diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 6def2c7..eea3134 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,5 +1,25 @@
 # uscogdata 0.1.0 (development)
 
+## Corpus-wide series breaks now reach users (`corpus_break_refs`)
+
+* Four catalogued series breaks carry `fin_code = "ALL"` — caveats about the
+  corpus as a whole rather than about one item code. `series_break_refs` is
+  built by matching `fin_code` against the item codes in the result, and no
+  row's `item_code` is ever the literal `"ALL"`, so **none of them could ever
+  be surfaced**: `SB085` (dollar precision across the 1976/1977 boundary),
+  `SB087` (imputation exclusion from FY2002), `SB194` (the dense → sparse
+  representation change at FY2012) and `SB086` (the government id scheme
+  change at FY2017).
+* Provenance gains `corpus_break_refs`, selected on the break-year window
+  alone and disjoint from `series_break_refs` by construction, so a consumer
+  can tell a whole-result caveat from a break in one series. `cog_explain()`
+  prints them under their own "Corpus-wide caveats" heading. cog-api passes
+  provenance through verbatim, so the field appears there without an API
+  change.
+* `SB194` is the one that made this urgent: a query spanning FY2011 → FY2012
+  crosses the boundary where an absent cell stops meaning "Census published
+  `$0`" and starts meaning "not reported", and until now nothing said so.
+
 ## Bundled fixture regenerated against the sparsified corpus
 
 * `inst/extdata/fixture_corpus/` now tracks the corpus published on
diff --git a/R/explain.R b/R/explain.R
index f7dd5b9..aedbda4 100644
--- a/R/explain.R
+++ b/R/explain.R
@@ -123,6 +123,14 @@ cog_explain <- function(result, format = c("print", "list")) {
     cli::cli_ul(.series_break_story_lines(prov$series_break_refs))
   }
 
+  # Kept in a section of its own: these qualify the whole result, so folding
+  # them in with the per-code breaks above would invite reading them as a
+  # caveat about one series.
+  if (length(prov$corpus_break_refs) > 0L) {
+    cli::cli_h2("Corpus-wide caveats")
+    cli::cli_ul(.series_break_story_lines(prov$corpus_break_refs))
+  }
+
   cli::cli_h2("Transformations")
   uc <- prov$transformations$units_conversion
   if (isTRUE(uc$applied)) {
diff --git a/R/provenance.R b/R/provenance.R
index e8c6d65..b521423 100644
--- a/R/provenance.R
+++ b/R/provenance.R
@@ -37,11 +37,20 @@
 
   schema_version <- suppressWarnings(as.integer(manifest$schema_version %||% 0L))
   con <- .uscogdata_env$con
-  break_refs <- if (!is.null(con) && DBI::dbIsValid(con)) {
+  have_con <- !is.null(con) && DBI::dbIsValid(con)
+  break_refs <- if (have_con) {
     .build_series_break_refs(con, codes_observed, years, schema_version)
   } else {
     character(0)
   }
+  # Corpus-wide caveats travel separately: they qualify the whole result
+  # rather than one series, and they do not depend on codes_observed (see
+  # .build_corpus_break_refs()).
+  corpus_refs <- if (have_con) {
+    .build_corpus_break_refs(con, years, schema_version)
+  } else {
+    character(0)
+  }
 
