Material Certificates for Sheet Metal Parts
Material documentation is where sourcing projects most often stall, not because the parts are wrong but because the paperwork does not say what a buyer expected it to say. Understanding who issues which document, and what each one does and does not cover, removes most of that friction before the order is placed.
A material certificate is issued by the mill that rolled the metal, not by the fabricator. It records the grade, heat number, chemical composition and mechanical properties of the coil or sheet. We pass the mill certificate through with your shipment — we do not certify the material ourselves.
6 rows of reference data below — the summary above is the short answer, the tables are what you quote from.
Who issues what
| Document | Issued by | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Mill certificate / material test certificate | The steel mill or service centre that rolled the stock | Grade, heat number, chemical composition and mechanical properties of that heat |
| EN 10204 3.1 certificate | The mill, with an inspection representative independent of the production department | Same data as above, with declared independence in the verification |
| EN 10204 2.2 certificate | The mill | Composition results from non-specific inspection of the batch |
| Coating or plating report | The surface-treatment partner who ran the process | Film thickness, adhesion test results, process chemistry |
| Dimensional / first article report | The fabricator | Measured results against the customer drawing |
| RoHS / REACH declaration | The material mill and the finishing partner | Substance content of that specific material or process |
Document, issuer, and what it actually covers
Traceability, and what a heat number buys you
A heat number identifies the specific melt from which the coil came. With it, a certificate can be tied to the parts made from that coil, and the composition of those parts can be traced back to the mill's records.
Achieving that traceability requires discipline in the shop, not just paperwork at the end: cutting a coil has to be recorded against the job, and parts from different coils must not be mixed if a single-heat claim is going to be made. Where a customer needs batch traceability, we ask for it at order stage, because reconstructing it afterwards is not possible.
What a mill certificate does not cover
- Mechanical properties after forming. A certificate describes the metal as delivered, not as bent, stretched or work-hardened in your part.
- Corrosion performance in your specific environment, which depends on grade, finish, edge condition and service chemistry together.
- Coating or plating performance unless a separate finishing report is supplied.
- Dimensional conformance of the finished part — that is what the dimensional report is for.
- Any claim about WERIX as a company: a mill certificate is evidence about the metal, not a certification of the fabricator.
Declarations we pass through rather than issue
RoHS and REACH declarations are commonly requested together with material certificates, and they come from a different place. They are issued by the material mill for the substrate and by the surface-treatment partner for the coating or plating applied, because those are the parties that know the substance content of what they supplied.
We pass those declarations through with the shipment. We do not issue them in our own name, because we are not the party that can attest to the chemistry — and a declaration issued by a fabricator who did not make the material is worth less than one issued by the mill, not more.
Our own certification scope, stated plainly
ISO 9001 is the only management-system certification WERIX holds. We do not hold IATF 16949 for automotive, ISO 13485 for medical devices, ISO 14001, AS9100 or ISO 45001, and we do not claim them. Where a programme requires a certified quality management system we do not have, that requirement has to be met by a supplier who holds the certificate.
What we supply as objective evidence is the documentation a programme actually generates: mill certificates tied to heat numbers, first-article dimensional reports against the ballooned drawing, in-process and final inspection records, coating and weld records, and a documented inspection plan with defined sampling. Where a customer's quality department needs to see the evidence trail before placing an order, we would rather walk through it at enquiry stage than discover a gap after tooling has been cut.
Frequently asked questions
Who issues a material certificate?
The mill or service centre that rolled the metal. A fabricator passes that certificate through; it does not issue one. If a supplier offers to "issue" a material certificate in its own name, ask which mill produced the stock and for the original document.
What is the difference between 3.1 and 2.2 certificates?
Both come from the mill. A 3.1 certificate is verified by an inspection representative independent of the production department; a 2.2 certificate reports results from non-specific batch inspection without that declared independence. 3.1 is the one most regulated programmes ask for.
Can you guarantee the exact heat number for my parts?
When it is requested at order stage, yes — we hold the coil for your job and record the heat number against it. Asked for after the parts are made, a single-heat guarantee usually cannot be reconstructed honestly, which is why the requirement belongs at enquiry.
Do you provide RoHS and REACH declarations?
We pass through the declarations issued by the material mill and the finishing partner for the specific material and process used. We do not issue them in our own name, because the substance content is known by the party that produced the material or ran the coating.
Is WERIX ISO 9001 certified?
Yes, and ISO 9001 is the only management-system certification we hold. We do not hold IATF 16949, ISO 13485, ISO 14001, AS9100 or ISO 45001, and we state that at enquiry stage rather than after a supplier audit finds it.
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