[ Validation & Qualification ]
RV
Receipt Verification
What a definition is not
A definition is SPEQ’s plain-language decode of how a term is used in practice, cited to the documents that define it. It is a practitioner reference, not legal or regulatory advice, it does not replace the definition in the source, and where a regulator’s wording differs the regulator’s wording governs.
The documented check, when equipment, components or materials arrive on site, that what was delivered is what was ordered and specified — the right item, undamaged, with the documentation the purchase order required — before it is accepted and installed.
Receipt verification is the first on-site verification in a commissioning programme and the cheapest place to find a wrong delivery. It compares the delivered item against the purchase order and the specification it was bought to: model and serial number, materials of construction, quantity, condition after shipping, and the documents that were supposed to travel with it — material and calibration certificates, vendor manuals, test records.
It sits between factory and site acceptance testing. EU GMP Annex 15 asks for equipment to be confirmed against the URS or functional specification at the vendor site before installation, where applicable, and allows a site acceptance test to follow the receipt of equipment at the manufacturing site; receipt verification is where a project records that the item that passed FAT is the item that arrived, and that transport did not damage it.
“RV” is a practice label — not a term defined in GMP regulation, and not among the terms the ISPE Commissioning and Qualification guide defines — and programmes name the step differently (receiving inspection, delivery verification). What matters is that it is done under good engineering practice, recorded, and — where it covers a critical design element — available as evidence to the installation verification that follows.
- —Delivered item matched to the purchase order and specification: model, serial, materials, quantity.
- —Condition checked after shipping; damage found here costs a delivery, not a schedule.
- —Required documents received with the item: certificates, manuals, vendor test records.
- —Confirms the item that passed FAT is the item that arrived, before SAT and installation.
- —A commissioning (GEP) activity whose records can support installation verification.
EU GMP Annex 15 (2015) §3.4–3.7 (FAT/SAT; equipment confirmed against the URS/functional specification at the vendor site before installation, where applicable; SAT following receipt of equipment at the manufacturing site). “Receipt verification” itself is industry practice within science- and risk-based C&Q (ASTM E2500-25; ISPE Baseline Guide Vol. 5, 2nd ed.), not a regulatory defined term.
Frequently asked questions
What does RV stand for?
RV stands for Receipt Verification.
What is RV?
The documented check, when equipment, components or materials arrive on site, that what was delivered is what was ordered and specified — the right item, undamaged, with the documentation the purchase order required — before it is accepted and installed.
Which regulations cover RV?
EU GMP Annex 15 (2015) §3.4–3.7 (FAT/SAT; equipment confirmed against the URS/functional specification at the vendor site before installation, where applicable; SAT following receipt of equipment at the manufacturing site). “Receipt verification” itself is industry practice within science- and risk-based C&Q (ASTM E2500-25; ISPE Baseline Guide Vol. 5, 2nd ed.), not a regulatory defined term.