents. High-risk decisions need independent verification on the ground.
Responsible for this guide
Examples in this guide are illustrative, not client results. Figures come from the free tool’s worked example; change the inputs in the tool to see your own.
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