Should I approve translated factory drawings?
Yes. Approve the translated technical meaning before releasing documents for quotation or production, using a competent bilingual technical reviewer if needed. Agree terminology, units, revision status and which language governs acceptance, and require factory acknowledgement. Cambridge China Bridge can coordinate this with its staff in China.
Approve meaning before releasing the translation
Treat translation approval as a purchasing control. Mark unchecked files as drafts for discussion, with no authority to manufacture. Before release, have your technical owner approve the requirements and a bilingual reviewer check that the Chinese text expresses them accurately. If you cannot read Chinese, request a documented review and explanations of disputed terms rather than signing an unread translation.
Our product specification guide covers what to specify. This guide adds the translation release gate: record the source file, translated file, matching revision, reviewer, approver and authorised use. Ask the factory's production and quality staff to acknowledge the released pack and explain any unclear requirements before quoting or making samples.
Use a controlled technical glossary
Keep a bilingual glossary alongside the drawings. For each important term, record the intended meaning, approved translation and any drawing or photograph that clarifies it. Distinguish a requirement from a preference, and preserve prohibitions, exceptions and conditional instructions. Words such as nominal, minimum, maximum, typical and equivalent deserve explicit review.
Keep material grades, component references and standard identifiers unchanged in the controlled files; explain them alongside the identifier instead of replacing them with a local description. Ask the factory to flag unfamiliar terms and proposed equivalents. Translators should refer uncertain engineering meanings to the technical owner rather than choose what sounds natural.
Check units and measurement meaning
State the unit beside each measured requirement and declare the drawing's default units. Check decimal separators, tolerance signs, ranges and symbols against the source. Distinguish diameter from radius, mass from force, and working pressure from maximum pressure. Do not infer dimensions from the apparent scale of a translated drawing.
Avoid converting units merely to make the translation look familiar. Where conversion is necessary, identify the governing value and unit, agree rounding, and have the technical owner check the tolerance after conversion. Include the measurement location, reference surface and test condition where relevant. Use our factory measurement guide to address how the factory demonstrates the result.
Agree the language and document precedence
Put a technical acceptance instruction in the order. A possible starting point is: 'The approved English specification governs technical acceptance. The Chinese translation supports production. Report any discrepancy and obtain written clarification before making affected goods.' Use this only if it matches your agreement and the factory can work from it; obtain acknowledgement from your seller and factory.
Name the governing files and revisions, and agree precedence between drawings, written specifications and approved samples. A language clause alone cannot settle a conflict between documents. If a discrepancy appears, hold the affected work, record the agreed interpretation and update the language versions together. Follow our design revision guide for changes after release.
Release the pack used for inspection
Give production staff and inspectors the same approved pack, glossary and clarification record. Require inspection reports to identify the drawing revision and acceptance requirement used. Withdraw superseded files from shared folders and ask the factory to replace printed copies at workstations. Do not let an informal chat translation silently change an acceptance limit.
Keep production translation approval separate from customer instructions. For products within the UKCA or CE regimes placed on the Great Britain market, government guidance says instructions must be clear, legible and in easily understandable English. Check the requirements for your product separately; our supplier instructions guide covers preparing a UK manual.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use machine translation for factory drawings?
Use it to prepare a draft, then have a bilingual technical reviewer check requirements, symbols and exclusions. Release only the reviewed version, with unresolved meanings referred to your technical owner.
What if I cannot read the Chinese specification?
Appoint a competent bilingual technical reviewer. Ask for a review record and explanations of ambiguous terms. Approve the technical requirements you understand and retain the reviewed translation with them.
Should English or Chinese govern factory acceptance?
Agree this explicitly with your seller and factory. Name the governing language, files and revisions, plus document precedence. Require written clarification before affected work continues if the versions conflict.
Do translated drawings need different units?
Keep the source units where possible. If conversion is needed, identify the governing value, agree rounding and check the converted tolerance. Translation should not silently change the measurement basis.