Two obligations you can combine
If you move bulk, petroleum products or chemicals by tanker on domestic routes in Spain, you live with two documentary requirements. On the one hand, ADR — the Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road — requires every consignment to be accompanied by a specific dangerous goods transport document. On the other, since 5 October 2026 domestic public (for-hire) transport in Spain must carry the DeCA, Spain's electronic administrative control document, which must be in digital form (we explain it in detail in this guide).
The temptation is to treat them as two separate workflows: an ADR delivery note on one side and a control document on the other. But the DeCA rules themselves provide for the opposite, and that's where the work is saved.
What the rules say about the ADR format
The Resolution of 5 June 2026 (BOE-A-2026-12784), in its eighth section, allows the format of other transport documents to be reused as the medium for the administrative control document:
[…] the possibility of using any format provided for other transport documents is accepted, such as those defined for consignment notes, the transport document under the Agreement on the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) […] or any other format used to document a transport service. In these cases, it shall be ensured that, whatever the format used, all the data defined in Article 6 of Order FOM/2861/2012 are included.Resolution of 5 June 2026 — eighth section (unofficial translation)
In other words: the transport document ADR already obliges you to issue can also act as the DeCA. You don't need an additional document; you need the one you already produce to contain the right data and come out in the right digital format.
The data that must not be missing
The condition is that the document includes all the data required by Order FOM/2861/2012 for the control document. Its Article 6 sets out the minimum data:
- Contractual shipper and actual carrier.
- Origin and destination of the transport.
- Nature and weight of the goods.
- Special authorisation for the transport, where applicable.
- Date on which the transport takes place.
- Registration numbers of the vehicle.
Many of these data already appear in the ADR transport document you issue, or are easy to add. The key is making sure none is missing: if the document meets this minimum content and the DeCA's technical format, it covers both obligations at once.
How to digitalise it without duplicating work
Besides the content, the DeCA requires a specific digital format. The Resolution of 5 June 2026 sets out that the document must be:
- A native PDF (not a scan of paper), no larger than 5 MB.
- With a QR code linking to a unique URL under
https://from which the document can be downloaded without credentials. - With date and time metadata.
- Kept for at least one year.
- A signature is not mandatory.
This is where logistics software makes the difference. Instead of an administrator typing the same data twice, the system brings the consignment note, the control document and the ADR goods data into a single workflow, and automatically generates the compliant PDF with QR code from the shipment itself. You can see the format details, set out so you can check your software against them, in DeCA technical requirements.
Tankers and bulk: a typical case
A typical case among our customers: a tanker company delivering petroleum products or chemicals on domestic routes in Spain. Every trip needs the ADR transport document; since October 2026 it also needs the DeCA. Handling them separately means double typing, double filing and double the errors.
Combined in one workflow, the driver carries a single document with its QR code, inspectors download it instantly and the company meets both obligations with no extra work. If you handle bulk, petroleum products or chemicals, this is exactly the scenario in which the DeCA already applies to you.