What is a datasheet vs specification compliance check?
It is the line-by-line comparison a manufacturer makes between the customer's requirements and its own offer. The customer's side is the specification package: the requisition, the project specification, owner standards, the customer's datasheets and any addenda. Your side is your datasheet, your standard specifications and your test procedures. Each requirement either matches what you offer, differs from it, needs a clarification, or is not addressed by your documents at all.
The output of the check is the evidence behind two documents most tenders ask for: a clause-by-clause compliance matrix and a technical deviation list.
How is the supplier-side check different from the EPC's vendor datasheet review?
Most software and guides for this task are written for the buyer: the EPC or owner who receives many vendor datasheets and checks them against one specification. One example of a buyer-side page is Pathnovo's vendor datasheet compliance page. The supplier's job is the mirror image, and it produces different output.
| Supplier-side compliance check | Buyer-side vendor datasheet review | |
|---|---|---|
| Who does it | Bid engineers, proposal engineers and project managers at the manufacturer | Discipline engineers at the EPC or owner |
| When | Before the offer is submitted | After offers arrive, during technical bid evaluation |
| Documents compared | One customer specification package against your own datasheets and procedures | Several vendors' datasheets against one specification |
| Main output | Compliance matrix and deviations and clarifications list for your offer | Technical bid comparison, clarification requests, list of unacceptable deviations |
| What a miss costs | A clarification round, a non-responsive bid or post-award rework | Accepting equipment that does not meet the specification |
See technical bid evaluation for what the evaluator checks once your offer arrives.
Which documents go in?
| Customer documents | Your documents |
|---|---|
| Material requisition and its revision | Product datasheet for the offered model |
| Project or technical specification | Your standard specifications |
| Owner standards called up by the specification | Test procedures and qualification reports |
| Customer datasheets | Material and certificate practice, for example EN 10204 3.1 or 3.2 |
| Inspection and test plan and the vendor data requirements list | Your inspection and test plan |
| Addenda and clarifications issued during the tender | Past offers for similar equipment |
Before you start, settle which document wins when two disagree. Most requisitions state an order; if not, raise a technical query. See governing-document precedence.
What does the check produce?
One row per requirement, with a single status. These are the statuses OdysseyGPT uses:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Complies | Your datasheet meets the requirement as written. |
| Deviates | Your offer differs from the requirement. |
| Clarification | The requirement is unclear, or your offer meets its intent in a different way. |
| Not addressed | Your documents say nothing about this requirement yet. |
| Document requested | The customer asks for a document, such as a certificate or report, that must be supplied. |
| Not applicable | The requirement does not apply to the offered equipment. |
| Out of scope | The item is outside your scope of supply. |
The rows marked Deviates or Clarification go into the deviations and clarifications list, each with a justification and a cost of withdrawal. Use the free templates if you work in a spreadsheet.
What does a worked example look like?
The rows below use an invented specification, PS-VAL-001, for a 6-inch Class 600 ball valve, and an invented datasheet, DS-01. Every value is illustrative.
| Requirement | Clause / page | Your datasheet value | Status | Quote from source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design to API 6D | §3.1, p.2 | API 6D | Complies | "Valves shall be designed and tested to API 6D." |
| Body forged ASTM A350 LF2 Cl.1 | §4.2, p.4 | Cast ASTM A352 LCC | Deviates | "Body and closures shall be forged ASTM A350 LF2 Class 1." |
| Stem seal to ISO 15848-1 class BH | §6.3, p.7 | Not stated | Not addressed | "Stem seals shall be qualified to ISO 15848-1, tightness class BH." |
| EN 10204 3.2 certificates | §7.2, p.9 | EN 10204 3.1 | Deviates | "Pressure-containing parts shall be supplied with EN 10204 type 3.2 certificates." |
| Fire test certificate | §5.1, p.6 | API 607 certificate on file | Document requested | "The fire test certificate shall be submitted with the offer." |
| Two-year operating spares | §11.1, p.14 | Not offered | Out of scope | "The vendor shall quote two-year operating spares." |
Why the quote matters
Each row quotes the source text and its page, so the engineer who signs the offer, and later the evaluator, can check it in seconds instead of searching the package again.
How long does it take by hand?
Long enough that it is often the bottleneck in the bid. In one vendor case study, a large EPC spent 15 to 20 minutes per datasheet review just extracting the data, across roughly 150 vendor RFPs that included valve datasheets (Botminds). That figure covers extraction only; the comparison against each clause, owner standard and addendum comes on top.
The 25-point datasheet vs specification checklist lists the checks that take the time.
Which standards come up most often?
That depends on the equipment. Valve tenders usually call up API 6D or the other API valve standards, ISO 15848-1 for fugitive emissions and EN 10204 for certificates, plus owner standards such as those covered in the Gulf owner-spec checklist. See the pages for valve, pump, actuator and instrumentation manufacturers.
How does OdysseyGPT run the check?
- It reads the whole specification package: specifications, the material requisition, the inspection and test plan, datasheets and the standards they call up.
- It checks each customer requirement against your own datasheets, standard specifications and test procedures.
- It gives every requirement a status with a quote from the source document and its page, sheet or cell.
- It exports an editable compliance matrix and a deviations and clarifications list, with internal to-dos on a separate sheet.
- It reads PDF, Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx, .xls) and CSV files.
It does not interpret engineering drawings such as general arrangements or P&IDs, and it does not send anything to the customer. Your engineers decide every open item and own what goes out. See OdysseyGPT for manufacturing.
OdysseyGPT Managed: from $999/month
A managed subscription with onboarding included. See pricing or request a demo on one of your own past tenders.