# What does the data quality rating (DQR) on a PEF or EPD mean?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/data-quality-rating-dqr-explained

The DQR is a score for how well the data behind a footprint fits the product. Under the EU PEF method it is the average of four ratings, technological, geographical and time representativeness and precision, each from 1 (best) to 5 (worst). Lower is better, and the category rules for your product set the maximum score they accept.

## The formula

Commission Recommendation (EU) 2021/2279 sets DQR = (TeR + GeR + TiR + P) / 4. Each criterion gets a rating from 1 to 5 for a dataset. The result maps to quality levels from excellent to poor, and the PEF category rules (PEFCR) for a product set the maximum DQR allowed for each kind of data. Check the PEFCR your buyer uses.

## What each rating asks

- TeR, technological: does the data describe your actual process and machines, or a generic one?
- GeR, geographical: is it from your country and grid, or another region?
- TiR, time: how close is the data year to the reference year of the study?
- P, precision: was it measured or calculated from records, or estimated?

## How an Indian supplier improves its score

1. Use your own metered kWh and fuel invoices for the year studied: better TiR and P.
2. Use the Indian grid factor, such as the CEA CO2 Baseline Database, not a European average: better GeR.
3. Describe your real process route, for example induction furnace or coal-fired boiler: better TeR.
4. Ask key suppliers for their own data instead of database averages.

## PEF and EPD are not the same scale

The four-part DQR formula is a PEF rule. An EPD under EN 15804+A2 carries its own data quality assessment, and other programmes use their own scales. Read which method a buyer means before comparing scores.

## Worked example: one dataset, before and after

- Before: TeR 2, GeR 3 (European grid average), TiR 1, P 2
- DQR = (2 + 3 + 1 + 2) / 4 = 2.0
- After switching to the Indian grid factor: GeR 1
- DQR = (2 + 1 + 1 + 2) / 4 = 1.5, a better score from one change

## What Senseible does here

Senseible's records come from your own bills and invoices, with the billing period and the factor edition on each line, the facts behind good time, geographical and precision ratings.

- [PEF vs ISO 14067 for EU buyers](https://senseible.earth/answers/pef-vs-iso-14067-for-eu-buyers)
- [What primary data share means](https://senseible.earth/answers/primary-data-share-meaning)
- [How to read GWP on an EPD](https://senseible.earth/answers/how-to-read-gwp-on-an-epd)
- [Tier 1 vs Tier 2 emission factors](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/msme-data-quality-tier-1-vs-tier-2-emission-factors)

Sources: [Commission Recommendation (EU) 2021/2279 on the Product Environmental Footprint method, Annex I, data quality requirements (EUR-Lex)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu), [ISO 14025:2006, Type III environmental declarations (iso.org); EN 15804+A2 is published by CEN](https://www.iso.org)

Last reviewed 2026-10-19.