PEPPOL-EN16931-R008 The file contains empty elements

What it means

Peppol does not allow empty XML elements: an element with no content and no child elements, or only spaces. The validator found at least one, and its location points to it.

Common causes

• The software writes every field of its template, even when there is no value (for example an empty street, phone or note).
• A value consists only of spaces or line breaks.
• An optional field was cleared by hand but its tag was left in the file.

How to fix it

Leave optional elements out of the file when they have no value. Fill or remove the element named in the error location.

Who fixes it: The sender's invoicing software (the export should skip empty fields); sometimes empty master data, such as a missing street, is the trigger.

Related rules

• BR-25 An invoice line has no item name
• BR-CL-24 An attachment has a file type that isn't allowed

This is our own plain-language explanation, not the official rule text. The official definition is in the first source below.