Proof of Delivery POD
Proof of Delivery (POD) or what might commonly be called a delivery note is normally a document produced by a supplier as evidence that an order of goods has been delivered. It normally requires the customer or receiver to acknowledge the receipt of the goods, often by a signature and a name, particularly if received on a construction site and form part of logistics in construction.
A proof of delivery (POD) might also serve the purpose of a goods received note (GRN), although in general a GRN is an internal document produced by the customer to confirm receipt of goods and track against delivery notes, order purchases and invoices.
Proof of delivery or delivery notes acknowledge the delivery of goods to a customer by a supplier and confirms that the goods have been received in a suitable condition by the customer. These documents differ from Goods Despatched Notes (GDN) which are merely suppliers documents confirming a delivery has bee shipped from its manufacturing base.
The POD is the record of goods that the buyer has received, and normally contains a description of the goods, the quantity of goods, the date of delivery and the individual who inspected the goods. It used by the supplier as evidence incase of any later query and might also be used by buyer to compare the goods ordered to those delivered. It is normally completed or signed following a brief inspection of the items, their condition and number. A copy might then be retained by the customer to compare to the supplier invoices or purchase orders for a particular project as well as the bills of quantities.
The information in the PODs collected from a construction project can become significant as a body of information for contractual purposes in relating the contractor performance to that of the agreed construction programme or agreed costs. These can become especially important in scenarios where damaged goods or late deliveries have knock on effects causing programme or completion delays that have cost implications.
PODs and or GRNs may also increasingly be used as evidence requirements for building or site environmental performance assessments, confirming the materials actually used in a building project, for example assessing product and site emissions, known as cradle to gate and gate to site emissions. They may also be a key part of any waste reduction programme both from the perspective of the over ordering of materials but also in terms of waste packaging.
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