A certificate of analysis, usually abbreviated to CoA, is a document recording the results of tests carried out on a specific batch, set against the specification that batch was required to meet. It is issued with the batch and is the manufacturer's formal statement that the material conforms.
A CoA is batch-specific, which is what distinguishes it from a product datasheet. A datasheet describes what a product is typically like; a certificate of analysis states what this particular batch actually measured. It should carry the batch number, the date, each tested parameter with its specification limits and its result, and a signature or authorisation.
What appears on it is a matter for agreement rather than assumption. Manufacturers test what they have been asked to test, so if a property matters to you and is not on the specification, it will not be measured and will not appear. Agreeing the CoA contents as part of the quality agreement avoids discovering this after delivery.
Certificates of analysis are also part of the traceability chain. Keeping them alongside batch records means a later problem can be investigated against what the material actually measured at release - see certificates of analysis and batch traceability.
Agree the certificate of analysis contents before the first batch, listing every parameter you need to see. Manufacturers test what the specification requires, so a property you care about that nobody wrote down will not be measured.
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Last reviewed: August 2026. Regulation and guidance change — verify anything you rely on against the primary source. Tell us if something here is out of date.
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