I received a notification that a change affects my dossier what should I do

A change in the standard affects your file specifically

This means that something has changed in the VSME standard, the reporting obligation or the emission factors, and that change affects information already in your compiled file. This could involve an emission factor with a new reference date, an adjustment in what the VSME basic module requires, or a shift in the supply chain provision that determines what a buyer may ask. The notification does not mean that something is wrong, but that an existing answer may no longer align with the current source.

What needs to be done then depends on which part of the file the notification mentions. If it concerns an emission factor, it is customary for the figure to be updated and for an earlier answer that was calculated on that basis to be reviewed again — how that calculation works in detail is explained at what an emission factor is and why a reference date is included. If it concerns a revised question from the VSME standard itself, it is up to the entrepreneur to confirm the updated answer in the same way as when filling it in for the first time — that confirmation remains a step that the entrepreneur takes themselves, also during an update, as also described at why you approve yourself what is extracted from the documents. The notification itself indicates which part is involved; the rest of the file remains unchanged.

Why this signal differs per file

This follows from how the file is compiled: it does not stand alone, but is linked to the sources from which it is assembled — the VSME basic module from EFRAG, the sustainability reporting directive (CSRD, Directive (EU) 2022/2464) and the established emission factors. If one of those sources changes, it is checked which files actually contain data that are relevant at that point, and only those files receive a notification. What storing and linking the file entails in detail is explained at what it means that the file is kept with esgia.