Compare imported machine and installation quotes
Compare the cost of reaching the same site acceptance result, then separate the customs calculation from the payment schedule. Support any installation deduction with an agreed breakdown and work scope; an unpaid equipment balance still belongs in the total paid or payable. Ask Cambridge China Bridge to review the quotations.
Compare the same accepted result
A bundled machine price and an equipment-only quote are comparable only when they cover the same working result at your site. Match the machine specification, accessories, delivery point, unloading, positioning, connections, commissioning, training and acceptance test. Use the supplier quote comparison guide for the general comparison process. For appliances, see comparing China and UK appliance energy consumption.
Build a project total for each offer, including separately purchased installation and any buyer-supplied site work. Keep unresolved costs marked as unconfirmed. Record who fixes a failed commissioning test, who pays for another visit and who coordinates the factory with the UK installer.
Make the installation split traceable
Before ordering, ask the bundled supplier for an agreed equipment price and a separately identified UK work charge. Describe the work, site, provider, deliverables and exclusions in an attached schedule. Match that schedule to the quotation, order and invoice rather than relying on a verbal estimate.
Use the existing customs value guide to prepare questions for your customs agent about whether separately shown charges for construction, assembly or maintenance after import can be excluded from customs value. For the comparison, identify those activities individually. Ask your customs agent to assess commissioning, training and mixed service charges against their actual scope; do not assume every line labelled installation qualifies.
Keep project cost and customs value separate
Keep the UK installation cost in your project budget even where it is excluded from customs value. Maintain a separate valuation worksheet showing the goods price, relevant additions and proposed exclusions. Give your customs agent the underlying documents, including the separate installer quotation where applicable.
A separate installation invoice is useful evidence of scope, but the payment date does not establish what the payment buys. Factory manufacture and UK site work should remain identifiable throughout the paperwork. Use the landed-price guide for the wider cost layers, and ask your adviser to show VAT separately in the comparison.
Link payments to evidence of acceptance
Propose payment milestones tied to agreed evidence: factory test results for shipment approval, completion records for installation, and a signed site test for final acceptance. State the test material, operating conditions, required result, signatory and process for recording defects. The installation and commissioning guide covers planning the site work.
HMRC bases customs value on the total payment made or to be made for the imported goods. Holding an equipment balance until acceptance does not, by itself, remove it from that total. Distinguish a fixed price with delayed payment from a clause that can change the equipment price after testing; send the latter to your customs agent before shipment.
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Resolve gaps before choosing the offer
Request a comparison pack containing the accepted specification, scope breakdown, installation quotation, payment milestones and draft acceptance record. Check that the component charges reconcile to the bundled total and that each payment has an identifiable purpose. Ask the customs agent to record the proposed valuation treatment and any unresolved questions before the declaration is prepared.
Choose after comparing the complete project cost, responsibility for failures and evidence available at each payment gate. Cambridge China Bridge can review the factory-side quotation and test evidence with its own staff in China, while you confirm the UK installer’s scope and the customs treatment with the relevant advisers.
Frequently asked questions
Is a bundled machine quote cheaper than separate installation?
Only a comparison of the same accepted site result can tell you. Add missing installation, site preparation and return visits, and resolve exclusions before choosing.
Can I deduct UK installation from customs value?
Ask your customs agent whether separately shown post-import construction, assembly or maintenance charges can be excluded. Give them the agreed breakdown and scope; ask them to assess other service charges individually.
Do I declare only the machine deposit already paid?
No. HMRC uses the total payment made or to be made for the imported goods. A fixed equipment balance held until site acceptance is not excluded simply because it remains unpaid.
What should release the final machine payment?
Agree a documented site acceptance test, the authorised signatory and how defects trigger correction and retesting. Identify whether the retained payment buys equipment, installation or both.