   list(
     verb = verb,
@@ -116,6 +125,7 @@
       )
     ),
     series_break_refs = break_refs,
+    corpus_break_refs = corpus_refs,
     manifest = list(
       schema_version = as.integer(manifest$schema_version),
       pipeline_commit = manifest$pipeline_commit %||% NA_character_,
diff --git a/R/series_breaks.R b/R/series_breaks.R
index d4f0c1c..f7ff77c 100644
--- a/R/series_breaks.R
+++ b/R/series_breaks.R
@@ -14,9 +14,41 @@
   sql <- sprintf(
     "SELECT DISTINCT break_id
      FROM series_breaks_pq
-     WHERE fin_code IN (%s) AND break_year BETWEEN %d AND %d
+     WHERE fin_code IN (%s) AND fin_code <> 'ALL'
+       AND break_year BETWEEN %d AND %d
      ORDER BY break_id",
     .sql_lit_chr(codes_observed), min(as.integer(years)), max(as.integer(years))
   )
   DBI::dbGetQuery(con, sql)$break_id
 }
+
+#' Corpus-wide caveats: catalogued breaks whose `fin_code` is the literal
+#' `"ALL"` rather than an item code. They qualify the whole result, so they
+#' cannot be matched the way `.build_series_break_refs()` matches -- no row's
+#' `item_code` is ever `"ALL"`, which is exactly why they reached no user
+#' before uscogdata#19. Selection is on the break_year window alone: which
+#' codes a result happens to contain is irrelevant to a caveat about the
+#' corpus.
+#'
+#' All four catalogued entries are *boundary* caveats (dollar precision
+#' across 1976/1977, imputation exclusion from 2002, the dense -> sparse
+#' representation change at 2012, the id scheme change at 2017), so the same
+#' `break_year BETWEEN min(years) AND max(years)` rule the code-specific
+#' path uses is the right one -- a request that never crosses the boundary
+#' is not affected by it.
+#'
+#' Returned separately from `series_break_refs` so a consumer can tell a
+#' whole-result caveat from a break in one series; the two are disjoint by
+#' construction.
+#' @noRd
+.build_corpus_break_refs <- function(con, years, schema_version) {
+  if (schema_version < 5L || length(years) == 0L) return(character(0))
+  sql <- sprintf(
+    "SELECT DISTINCT break_id
+     FROM series_breaks_pq
+     WHERE fin_code = 'ALL' AND break_year BETWEEN %d AND %d
+     ORDER BY break_id",
+    min(as.integer(years)), max(as.integer(years))
+  )
+  DBI::dbGetQuery(con, sql)$break_id
+}
diff --git a/inst/schemas/provenance-v1.json b/inst/schemas/provenance-v1.json
index d83a57b..814b29b 100644
--- a/inst/schemas/provenance-v1.json
+++ b/inst/schemas/provenance-v1.json
@@ -33,6 +33,11 @@
     "aggregate_fallback": { "type": ["object", "null"] },
     "transformations":{ "type": "object" },
     "series_break_refs": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } },
+    "corpus_break_refs": {
+      "type": "array",
+      "items": { "type": "string" },
+      "description": "Ids of catalogued series breaks whose fin_code is the literal 'ALL' -- caveats about the corpus as a whole (dollar precision across 1976/1977, imputation exclusion from 2002, the dense -> sparse representation change at 2012, the government id scheme change at 2017) rather than about one item code. Selected on the break_year window alone, so they do not depend on which codes a result contains. Disjoint from series_break_refs by construction: an entry qualifies the whole result, not one series."
+    },
     "manifest":       { "type": "object" },
     "sql_query":      { "type": "string" }
   }
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-corpus-breaks.R b/tests/testthat/test-corpus-breaks.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..01aea84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-corpus-breaks.R
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+# tests/testthat/test-corpus-breaks.R
+#
+# uscogdata#19. Four catalogued series breaks carry fin_code = "ALL" -- they
+# are caveats about the corpus itself rather than about one item code:
+#
+#   SB085  1977  dollar precision across the 1976/1977 boundary
+#   SB087  2002  imputation exclusion FY2002-2006
+#   SB194  2012  dense -> sparse representation change
+#   SB086  2017  government ID scheme change
+#
+# .build_series_break_refs() matches `fin_code IN (<codes in the result>)`,
+# and no row's item_code is ever the literal "ALL", so none of them could
+# ever reach a user. They now travel in their own provenance field,
+# `corpus_break_refs`, which keeps them distinguishable from the
+# code-specific `series_break_refs` (an ALL caveat qualifies the whole
+# result, not one series).
+
+test_that("corpus_break_refs surfaces an ALL-scoped break the year range spans", {
+  skip_if_no_corpus()
+  with_fixture_corpus({
+    # SB194 sits at FY2012 -- the dense/sparse boundary. A query spanning
+    # 2011 -> 2012 straddles it, and this is the case cog_pipeline#64's
+    # DoD 4 intended to reach users.
+    r <- cog_spending("121011212191", 2011:2012, "Police")
+    prov <- attr(r, "provenance")
+    expect_true("SB194" %in% prov$corpus_break_refs)
+  })
+})
+
+test_that("corpus_break_refs stays empty when no ALL break falls in the range", {
