VDI 2770 is a German standard for final submittal of vendor documentation. The focus is on FINAL PACKAGES, not the day-to-day submittals for approval etc.
The goal of VDI compliance is to create a stand alone package PER TAG. There will be many duplicate documents submitted – for example – an instruction manual which applies to many tags will be include in EACH package.
DocBoss supports the creation of a single package through our compilation module. Users can create the compilation layout, and choose to generate one compilation per tag (by linking the compilation to the code, and setting the code level to TAG).
DocBoss also supports building the compilation as a set of original files (vs as a single PDF deliverable).
For VDI compliance there are some items which users must configure in their system.
1. Use (or create) the VDI specific Internal Code List
You must have a set of internal codes containing the VDI standard Category/Class. If your customer has their own set of codes (separate from VDI classes) you will map the internal to customer codes. Otherwise – you’ll just use the internal codes directly on the project. Below is the list of codes per the VDI standard – you can copy and upload them as a VDI internal list.
| Group | Category (CLASS) |
Code |
| Identification | Identification | 01-01 |
| Technical specifications | Technical specifications | 02-01 |
| Drawings, plans | 02-02 | |
| Parts | 02-03 | |
| Certificates | 02-04 | |
| Activity-related documents | Mounting, disassembly | 03-01 |
| Operation | 03-02 | |
| General safety | 03-03 | |
| Inspection, maintenance, testing | 03-04 | |
| Repair | 03-05 | |
| Spare parts | 03-06 | |
| Contract documents | Contract documents | 04-01 |
Note the GROUP field. This should be added to your system as a custom doc code field. Likely as a LIST field so you can just choose the correct value (and avoid any typos). Note this may be done on the Internal VDI code list (once) and inherited to your project.
If you need to make the submittal in German – below you’ll find the doc code names (Classes) in German.
| ClassID | ClassName (de) | ClassName (en) |
| 01-01 | Identifikation | Identification |
| 02-01 | Technische Spezifikation | Technical specification |
| 02-02 | Zeichnungen, Pläne | Drawings, plans |
| 02-03 | Bauteile | Components |
| 02-04 | Zeugnisse, Zertifikate, Bescheinigungen | Certificates |
| 03-01 | Montage, Demontage | Assembly, disassembly |
| 03-02 | Bedienung | Operation |
| 03-03 | Allgemeine Sicherheit | General safety |
| 03-04 | Inspektion, Wartung, Prüfung | Inspection, maintenance |
| 03-05 | Instandsetzung | Repair |
| 03-06 | Ersatzteile | Spare parts |
| 04-01 | Vertragsunterlagen | contract documents |
2. Enable Exceptional Handling.
VDI specifies that all documents must be delivered as PDF/A. To ensure this is the case, you must ensure your docs are PDF/A prior to upload, and tell DocBoss to skiip processing. To do so – you must set your project so that ALL UPLOADS are EXCEPTIONAL (on Project Template). This can also be enabled as a default on the project template if you have one for VDI projects.
3. The Identification ID
This is the Tag in DocBoss.
4. Add columns for other metadata.
You may have a summary and other keywords – like product group etc. This should be created as custom doc/card code columns. You need to update your “VDI XML Index” template to include them.
5. Build Compilation
a. When building the compilation, you may wish to create a folder hierarchy for the group then include the classes, or just directly use classes. Ensure you add an INDEX (specifically your “VDI XML Index” to each section of your compilation.
b. Configure your compilation to generate as a ZIP. Include a TOC, and select the Template for “VDI TOC”. This ensures your top level will contain the PDF for VDI2770_main.
c. Link to Code, and set level to Tag. This will generate a separate package for each tag.
Some upcoming development items to fully comply with the spec include an option to zip of each document card (including the native, active and XML coversheet), generate the TOC in PDF/A format, and name all of the coversheets to the convention VDI2770_metadata.xml. We also are working with the XML Structure – so please contact us if you have a VDI2770 project and we will help you create the XML coversheets and compilation indexes.