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Fatal

CII-DT-101: Identifiers must not carry a schemeName attribute

In short

Fatal: fails the selected checks.

CII-DT-101 means an identifier in the file carries a schemeName attribute, which EN 16931 does not allow. Fix it by deleting that attribute and keeping the identifier and its scheme code (schemeID) where it has one.

On this page

What it means

Identifiers in the file are written in elements whose names end in ID, such as ID, GlobalID and URIID. They cover things like a company registration number, a VAT number, the invoice number or an electronic address (BT-34, BT-49) such as a Peppol ID. Where needed, the element names the scheme the identifier belongs to with a schemeID code. The rule checks that none of them also has a schemeName attribute, a free-text name for the scheme. The official wording is only 'should not be present', but the rule is an error, not a warning.

Why it matters

The recipient's software works out which scheme an identifier belongs to from the schemeID code. The extra schemeName is not part of EN 16931, so the file fails the check and the invoice is rejected.

How to fix it

Check the export or format settings of your invoicing software for a choice of profile and pick EN 16931 rather than a generic CII or Extended format, since these attributes can come from generic exports. If there is no such setting, ask your software supplier to stop writing schemeName on identifiers. In the XML, find each ID, GlobalID or URIID with a schemeName attribute and delete only that attribute, keeping the identifier text and the schemeID. The attributes schemeAgencyName and schemeDataURI have their own rules, CII-DT-102 and CII-DT-103.

The rule as published

schemeName should not be present

Where this rule applies

Rule set Version
EN 16931 (CII) 1.3.17
XRechnung 3.0 (CII) 3.0.2
NLCIUS (CII) 1.0.3.13
France CTC (CII) 1.4.0-04
Rule text from phive-rules 4.6.4.

Check your file

Drop your e-invoice to see whether CII-DT-101 still fails, and which other rules do.

Updated 6 November 2026