Vordruck

Vordruck is a term used in German-speaking countries to denote a pre-printed or pre-formatted document that is used to collect standardized information. A Vordruck may be physical or electronic and consists of labeled fields, checkboxes, and spaces to fill in data. The purpose is to guarantee uniform data collection and to facilitate processing by organizations, authorities, and service providers. Fields can be mandatory, optional, or conditional; instructions usually accompany the form.

Vordrucke are employed across administration, business, banking, healthcare, education, and law. Typical examples include tax declarations, employment applications, enrollment forms, insurance claims, vehicle registrations, and travel or visa declarations. Many Vordrucke are issued as official forms by public authorities, sometimes with legal requirements on their use or completion. With digital administration, Vordrucke are increasingly available as fillable PDFs or online forms that support electronic submission.

In practice, Vordruck and Formular are often used synonymously. However, Vordruck emphasizes the printed template or sheet, while Formular may stress the form as a set of questions or data fields. Some organizations maintain standardized Vordrucke to ensure consistent data capture across processes and over time. Privacy notices and consent fields are commonly integrated into official forms.