DeCA requirements: PDF, QR code and retention

PDF file requirements

• Native digital PDF: the document must be generated from the application's structured data. Scans and images of paper documents are not accepted.
• Maximum size of 5 MB per file.
• Created before the service effectively starts: the DeCA must exist before the transport begins.
• Timestamping: the application must record the date and time of creation and of every later modification.

QR code and inspection URL requirements

• The PDF must embed a QR code containing a web address that is unique and specific to that document.
• The URL must be served over HTTPS with TLS 1.2 or higher.
• It must allow inspection officers to download the PDF directly for the whole duration of the transport service.

Traceable modifications

The DeCA's data may change during the service (a vehicle swap, for example). The resolution accepts two ways of modifying the document, both with traceability:

The two accepted modification methods

1. Modify the PDF itself, marking the previous data as invalid, so the change is recorded within the same document.
2. Generate a new PDF with the updated data, preserving the original file.

Retention: at least one year

In both modification methods, the date and time of the change must be recorded. Generated files must be kept for at least one year, including the original documents when the modification was made by generating a new PDF.

Is an electronic signature mandatory?

Not as a general rule: the resolution states explicitly that signing the control document is not mandatory. A signature may be needed when the document is also used for contractual purposes.

Mandatory data under Article 6

• Contractual shipper: name or company name, tax ID (NIF) and address
• Effective carrier: name or company name and tax ID (NIF)
• Origin of the transport
• Destination of the transport
• Nature of the goods
• Weight of the goods
• Special authorisation, when applicable
• Transport date
• Vehicle plate: for articulated vehicles, both the tractor's and the trailer or semi-trailer's
• Remarks (optional)

Can another document serve as a DeCA?

Yes. Orden FOM/2861/2012 allows another valid transport document to serve as the control document if it contains all the mandatory data of Article 6, and the technical resolution accepts formats such as consignment notes, the ADR transport document or waste documentation, provided they meet the electronic document requirements described above.

Meeting the requirements in practice

Most of these requirements (native PDF, unique QR, HTTPS inspection URL, timestamps, modification traceability and retention) depend on the software you generate the document with, not on you. DeCAya covers them by design: it produces the native digital PDF with its QR code and inspection link in seconds, records every change and keeps your document history, ready ahead of the 5 October 2026 deadline.