warningformatEN16931

UBL-DT-16:List agency name attribute should not be present

Fix: Your invoice contains the listAgencyName attribute on a code element. This attribute is not allowed in EN16931 and must be removed.

Your invoice contains the listAgencyName attribute on a code element. This attribute is not allowed in EN16931 and must be removed.

Severity
Warning
Rule set
EN16931
Country
All EU
Fix type
BLOCKED

Engine Classification

Financial or legal field · Modification blocked by policy

What is UBL-DT-16?

UBL-DT-16 is a warning validation rule defined in the EN16931 specification.

The invoice may pass transmission, but this non-compliance can cause problems during tax audits or buyer-side processing.

This error requires manual correction — financial fields are protected by policy.

Why This Error Matters

Invoice will be rejected by PEPPOL/EN16931 validators. These attributes are explicitly prohibited and provide no value in e-invoicing.

UBL-DT-16 is a soft failure that can cause issues at the receiving end — tax audits, ERP processing, or VAT reconciliation mismatches.

Validator Behavior

  • ·Generates validation warning
  • ·Fails EN 16931 business rule validation
  • ·Error returned: UBL-DT-16
  • ·Specification: EN16931

How to Fix It

1.

Identify the issue in your invoice

Your invoice contains the listAgencyName attribute on a code element. This attribute is not allowed in EN16931 and must be removed.

2.

Correct this in your invoicing software

Your invoice contains the listAgencyName attribute on a code element. This attribute is not allowed in EN16931 and must be removed.

3.

Re-export and validate

Generate a new invoice export from your accounting system and re-validate to confirm UBL-DT-16 is resolved.

Technical Reference

SpecEN16931
StrategyAuto-fix: Remove the prohibited attribute from the element. No data loss - EN16931 does not use this attribute.

Common Causes

  • ·Source ERP exports full UBL 2.1 attributes instead of EN16931 restricted subset
  • ·Generic UBL template includes optional datatype attributes not needed for e-invoicing
  • ·XML generation library adds default attributes to all elements
  • ·Conversion from another invoice format added non-standard attributes
  • ·Manual XML editing introduced attributes not supported in EN16931

Seeing this in production? The API handles UBL-DT-16 automatically. See the fix response →

Frequently Asked Questions

Your invoice contains the listAgencyName attribute on a code element. This attribute is not allowed in EN16931 and must be removed.

Your invoice contains the listAgencyName attribute on a code element. This attribute is not allowed in EN16931 and must be removed. You can also use Invoice Navigator's compliance engine to correct this automatically in your pipeline.

UBL-DT-16 is a warning that may not always cause rejection, but indicates a compliance issue.

Many instances of UBL-DT-16 can be automatically corrected using Invoice Navigator's compliance engine. The fix is applied in your pipeline with full audit evidence.

Related Content

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Last updated: 14 April 2026

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