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Warning

UBL-CR-578: The seller's item number should not carry physical attributes

In short

Warning: worth checking.

UBL-CR-578 means the seller's item identification on an invoice or credit note line has a physical attribute (cac:PhysicalAttribute) attached, which EN 16931 does not use. It is a warning. Remove it, and give the attribute as an item attribute instead.

On this page

What it means

On every invoice or credit note line, the cac:SellersItemIdentification block for the seller's item number (BT-155) should not contain a cac:PhysicalAttribute block. In UBL this describes a physical trait of the item, such as colour. EN 16931 has no business term for it at this place.

Why it matters

EN 16931 does not use physical attributes inside the seller's item identification.

How to fix it

Omit physical attributes from cac:SellersItemIdentification in the invoice export. EN 16931 lets you list item attributes (BG-32) with a name and a value, such as Colour and Red. If you build the XML yourself, delete cac:PhysicalAttribute from cac:SellersItemIdentification and, if needed, add a cac:AdditionalItemProperty to the item.

Once the file is corrected, check it again for free: Validate an invoice against EN 16931

Or fix the invoice in a form and download the corrected file, for 1 credit: Fix a rejected e-invoice

The rule as published

A UBL invoice should not include the InvoiceLine Item SellersItemIdentification PhysicalAttribute

Where this rule applies

Rule set Version
EN 16931 (UBL) 1.3.17
EN 16931 (UBL credit note) 1.3.17
XRechnung 3.0 (UBL) 3.0.2
XRechnung 3.0 (UBL credit note) 3.0.2
Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (invoice) 2026.5
Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (credit note) 2026.5
SI-UBL 2.0 / NLCIUS (invoice) 2.0.3.13
SI-UBL 2.0 / NLCIUS (credit note) 2.0.3.13
France CTC (UBL invoice) 1.4.0-04
France CTC (UBL credit note) 1.4.0-04
CIUS-RO UBL Invoice 1.0.9 1.0.9
CIUS-RO UBL Credit Note 1.0.9 1.0.9
Rule text from phive-rules 4.6.4.

Check your file

Drop your e-invoice to see whether UBL-CR-578 still fails, and which other rules do.

Updated 6 November 2026