A supplier’s head-office name and the site that will handle an order belong in separate fields. When reviewing FSC search evidence, a neat company-level result can be an incomplete answer to a site-level question: which named location is relevant to the proposed work?

FSC’s public tools directory lists searches by licence code, certificate code and organisation name. Its UK search instructions explain the sites/members option: keeping it selected shows certified sites, while clearing it shows the lead site. They also describe opening a certificate entry to see the organisation’s certificate and product types. These instructions were checked on 12 November 2026; no named supplier or certificate was searched for this article.

Build a two-level supplier note

Our suggested record separates identification from the question being investigated. Leave a field explicitly unconfirmed when the source has not supplied it.

• Lead record: the organisation name and identifiers exactly as retrieved, with the source URL and access date.
• Operating site: the location named in the quotation or proposed production arrangement.
• Search view: whether sites/members were shown, plus the country or product filters used.
• Connection to the order: the document or explanation linking that operating site to the proposed work.
• Open question: what the record does not establish about the item, location or transaction.

For example, a sourcing team can receive a quotation naming one town while its saved result names a head office elsewhere. That difference is a prompt to compare the actual entries and ask for a documented explanation. It is not, by itself, proof of misconduct or proof that the order is covered.

Preserve the view that answered the question

A colleague who sees only a lead result may not know that a site filter changed the list. Keep the search context beside the attachment rather than paste a company name into a universal approved-supplier column. If the relevant location remains unidentified, retain that uncertainty in the review note instead of filling it from a familiar logo.

Our guide to saving dated FSC search evidence covers retention of the source record. The additional task here is to connect the record’s organisational level to the location named in an enquiry. This documentation workflow does not certify a supplier, interpret a specific shipment claim or replace review of the applicable current scope and transaction evidence.