Altor guide · 2026-10-02

SDS authoring cost: what a single sheet includes

The file on the dock has no current safety data sheet. A customer asked, a distributor asked, or section 16 still shows a revision from years ago. The SDS authoring cost is the number they want next. They expect the PDF to finish the shipment.

What the regulation actually requires

A safety data sheet is a Hazard Communication document. 29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(1) tells chemical manufacturers and importers to obtain or develop one for each hazardous chemical they produce or import. Employers keep a sheet for each hazardous chemical they use.

The sheet is in English. 29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(2) fixes sixteen headings, in order, with the content of each heading in Appendix D. Note 2 to (g)(2) only says OSHA will not enforce the information requirements in sections 12 through 15. The headings still belong because (g)(2) lists them, and Note 1 to (g)(2) requires headings 12 through 15 in that order. Section 14 is transport information. Section 16 includes the date the sheet was prepared or last revised. Where a subheading has no relevant information, 29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(3) says to mark that no applicable information was found.

29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(5) requires the words to match the evidence used to classify the chemical. Significant new information about the hazards, or about how to protect against them, goes on the sheet within three months. If the chemical is not currently produced or imported, the update happens before it comes back into the workplace.

29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(6) and (g)(7) put the sheet on the initial shipment and on the first shipment after an update. The employer keeps it readily accessible each shift under (g)(8). Electronic copies are allowed when access stays immediate.

29 CFR 1910.1200(c) says produce includes blend and repackage. A chemical manufacturer is an employer with a workplace where chemicals are produced for use or distribution, and that workplace is the one (g)(1) covers. A warehouse that only handles sealed containers is in (b)(4): keep the labels, keep the sheets that arrived, and obtain one as soon as possible if none arrived and an employee asks.

The revised standard took effect July 19, 2024, and 29 CFR 1910.1200(a)(1) aims at consistency with the GHS, primarily Revision 7. Manufacturers, importers, and distributors evaluating substances had to meet the modified provisions by May 19, 2026. That date has passed. For substances, employers update alternative workplace labeling under (f)(6), the written program under (h)(1), and additional training under (h)(3), as necessary for newly identified hazards, by November 20, 2026. Chemical manufacturers, importers, and distributors evaluating mixtures have until November 19, 2027. May 19, 2028 is not a later sheet date for them. It is the employer date in (j)(3)(ii): as necessary, alternative workplace labeling under (f)(6), the written program under (h)(1), and additional training under (h)(3), for newly identified hazards. Until the date that applies, (j)(4) allows this section, the standard as revised on July 1, 2023, or both.

Transport stays a second rulebook. 49 CFR 172.602 requires emergency response information available away from the package. One permitted form is a document other than the shipping paper, when it includes the basic description, the technical name where 49 CFR 172.203(k) requires one, and the response information. A material safety data sheet is the example in that section. The shipping paper remains 49 CFR Part 172, Subpart C. For air, the Shipper's Declaration is IATA DGR 8.1. The offeror still classifies under 49 CFR 173.22 and certifies under 49 CFR 172.204.

The mistake people make

The quote for one sheet gets treated as a receipt for the whole file.

Section 14 shows a UN number and a name. Someone copies those lines onto a declaration, attaches the sheet, and books the freight. A sheet that meets 29 CFR 1910.1200(g) can still be the wrong document for IATA DGR 8.1. When that copy is why a carrier sent the freight back, the recovery steps are at https://altor.consulting/rejected.html.

29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(4) allows one sheet for complex mixtures that have similar hazards and contents: the ingredients are essentially the same, and the specific composition varies from mixture to mixture. A new trade name, by itself, is not a new sheet. A solvent ratio that means the ingredients are no longer essentially the same falls outside (g)(4) and needs another look.

What the SDS authoring cost covers

For a standard sheet, the SDS authoring cost starts at $395. That price is one safety data sheet, GHS 16 section format, written from the composition data you provide. Altor prepares the sheet. The manufacturer or importer remains the person (g) names.

Anything past a standard sheet is priced case by case. A free 20 minute call names that scope before anyone treats $395 as a blanket. The declaration stays on its own paper.

How to fix it

If you manufacture, import, blend, or repackage, send the composition, the product identifier, and the hazard information you actually have. Ask for sixteen sections in the (g)(2) order, with section 16 dated. If a supplier already owes the sheet under (g)(6), ask for that copy before you commission a new one.

Read section 16 before you reuse last year's file. Chemical manufacturers, importers, and distributors evaluating mixtures may follow this section, the standard as revised on July 1, 2023, or both, until November 19, 2027. Significant new hazard information still moves within three months under (g)(5).

Then split the transport file. Treat section 14 as a hint, build the basic description from the current 49 CFR 172.101 table or the IATA list in Section 4.2, and sign 49 CFR 172.204 yourself.

Altor pre-checks a completed Dangerous Goods Declaration line by line against the current regulations and returns a written report, with every finding cited, typically within one business day of payment. You keep the pen. altor.consulting

Catch the rejection before the carrier does

Send your completed declaration before you tender it. A line by line advisory report comes back within 24 hours, every finding cited. $95 flat, one click, and you keep the pen.

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