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Definition

Supplier self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) Definition

A supplier self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) is a supplier-completed form that tests named environmental, labour, ethics and governance practices against supporting documents for a specific company or site.

What is a supplier self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ)?

A supplier self-assessment questionnaire asks which policies, management systems, controls and data your company has, then requires the requested documents. A supplier sustainability questionnaire or supplier ESG questionnaire is the same type of request when it covers environmental, labour, ethics and governance.

The Drive Sustainability SAQ 5.0 is an automotive version completed on SupplierAssurance. Its profile questions 0b and 0e ask for the location's headcount and NACE industry category, the European classification of business activities. Question 0g then shows the mandatory Minimum Scope set by the selected industry category. Drive Sustainability's 2025 update also adjusts some non-production-supplier questions using industry and workforce size.

Why does a supplier self-assessment questionnaire matter to you?

A customer may use an SAQ for vendor onboarding, contract renewal or sourcing. A vendor onboarding questionnaire may ask only for basic policies and certificates. A due diligence questionnaire (DDQ) is broader: a customer, lender or investor may use one before a deal to examine material risks, controls and records.

A supplier minimum requirement is not the same as a score. It is a policy, certificate, answer or threshold you must meet even if the rest of the questionnaire scores well. Scania, for example, says that meeting its minimum requirements and scoring at least 80% on the SAQ earns an A in its S-Rating.

Your result may feed a buyer's status and award decision. Volkswagen shows green for a positive S-Rating, red for a negative one and gray when no positive result has been determined. Do not infer an amber or yellow band unless the buyer's own rules define one. Only the buyer assigns the result.

How does a supplier self-assessment questionnaire work?

Record the customer, version, invitation code, deadline and assessed location. The site-level assessment boundary matters: a parent-company policy can support an answer, but company-level data do not automatically answer a site question. SAQ 5.0 question 0b asks for location staff, while questions 6, 8, 11, 12 and 16 ask what the site has or does.

Map each question to an owner, answer and document. The automotive SAQ asks for a Code of Conduct in question 3; policies on human rights, health and safety, business ethics and the environment in questions 5, 7, 9 and 10; and a site environmental management system in question 11. Check that each file names the right entity or site, covers every selected option and remains valid. Submit through your own authorised account, then correct rejections or unmet minimum requirements.

What mistakes should you avoid?

  • Copying a parent-company answer into a site request without checking whether the policy, certificate or data covers that location.
  • Selecting every positive option when the uploaded document supports only some of them.
  • Treating a high percentage as proof that every supplier minimum requirement is met.
  • Reusing an old answer without checking the customer, version, deadline, document expiry dates and assessed site.

Is an SAQ the same as a due diligence questionnaire?

No. An SAQ is supplier-completed and usually tests standard supplier practices. A DDQ can be tailored to a transaction, lender, investor or customer and may cover financial, legal, operational and sustainability risks. Some customers call their form a DDQ, so use its questions and requested documents to define the work.

What should you send when a customer asks for an SAQ?

Send answers for the named entity and site, plus the requested documents. These may include the Code of Conduct, topic policies, management-system certificates, training records, emissions data and reports. Keep a question-to-document index with the owner, covered location, reporting period and expiry date.

Worked example

Hypothetical example: Suppose an automotive tier-2 parts supplier has an 86-person production site near Poznan, Poland. A customer invites that site to complete SAQ 5.0. The supplier records 86 in question 0b, selects its NACE manufacturing category in question 0e and uses the invitation deadline rather than an internal target date.

The team builds a question-to-document index for question 3, questions 5 and 5a, questions 7 and 7a, questions 9 and 9a, questions 10 and 10a, and question 11. Each row names the answer owner, filename, covered site and expiry date. The environmental policy covers the Polish location, but the group ISO 14001 certificate lists only a German plant. The team does not use that certificate as proof for the assessed site.

The supplier submits through its own account and keeps the confirmation. It does not call the result green or claim that the customer accepted the answer. It waits for the platform validation and the customer's programme-specific decision, then fixes any rejected document or unmet minimum requirement.

Where you'll meet it

Drive Sustainability SAQ 5.0 location profile and Minimum ScopeSAQ 5.0 questions 0b, 0e and 0gDrive Sustainability SAQ 5.0 policies, systems and site evidenceSAQ 5.0 questions 3, 5, 7, 9, 10 and 11Volkswagen Group S-Rating location status and corrective actionS-Rating FAQ, location status and improvement questionsScania positive S-Rating and A thresholdRequirements for a positive S-Rating, locations with 10-99 and 100 or more employees

Related terms

Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence

Corporate sustainability due diligence is an ongoing, risk-based process for finding and addressing harm to people or the environment connected to a company's operations and business relationships.

Scope 3 Emissions

Scope 3 emissions are the indirect greenhouse gas emissions from goods, services, transport, product use, investments, and other upstream and downstream activities outside your company's Scope 1 and Scope 2 boundary.

Supplier code of conduct

A supplier code of conduct sets the labour, health and safety, environmental, ethics, record-keeping, and subcontractor rules a buyer expects its suppliers to follow and be able to prove.

SMETA audit

A SMETA audit is a site-level assessment of labour, health and safety, environment and business ethics against local law and the ETI Base Code, with findings recorded in an audit report and corrective action plan.

Sources

  • Drive Sustainability and NQC I Ltd

    SAQ 5.0 purpose, location profile, Minimum Scope, numbered policy and management-system questions, and document requirements

    2026-08-19

  • Volkswagen Group

    Green, red and gray S-Rating location statuses, SAQ improvement and corrective action

    2026-08-19

  • Scania

    Site-size rules, minimum requirements and the 80% SAQ threshold for an A S-Rating

    2026-08-19

Last verified 2026-08-19

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Supplier self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) Definition | Keslio