Certificate of analysis

A certificate of analysis, often shortened to COA, is the formal document in which a laboratory reports what it found when it tested a batch of material, a product or a sample. It records the results of one or more analyses and often the specifications and analytical methods that were applied, and it is signed by an authorized person, either by hand or electronically. Its purpose is assurance: the buyer or regulator can see that the item is what it is said to be, or has the features the producer advertised. What a COA contains may follow the laboratory's own requirements, a regulation, or a published standard. Typical contents include identifiers for the supplier and the laboratory, a description of the sample, batch numbers, the tests performed, the results with a clear pass or fail where that applies, and the signature of the person who approved the analysis. Manufacturers of chemicals, drugs and ingredients commonly supply one to the end user, and agriculture, clinical research, food and beverage, pharmaceutical and cannabis testing all rely on it as a quality record.