Glossary · Document handover and classification
VDI 2770
Also known as: VDI 2770 Blatt 1, VDI 2770 Part 1, VDI guideline 2770
VDI 2770 is a guideline series of the Association of German Engineers (VDI) that sets minimum requirements for handing over digital manufacturer information. Its Part 1 (VDI 2770 Blatt 1, April 2020), written for the process industry in particular, specifies how documents are classified, how the documentation of simple and compound objects is structured, which document metadata are supplied and in which file formats.
- Information architecture
- Standards
- Technical documentation
In one sentence
VDI 2770 sets minimum requirements for handing over digital manufacturer information: document categories, metadata, PDF/A files and ZIP containers.
Example
A pump manufacturer hands over one documentation container per pump: a main document plus one document container each for the data sheet, the operating instructions and the declaration of conformity, each with a PDF/A file and its VDI2770_Metadata.xml.
How it applies
- Scope: The guideline addresses manufacturers and users of technical commodities, which it calls objects — components, modules, equipment, machines, assemblies and whole systems — in the process industry in particular, and states that its requirements apply regardless of sector and country. It sets minimum requirements for four things: the classification of documents by document type and intended purpose, the structure of the documentation for simple and compound objects, the document metadata to be supplied and the file formats to be supplied.
- What it leaves out: VDI 2770 makes no stipulations on the content of the information, on change management for documents or on the completeness and correctness of documents. What instructions for use must say is governed elsewhere, for example by IEC/IEEE 82079-1 and the product legislation.
- Package: Each document travels in a document container — a ZIP file with at least one PDF/A file, optional files in native formats and the metadata file
VDI2770_Metadata.xml. The documents of one object are bundled in a documentation container with a main document (VDI2770_Main.pdfandVDI2770_Main.xml); the documentation of supplied parts is nested as subordinate documentation containers. - Metadata and classification: The information model builds on IEC 82045-2 — documents and document versions, identifiers, parties, lifecycle status — and is published as an XML schema. Every document is classified in the twelve VDI 2770 document categories; an annex maps the document kinds of IEC 61355-1 to these categories.
- Operators: Because identification, classification and formats are fixed, operators can take documentation from many manufacturers into their own IT systems automatically, for example as the basis of a lifecycle record under DIN 77005-1, instead of sorting paper and PDF files by hand.
- Editions: As of October 2026, VDI lists Blatt 1 (April 2020, German and English, with the German version authoritative) as the published part of the series; a draft had appeared in October 2018. The guideline states the aim of developing it into an international ISO/IEC standard and of harmonizing it with DEXPI and CFIHOS.
VDI 2770 vs. iiRDS
VDI 2770 hands over whole documents in fixed categories so that they can be filed. iiRDS delivers content of any granularity — from a whole manual to a single topic — with RDF metadata so that portals and assistants can select what a user needs. The two are linked: iiRDS/H uses the VDI 2770 document categories, and an iiRDS ExternalClassification can carry a VDI 2770 class identifier such as 03-02.