Understand How to Verify SGS Documents FAQ

1. What Types of Documents Can Be Submitted to SGS for Verification?

Answer:  Any document that is claimed to be issued by an SGS office worldwide, including certificates, reports and other SGS-branded deliverables, is eligible for authenticity verification.

Report Verification

2. Can a Report Be Verified Using Only the Report Number? Can Verification Be Conducted by Phone?

Answer:  No. A report number alone is insufficient to verify the content or authenticity of a report. Verification services are not available via customer service hotlines.

To proceed with report verification, you must provide a full copy of the document that you wish to verify, without any missing pages, erasures, obstructions or compression.

You may verify the document through the link below:
https://www.sgs.com/en-hk/verify-sgs-documents-form

Before explaining how to verify a report, let us first introduce Digital Signatures, which can help you self‑verify reports more efficiently. 

3. What Is a Digital Signature?

Answer: To safeguard report ownership, credibility, and data security, newly issued SGS electronic reports incorporate advanced digital signature technology.

A digital signature is not a scanned image of a handwritten signature or a simple electronic sign‑off. It is a secure authentication mechanism based on cryptographic technology.

Through advanced algorithms, digital signatures provide three core assurances:

• Authentication
  Confirms the identity of the signer and verifies that the report was officially authorised and issued by SGS.
• Integrity
  Ensures that the document has not been altered or tampered with since the moment it was signed.
• Non‑repudiation
  Provides legal‑level traceability, ensuring that the issuing party cannot deny having issued the document.

4. Why Does SGS Apply Digital Signatures to Electronic Reports?

Answer: The purpose of applying digital signatures is to ensure the authenticity and integrity of SGS electronic reports. When users receive a document, they can immediately identify whether it was officially issued by SGS, thereby preventing counterfeit reports.

5. What Software Is Required to Read Digitally Signed PDF Files?

Answer: You must install Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10.0 or above to correctly read digitally signed PDF reports. The latest free version can be downloaded from Adobe’s official website.

6. How Is a Digital Signature Displayed on the Report?

Answer: When you open an SGS electronic report containing a digital signature, you will see the SGS digital signature indicator in the information bar of the PDF reader, as illustrated below.

Verification indicators:

or

• These indicators confirm two key points:
1. The report was officially issued by SGS.
2. The report has not been modified during transmission.

7. Can a Digitally Signed PDF Be Embedded into Another Electronic File?

Answer: No. A digital signature functions as a digital seal. Once a digitally signed report is embedded into another document, it is considered modified, causing the digital signature to become invalid.

8. How Is an Invalid Digital Signature Displayed After a Report Is Modified?

Answer: There are many possible validation failure scenarios and they cannot all be illustrated. Commonly, when opening a modified report, the PDF reader’s information bar may display an invalid status or show no digital signature indicator at all.

9. Will the Information Bar Display Differently in Different Reader Versions?

Answer: Yes. Different PDF reader versions may display the information bar with slight variations.
For example, the display when opening an SGS digitally signed report in Adobe Reader X may differ slightly from Adobe Reader 9.

 10. What If You Encounter the Following Issues When Opening a Digitally Signed SGS PDF?

1. The report opens very slowly, taking 30–60 seconds.
2. A proxy authentication window appears; after cancellation the report opens, but the prompt appears again next time.

Answer: Please check with your company’s IT department whether your computer has permission to access to related software links. If access to the related sites is restricted by your organisation’s internet policy, you can still open SGS PDF reports offline and view the digital signature normally. To fully resolve the issue, please request your IT team to enable access to the above URLs.

11. QR Code Added to Certain Electronic Test Reports

Answer: For the digital reports issued by SGS subsidiary The Lab (Asia) Ltd., each report contains a unique QR Code for validation. Users may access the online report instantly by scanning the QR Code to directly compare it with the document in hand, to confirm consistency of the contents.

Certificate Verification

12. Can a Certificate Be Verified Using Only the Certificate Number?

Answer:  Yes. You can verify the validity of a SGS issued management system or process certificate via the SGS Certified Client Directory using the certificate number. If the number is unavailable, you may also search by company name and location.

If the certificate includes a QR code, scanning it will take you directly to the verification page.

Verify certificate status:
https://www.sgs.com/en-hk/certified-clients-and-products/certified-client-directory

13. How Can a Document Be Verified If It Is Not a PDF and Has No QR Code?

Answer: You may verify the document using the following method.

Verify SGS documents:
https://www.sgs.com/en-hk/verify-sgs-documents-form

14. What Does the Message “No Matching Record Found” Mean?

Answer: This may occur if the uploaded document is incomplete, such as having missing pages, erasures, obstructions, compression, or a damaged digital signature. As a result, immediate verification cannot be completed.

Please wait for the email notification after manual verification.

15. Why Is Manual Verification Required? 

Answer: If a document does not contain a digital signature or shows signs of missing pages, stains, obstructions, damage, or suspected tampering, automated verification is not possible. The document must be manually checked against the original SGS database.

SGS handles a high volume of verification requests daily; we appreciate your patience.

Please subscribe and contact us at TIC Mall for more details.

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