Templates and records · Sustainability
Supplier sustainability questionnaire template
The questions an in-scope company sends its suppliers to complete its report, and what it cannot demand of them if they are small.
In one sentence
The supplier sustainability questionnaire gathers the value-chain data the report needs —emissions, working conditions, conduct—, with evidence and date; it is good practice, but after the Omnibus in-scope companies cannot ask undertakings protected by the value-chain cap for more information than the voluntary standard in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560 provides for.
- Type of information
- Good practice Good practice, subject to the value-chain cap (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560)
- Who fills it in
- Procurement with sustainability The supplier answers; procurement validates the evidence
- When
- Once a year Allowing time to receive answers before the report is finalised
- How long it is kept
- At least while the report can be reviewed Neither the directive nor the ESRS set a period for working papers; it is wise to keep them with the management report for the year and those for the comparative year.
What the standard requires
What Sustainability demands and what it leaves to your judgement
The ESRS ask for value-chain information where it is material, but the amended directive protects small companies in the chain: what can be demanded of them is bounded by the voluntary standard adopted in 2026, and beyond that cap the supplier is under no obligation to answer.
Where data cannot be obtained, sector estimates may be used, provided they are explained. The questionnaire helps reduce those estimates where they weigh most.
It is not the same as supplier approval in a management system: there you decide whether to buy; here you collect data in order to report.
Structure
Fields the template should include
- Supplier, purchase category and share of spend
- Whether it is an undertaking protected by the value-chain cap
- Data requested and the standard that justifies it
- Answers and evidence provided
- Data not obtained and the estimate used
- Date sent, reminders and response
Example
Example: annual campaign to agricultural suppliers (invented data)
Company, people and figures are fictitious: the example only shows what a properly completed record looks like.
| Field | Content |
|---|---|
| Scope | 62 suppliers accounting for 80 % of raw material spend |
| Protected | 41 of 62 · sent only the form based on the voluntary standard |
| Data | Energy and fertiliser use, estimated emissions, headcount, accidents, code of conduct |
| Answers | 48 of 62 (77 %) · 31 with documentary evidence |
| No answer | Emissions estimated using sector factors per tonne purchased |
| Timeline | Sent on 15 October 2026 · closes on 15 December |
At the audit
Mistakes auditors commonly flag
- The same lengthy questionnaire is sent to every supplier, ignoring the value-chain cap.
- Answers without evidence are published as measured data.
- Suppliers who do not answer drop out of the calculation instead of being estimated.
- The questionnaire goes out so late that the answers cannot be used.
In Kimobox
How this record is kept in Kimobox
- 1Suppliers are assessed against sustainability criteria from the same approval record.
- 2The supplier portal lets you request and receive documents, with periodic assessments scheduled.
- 3The evidence for each answer is attached and can be exported for the external assurance provider.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask us before getting started
What is the value-chain cap?
The protection Directive (EU) 2026/470 gives small companies in an in-scope company’s value chain: they cannot be required to provide more information than the voluntary standard in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560 provides for.
Can a supplier refuse to answer?
Beyond the cap, yes. The in-scope company must then use reasonable estimates and explain them in the report.
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Sources
Where each figure comes from
References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.
- Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560, voluntary sustainability reporting standards for undertakings protected by the value-chain cap EUR-Lex · OJ of 21 September 2026
- Directive (EU) 2026/470 amending Directive (EU) 2022/2464 as regards sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements EUR-Lex · 26 February 2026
- Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1563 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772 to simplify the sustainability reporting standards EUR-Lex · OJ of 21 September 2026; applicable to financial years from 1 January 2027