What do explanatory notes contain?

Explanatory notes contain descriptions of NACE positions, annotations defining includes, includes also, and excludes, and index entries that list detailed activities. The Eurostat manual states that the NACE Rev. 2.1 explanatory notes consist of those two parts: descriptions and annotations, and index entries. The descriptions and annotations are presented in the manual publication, while the index is disseminated online through ShowVoc, where it is designed to evolve and be regularly revised. A heading alone is a label. The note is the definition.

What is in the first part, descriptions and annotations?

The first part contains, for each position in the structure, a description of what the position covers, followed by annotations. The manual states that the content and scope of each position is defined through detailed explanatory notes, and it lists the annotations as includes, includes also, and excludes. A description states the scope in prose, often defining a term used in the heading, such as non perennial crops, or stating the basic activities covered by a division. An includes list states the activities covered, often with examples introduced by the words for example. An includes also list states additional activities covered by the position, beyond the main includes list, as shown in the class notes in the manual. An excludes list states activities that are not covered, with a cross reference to the class where each excluded activity is classified.

The manual publication presents the descriptions and annotations in structure order, from section level down to class level, in Part 3 of the manual. The Central Statistics Office in Ireland describes the same material as explanatory notes detailing what is covered by each NACE Rev. 2.1 category, listed among the detailed documentation provided by Eurostat. A reader who needs the definition of a category must therefore read the note for that category in Part 3, in the version concerned, and must read the notes for the parent categories where the boundary is unclear, because the parent note states the broader scope inside which the category sits.

Part of the notes	Form in the sources	Where it is published
Descriptions and annotations	Description, includes, includes also, excludes	Manual publication, Part 3
Index entries	Detailed activities listed, pointing to classes	Online through ShowVoc, evolving and regularly revised
General note and annotations	General note, include, includes also, parts, in the manual contents	Manual publication, introductory part

What is in the second part, the index?

The index lists detailed activities, and it is an integral part of the explanatory notes. The manual states that the entries in the NACE index are an integral part of the notes, in the passage on the content and scope of positions, and it states again, in the notes introduction, that the index is a newly added feature of the NACE explanatory notes, not available in previous versions of NACE. The index is designed to evolve and be regularly revised, and it is therefore disseminated online through ShowVoc, rather than fixed in the printed manual. A reader who uses the index must note the date or version of the index consulted, because an entry may be added, revised, or moved as the index evolves, while the descriptions and annotations in the manual remain fixed for the edition.

The index helps a reader move from a named activity to a class. An entry names a detailed activity and points to the class where it is classified. The entry must be read with the note for that class, because the note states the scope that the entry sits inside, and the exclusions that bound it. An index entry on its own does not define the class, and it does not decide an entry for a unit. It is a finding aid inside the notes, and the note remains the definition. A reader who cites an index entry without citing the note has cited a pointer, not a definition, and the citation must be completed with the note.

How do notes at different levels fit together?

The notes also contain cross references that link levels and neighbouring categories. An excludes entry in one note gives the code of the class where the excluded activity is classified, often with the words see followed by the code. A reader who follows the cross reference will find the note for the other class, which states the inclusion that corresponds to the exclusion. The pair of notes, read together, defines the boundary between the two classes. A single note, read alone, states only one side of the boundary, and the boundary must be read as a pair.

What do the notes not do?

The notes do not assign a code to a unit, and they do not confirm an entry. They define categories, for statistical use, and they state boundaries between categories. The assignment of a unit to a class, for its principal activity, is made by applying the classification rules in the introductory guidelines to the information held about the unit, and it is made by the institute or register that holds the record. A reader who finds a note that describes an activity has found a category that describes that activity. That reader has not determined the principal activity of a unit that carries out several activities, and must not present the category as the unit’s code. The notes are the definitions used in the assignment. The assignment itself is a separate step.

Read the description and annotations for the category, check the index entry where one exists, and confirm any entry with the national statistical institute or the business register that holds the record.