SDS, TDS or COA: which rubber granule document?
Use a TDS to understand the proposed grade, an SDS for hazard and handling information, and a COA to review the stated lot evidence. They are not interchangeable. None alone proves that granules meet every project requirement. Confirm which current documents are available; an SDS also does not replace your workplace risk assessment.
Explore the questionsThree documents, three questions
- TDS: what is the grade?
Technical Data Sheet Product properties and intended uses Check: typical values or agreed limits?
- SDS: what precautions apply?
Safety Data Sheet Hazards, handling and emergency information Check: correct product and current revision?
- COA: what does this lot record show?
Certificate of Analysis Reported results or release information Check: lot identity, methods and scope?
Read the scope
A typical grade property is not automatically a contractual limit or a measured result for your shipment.
Match the identity
Check the supplier, product or grade and revision. For lot evidence, check which batch or sample the record covers.
Confirm availability
Bedrock's document availability must be confirmed for the proposed order. This guide does not promise a standard certificate set or regulatory approval.
Buying and Importing
Choose the question you want to explore.
What should you look for in a TDS?
Use the grade information to ask precise technical questions.
A Technical Data Sheet commonly describes the product, intended applications and properties. Read the headings and footnotes: values may be typical, indicative or subject to stated tolerances. For example, GEZOLAN’s own granule TDS separates typical properties, test methods and its product-specific conditions. Those figures and claims do not describe Bedrock material.
For black recycled rubber granules, identify which size distribution and other acceptance limits your process needs. Ask the seller which values are proposed specifications and what evidence supports them. Use the sieve-analysis guide when a nominal size label leaves the permitted fines or oversize unclear.
What does an SDS tell the receiving team?
It informs safe work, not whether a sports surface will pass its tests.
An SDS gives product-hazard information and advice on handling, storage and emergency measures. Britain’s HSE explains that it supports, but is not itself, a workplace risk assessment.
Pass the correct, current sheet to the person responsible for site safety. They must assess your actual handling and processing conditions and applicable local requirements. Do not infer a material’s hazard classification, dust controls or required protective equipment from its black colour or from another supplier’s sheet. An SDS is also not evidence that a finished tile, playground or turf system meets its performance requirements.
What makes a COA relevant to your order?
The record needs an identifiable connection to the material being supplied.
A Certificate of Analysis is used to communicate defined product-release or analytical information. Its meaning depends on the issuer and scope. Illumina describes its COAs against its own release specifications; Merck’s document search requires a lot or batch number. These are examples of document practice, not rubber-granule specifications.
When requesting a granule COA or test report, ask for the product and lot or sample identifier, issuing organisation, date, reported checks, methods, units and any acceptance criteria. Clarify whether each value is measured or otherwise stated. A document for a different batch, or one that omits your required check, does not resolve that gap. Do not assume it was issued by an independent laboratory.
How do you turn the paperwork into a clear decision?
Ask for evidence against your requirements, not simply more PDFs.
Make a short request table with three fields: requirement, evidence needed, available or unresolved. Add one row for each material, safety or project-specific question your team needs answered. A product brochure can introduce a grade, but should not be relabelled as measured lot evidence.
Before agreeing the order, resolve any mismatch in product identity, revision or scope with the supplier. Where a project needs additional testing or a particular compliance document, confirm the responsible party and availability explicitly. Your technical or regulatory adviser should determine what the destination and use require. The Buying guide helps put those requirements into the initial enquiry.
Tell us which evidence your buyer needs
Send your granule specification, application and required documents. We can discuss the proposed material and confirm what information is available before an order is agreed.
Discuss your granule requirementsCommon questions
Does having all three documents guarantee suitability?
No. Check that the documents cover the correct product, lot and required properties. Project-specific assessment and any required testing still need to be addressed.
Can a supplier's TDS replace a COA?
Not when you need lot-specific evidence. A grade sheet may describe typical properties without reporting what was checked for the material being supplied.
Will Bedrock supply every document listed here?
Availability must be confirmed for the proposed supply. Send the exact document and test requirements; do not treat this educational guide as a promise that they are all available.