Third-Party Inspection: What SGS/BV Actually Check at the Factory

Before paying for inspection, know the checklist: dimensions, welds, coatings, documents — four pillars, no shortcuts.

Third-party inspection by SGS, BV or the buyer's appointed agency is now standard for export projects — but many buyers don't know what is actually checked, or what the fee buys.

Inspection covers four pillars: dimensions — sampling member lengths, hole patterns and diagonals against drawing tolerances; welds — visual checks plus proportional UT sampling and welder qualification review; coatings — film thickness gauging and cross-hatch adhesion tests; documents — consistency of mill certificates, UT reports and packing lists.

Advice for buyers: write the inspection criteria into the contract annex rather than leaving it to the inspector's judgment on the day; and for key projects schedule two visits — one mid-production and one before shipment — so problems found mid-way can still be fixed.