The question in brief
The most common mistake when recording the battery passport in a purchasing contract is that nothing is recorded about it at all. Companies assume that their supplier will automatically provide the necessary data because the battery regulation exists. In practice, that assumption often proves incorrect, and then you will be left alone when the passport is needed.
The mistake lies not in unwillingness, but in a wrong expectation about who is responsible for what. A supplier in another EU country may have a different role in the chain, may apply different timelines, or may simply not yet be set up to provide structured data. Without an agreement in writing, you have no basis to fall back on.
Where things go wrong
Most purchasing contracts for batteries were written before the requirements for the digital passport were known, or are simply a template that has been reused for years. They contain agreements on price, delivery time and warranty, but nothing about the data needed to compile a passport: chemical composition, origin of raw materials, performance and durability indicators, and information on disassembly and recycling.
As a result, the question is only asked when the passport actually needs to be drawn up. It then sometimes emerges that the supplier does not have the data ready, cannot provide it in a usable format, or regards it as confidential and does not want to share it. Each of those outcomes costs time, and time is precisely what is scarce when an obligation has already begun.
What this concretely means for your contract
A contract that does take the passport into account regulates at least three things. First: who provides which data, and in what format. Second: what happens if data change, for example due to modified composition or a new manufacturing location, and how quickly that change is communicated. Third: who is liable if data prove to be incorrect, and how that is corrected.
This does not need to be a complicated legal document. What matters is that the agreement exists before you need it, not after. Companies that sort this out early find that it is a matter of clearly recording once and for all who the contact point is for battery data, and then referring back to that person with each new order or each new battery type.
Which role your company itself has in the chain, as a manufacturer, importer or distributor, also partly determines what you yourself are legally required to record and what you can reasonably expect from a supplier. Anyone who has not yet clarified this can find an overview of the concepts and roles in the knowledge base where this subject has been worked out for each situation.
How to prevent it
The most practical step is not to rewrite your entire purchasing contract, but to add a fixed section in which the provision of battery data is explicitly named. Do this before the next order, not only when the contract is renewed. Also ask your supplier specifically to confirm in what format the data are available, and whether they match what is needed for a digital passport.
It helps to have this conversation with a clear picture of what exactly is being asked. A short, targeted check often already shows which data you have and do not have in-house. in five questions see where you stand gives an initial indication of this, without you having to immediately set up a file.
Where you can further verify this
Whether a specific agreement is sufficient in your situation depends on your role in the supply chain and the nature of the battery. This is something a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority can advise you on specifically; this article only describes where the error typically originates and which agreements are associated with it.
We have laid down on batpas.eu how the data for a battery passport are compiled and checked, so you know where information comes from before you pass it on to a supplier or customer. That is explained on how we collect the data for the battery passport. If you are still unsure whether your current contracts align with what is needed, please review the frequently asked questions about the battery passport or take the free quick-scan to see in a few minutes where the points of attention lie for you.