+  skip_if_no_corpus()
+  with_fixture_corpus({
+    # 2019-2020 spans no catalogued corpus-wide break.
+    r <- cog_spending("121011212191", 2019:2020, "Police")
+    expect_equal(attr(r, "provenance")$corpus_break_refs, character(0))
+  })
+})
+
+test_that("corpus_break_refs and series_break_refs stay disjoint", {
+  skip_if_no_corpus()
+  with_fixture_corpus({
+    r <- cog_spending("121011212191", 2011:2012, "Police")
+    prov <- attr(r, "provenance")
+    expect_type(prov$series_break_refs, "character")
+    expect_type(prov$corpus_break_refs, "character")
+    # An ALL caveat must never masquerade as a break in a specific series.
+    expect_length(intersect(prov$series_break_refs, prov$corpus_break_refs), 0L)
+    expect_false("SB194" %in% prov$series_break_refs)
+  })
+})
+
+test_that(".build_corpus_break_refs matches on the break_year window alone", {
+  skip_if_no_corpus()
+  con <- cog_open()
+  on.exit(cog_close())
+
+  # SB085's boundary is 1976/1977, outside the fixture's partitions -- the
+  # series_breaks table is a full cross-vintage registry, so the matching
+  # logic is testable there even though no long partition covers it.
+  expect_true("SB085" %in% uscogdata:::.build_corpus_break_refs(
+    con, years = 1975:1980, schema_version = 6L
+  ))
+  # ... and does not fire for a range that misses it, unlike a filter keyed
+  # on the era rather than the boundary.
+  expect_false("SB085" %in% uscogdata:::.build_corpus_break_refs(
+    con, years = 1978:1980, schema_version = 6L
+  ))
+
+  # Unlike code-specific refs, these do not depend on which codes a result
+  # happens to contain -- that dependency is the whole defect.
+  expect_setequal(
+    uscogdata:::.build_corpus_break_refs(con, years = 2001:2003, schema_version = 6L),
+    "SB087"
+  )
+
+  # Gated on schema_version >= 5: series_breaks_pq is not registered below it.
+  expect_equal(
+    uscogdata:::.build_corpus_break_refs(con, years = 2011:2012, schema_version = 4L),
+    character(0)
+  )
+})
+
+test_that("cog_explain() prints corpus-wide caveats under their own heading", {
+  skip_if_no_corpus()
+  with_fixture_corpus({
+    r <- cog_spending("121011212191", 2011:2012, "Police")
+    out <- paste(c(
+      capture.output(cog_explain(r)),
+      capture.output(cog_explain(r), type = "message")
+    ), collapse = "\n")
+    expect_match(out, "Corpus-wide caveats", fixed = TRUE)
+    expect_match(out, "SB194", fixed = TRUE)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-spending.R b/tests/testthat/test-spending.R
index 8897c50..30a9f91 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-spending.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-spending.R
@@ -321,11 +321,13 @@ test_that("provenance$series_break_refs is a populated-when-applicable character
     r <- cog_spending("121011212191", 2020L, "Corrections")
     refs <- attr(r, "provenance")$series_break_refs
     expect_type(refs, "character")
-    # No catalogued series_breaks_pq row falls inside this fixture's
-    # 2011/2012/2019/2020 window for the codes this query touches (E04/G04)
-    # -- data-verified; the mechanism itself is what's under test here, via
-    # a query-shaped unit test in test-views.R since the fixture has no
-    # positive case to pin against.
+    # No catalogued code-specific series_breaks_pq row falls inside this
+    # fixture's 2011/2012/2019/2020 window for the codes this query touches
+    # (E04/G04) -- data-verified; the mechanism itself is what's under test
+    # here, via a query-shaped unit test in test-views.R since the fixture
+    # has no positive case to pin against. Corpus-wide ("ALL") entries never
+    # appear in this field by construction -- they travel in
+    # corpus_break_refs; see test-corpus-breaks.R.
     expect_equal(refs, character(0))
   })
 })
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-views.R b/tests/testthat/test-views.R
index 3bbfb88..587a610 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-views.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-views.R
@@ -177,11 +177,13 @@ test_that("inst/sql/24- and 25- IG views retain aggregates, COALESCE NULL harmon
 })
 
 test_that(".build_series_break_refs matches fin_code + break_year window", {
-  # No series_breaks_pq row falls inside the bundled fixture's 2011-2020
-  # window (data-verified; see the "series_break_refs" test in
+  # No CODE-SPECIFIC series_breaks_pq row falls inside the bundled fixture's
+  # 2011-2020 window (data-verified; see the "series_break_refs" test in
   # test-spending.R), so this proves the matching logic itself against the
   # live view + a synthetic year window that DOES hit a cataloged break
-  # (SB075, fin_code E62, break_year 2005).
+  # (SB075, fin_code E62, break_year 2005). The corpus-wide entries are a
+  # separate path with its own coverage -- SB194 does sit at 2012, inside
+  # the fixture window; see test-corpus-breaks.R.
   skip_if_no_corpus()
   con <- cog_open()
   on.exit(cog_close())