Goods received note GRN
Goods received note (GRN) is a document that acknowledges 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. They may be internally generated by the customer as a project record or be a joint document between customer and supplier and form part of logistics in construction.
A delivery note or Proof of Delivery (POD) may refer to the same document, acting for both purposes but is usually produced by the supplier and acknowledged by the customer, in the case of a construction site, often a particular individual. These documents differ from Goods Despatched Notes (GDN) which are merely supplier documents confirming that a delivery has been shipped from its manufacturing base or warehouse.
A GRN is the record of goods that the buyer has received, and normally contains a description of the goods, the quantity of good, the date of delivery and the individual who inspected the goods. It used by the buyer to compare the goods ordered to those delivered, and is normally completed following a brief inspection of the items, their condition and number. It is then retained to compare to the supplier invoices or purchase orders for a particular project as well as the bills of quantities.
The information in the collected GRN's can also 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.
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.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- BSI construction product identification system.
- Call-off contract.
- Construction buyer.
- Construction consolidation centre (CCC).
- Construction inventory management.
- Construction logistics manager.
- Construction logistics plan.
- Construction Logistics and Community Safety.
- Fleet operator.
- Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme.
- Forward-logistics.
- How to manage construction plant.
- Inventory.
- Lean construction.
- Lean construction - a quality perspective.
- Logistics data.
- Materials on site.
- Off site materials.
- Programme for building design and construction.
- Resource management.
- Reverse-logistics.
- Scheduling construction activities.
- Site logistics.
- Site storage.
- Supply chain management.
- Understanding agile in project management.
Featured articles and news
A now architectural practice looks back at its concept project for a sustainable oceanic settlement 25 years on.
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence
Government report and back track on copyright opt out for AI training but no clear preferred alternative as yet.
Embedding AI tools into architectural education
Beyond the render: LMU share how student led research is shaping the future of visualisation workflows.
Why document control still fails UK construction projects
A Chartered Quantity Surveyor explains what needs to change and how.
Inspiration for a new 2026 wave of Irish construction professionals.
New planning reforms and Warm Homes Bill
Take centre stage at UK Construction Week London.
A brief run down of changes intentions from April in an onwards.
Reslating an ancient water mill
A rare opportunity to record, study and repair early vernacular roofs.
CIOB Apprentice of the Year 2025/26
Construction apprentice from Lincoln Mia Owen wins this years title.
Insulation solutions with less waste for a circular economy
Rob Firman, Technical and Specification Manager, Polyfoam XPS explains.
Recycled waste plastic in construction
Hierarchy, prevention to disposal, plastic types and approaches.
UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard V1 published
Free-to-access technical standard to enable robust proof of a decarbonising built environment.
Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
Why talking about prostate cancer matters in construction.
The Architectural Technology podcast: Where it's AT
Catch up for free, subscribe and share with your network.
The Association of Consultant Architects recap
A reintroduction and recap of ACA President; Patrick Inglis' Autumn update.
The Home Energy Model and its wrappers
From SAP to HEM, EPC for MEES and FHS assessment wrappers.
Future Homes Standard Essentials launched
Future Homes Hub launches new campaign to help sector prepare for the implementation of new building standards.
Building Safety recap February, 2026
Our regular run-down of key building safety related events of the month.























