BR-10:Buyer must have postal address
An Invoice shall contain the Buyer postal address (BG-8). At minimum, the country code is required.
Engine Classification
Business data required · Explicit input workflow · No assumptions made
Required input: Buyer Country Code
What is BR-10?
BR-10 is a fatal validation rule defined in the EN 16931 specification. It validates the IdentificationCode element under PostalAddress > Country in the UBL invoice XML.
When this rule fires, the invoice is non-compliant and will be rejected by Peppol access points and national validation services. The sending system receives a rejection response and the invoice does not reach the buyer.
Target path: XPath: /Invoice/cac:AccountingCustomerParty/cac:Party/cac:PostalAddress/cac:Country/cbc:IdentificationCode
Why This Error Matters
Invoice rejected. Buyer address is required for delivery confirmation, tax compliance, and legal validity.
BR-10 is a hard failure. Invoices that trigger this rule are rejected at the access point and never reach the recipient. In Peppol networks, this means your sending system receives an MLR (Message Level Response) with a rejection status. The invoice must be corrected and re-sent, adding delay to your payment cycle.
Validator Behavior
- ·Causes invoice rejection
- ·Error returned: BR-10
- ·Specification: EN 16931
How to Fix It
Get buyer country
From customer master data or order
Use correct code
ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 format (e.g., FR, DE, IT)
Add to address
Place in Country/IdentificationCode element
Before / After
<cac:Country> <cbc:IdentificationCode><!-- invalid or missing value --></cbc:IdentificationCode> </cac:Country>
<cac:Country> <cbc:IdentificationCode>correct-value</cbc:IdentificationCode> </cac:Country>
Technical Reference
XPath: /Invoice/cac:AccountingCustomerParty/cac:Party/cac:PostalAddress/cac:Country/cbc:IdentificationCodeCode Example
<cac:Country>
<cbc:IdentificationCode>FR</cbc:IdentificationCode>
</cac:Country>Common Causes
- ·Customer record created without full address
- ·Buyer address not mapped in export template
- ·Order placed with minimal customer details
- ·Shipping address present but billing address missing
- ·Address fields partially filled causing validation failure
Seeing this in production? The API handles BR-10 automatically. See the fix response →
Commonly Seen In
Frequently Asked Questions
The buyer postal address must include a country identification code.
Add the buyer country code using ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 format. You can also use Invoice Navigator's automatic Fixer tool to correct this instantly.
Yes, BR-10 is a critical error that will cause invoice rejection. It must be fixed before submission to ensure your invoice is accepted by the recipient's system.
Many instances of BR-10 can be automatically corrected using Invoice Navigator's Fixer tool. Upload your invoice and the tool will identify and fix common issues, including buyer country code is mandatory.
BR-10 is commonly seen in exports from All invoicing software. These software packages sometimes generate invoices that need adjustment to meet full compliance standards.
See Also
Related Errors
Last updated: 27 February 2026
Handle BR-10 Automatically in Your Pipeline
The compliance engine auto-remediates this error with controlled safety policies and evidence pack generation.