Testing and inspection: one provider or separate?

Choose by technical scope

A factory audit examines production capability; an order inspection checks the goods; laboratory testing investigates specified properties of submitted samples. Define which questions you need answered before comparing providers. Our factory audit and inspection report guide explains the report boundaries.

Accreditation provides assurance of competence for activities such as testing and inspection. Ask each bidder to identify the laboratory site, test methods, inspection team and relevant accreditation scope. A shared brand should not replace this check. Ask which work is subcontracted and who reviews the results.

Compare the working arrangements

Choose the arrangement that covers your technical brief and gives you a workable route for resolving failures. Separate specialists can still work through a shared coordinator; a combined provider can still involve external laboratories.

Keep judgement independent

Separate invoices do not establish independent judgement. Ask about commercial relationships with the factory, who appoints the inspector and whether anyone earns a referral fee. For a combined provider, ask whether sales staff can alter technical conclusions and how you can raise a disputed result directly with the technical reviewer.

Keep authority to accept deviations with the buyer. Arrange for failures and limitations to reach you directly, without waiting for the factory or coordinator to approve disclosure. Our inspection company selection guide covers inspector selection and factory pressure.

Connect the sample to the inspected batch

Agree whether testing will use a development sample or a sample selected from the production batch. Ask the laboratory to confirm sample suitability before the inspector visits. Record the product revision, batch identity, selection photographs, seals, dispatch details and receipt condition. Arrange retained samples where useful, and agree what happens if testing consumes or damages them.

For a combined provider, request evidence of internal handovers. With separate specialists, have the laboratory confirm receipt against the inspector's selection record and flag discrepancies before testing. Follow our laboratory sample handover guide for the detailed record. Neither arrangement resolves a sample substitution without traceable evidence.

Agree report access and total coordination costs

Specify the buyer as a report recipient. Agree ownership or licensed use, permission to share with advisers and customers, access after the appointment ends, and who can authorise amendments. Request complete original reports alongside any summary. Use our test report verification guide to check identity and scope.

Compare quotations against the same brief, including sample collection, courier handling, subcontracting, interpretation, repeat visits, retesting and your staff's coordination time. Name who reconciles conflicting findings, who confirms corrective work and who authorises shipment. A passing inspection should not override an unresolved laboratory failure.

Cambridge China Bridge's staff in China can coordinate factory access, sample collection and follow-up with your appointed specialists. Our charging approach is: factory audits and inspections are usually included in the quote; complex checks that need a third party are charged separately and agreed in advance.