Services

What you can ask us to record.

Four services. Each one produces a record of what was observed at a place and a time — not an opinion about what should happen next.

Factory & Supplier Verification

You have been given a company name, a quotation and a set of photographs. Before you send money, an inspector goes and looks at what is actually there.

What we record: The site and its boundaries; buildings, plant and equipment as observed; storage and cold-chain conditions where relevant; which processes are carried out in-house and which are subcontracted; whether the site corresponds to the trading name and address you were given.
What you receive: A dated written record with photographs, signed off by the inspector who attended.
What it does not cover: We do not score, rank or approve your supplier. Approval is your decision, taken against your own criteria.

Typically asked for when

Situation: A new supplier, a new product, or a first order with a party you have not met.
You supply: The name and address of the site, and what you want looked at.
Lead time: Confirmed in writing when we quote. Depends on location and on notice given.

Production Monitoring

Most disputes are settled by what was recorded while the goods were still being made. Attendance during production puts a record next to the process, not next to the argument.

What we record: The condition of the line at the time of attendance; materials and components in use; quantities produced to that point; and any deviation from the agreed specification, recorded as observed rather than as explained.
What you receive: A record for each attendance, dated and attributed.
What it does not cover: We do not instruct your supplier's staff, we do not stop or authorise production, and we do not negotiate on your behalf.

On deviations

A deviation is recorded as a fact and a photograph. It is not described as a defect, a failure or a risk — those are judgements, and the judgement is not ours to make.

Pre-Shipment Inspection, Sampling & Weighing

Examination of the finished goods before they are packed for shipment. This is the service most people mean when they say inspection, and it is the one where the method matters most.

Sampling: Piece counts are set by product category and by batch size. We do not apply one fixed number to every consignment, because that is how a sample stops representing anything. The basis actually used is stated in the report.
Weighing: Net, tare and gross weights, with the instrument used and the weighing sequence documented, so that any figure can be re-traced.
Frozen and chilled goods: Ice glaze is recorded under three separate conventions. The report states which convention was used, because a glaze percentage without its convention is a number that cannot be compared with anything.
Labels and marks: Checked against a fixed list of required items, so that the same list is applied to every consignment.
Photographs: Taken at the points the record depends on, and retained.
What you receive: The measurements, the photographs and the notes — with the sampling basis and the conventions used stated alongside them.
What it does not cover: We do not declare the goods conforming or non-conforming. That line is drawn by the criteria you supply, and we apply it as written.

Read this before you book

Sampling sizes, tolerances, glaze conventions and pass/fail lines are variables that change from consignment to consignment. We keep the value used and its basis for each job. We do not keep a standing number, and we will not invent one for you.

Container Loading Supervision

Attendance at the loading, working through a fixed ten-point list. The record it produces is usually the last independent account of the cargo before the doors are sealed.

What the ten points cover: Container number and seal number; the condition of the container on arrival; carton counts and carton condition as loaded; the loading method and the securing of the load; and temperature readings where the cargo is temperature-controlled.
What you receive: A record of the load with photographs and the seal number as observed at closing.
What it does not cover: We do not guarantee the condition of the goods on arrival, and we do not act for the carrier, the forwarder or the insurer.

Why the seal number is recorded twice

Before: The container number and its condition, before anything is loaded.
After: The seal number as fitted, photographed at closing.
Why: A single reading at one end of the load tells you nothing about what happened at the other.

The part only you can supply

Criteria are yours. We apply them as written.

These are per-consignment variables, not published standards. Send them with your enquiry — or tell us you will send them, and we will ask before we attend.

Variable	Who sets it	Why we cannot assume it
Sampling size	You	It depends on the product category and the batch size.
Weight tolerance	You	Your contract sets it, not the industry.
Glaze convention	You	Three conventions are in use; they give three different numbers.
Pass / fail line	You	We are not the party that decides what is acceptable.
Required label items	You / destination rules	The list differs by market, and it changes.
Temperature basis	You	Core temperature and store temperature are not the same measurement.

Boundaries — stated plainly

What we do not do.

An inspector who also decides the outcome is not independent. These five follow from that one sentence, and they are the reason a CCI report is worth reading.

We do not issue a pass/fail conclusion on the whole lot.
We do not guarantee customs clearance, or approval by the destination country's authorities.
We do not negotiate prices, sign contracts on your behalf, handle payment or settlement, or clear customs for you.
We do not decide whether you ship. We give you the facts; you decide.
We do not certify a factory's HACCP, BRCGS, IFS, ISO or any other certification status, and we do not restate an official certificate as a CCI finding.

Facts and measurements only. No conformity conclusion on the whole lot.

Fees

We do not publish prices, because they depend on the job.

Location, scope and the time required decide the fee. It is confirmed to you in writing before any inspection takes place. Three terms are fixed and can be relied on:

Rescheduling carries no charge, including a change made within 24 hours of the agreed date.
A call-out that has already been made, and cannot proceed — no access, no goods, no site — is chargeable.
Additional items and travel are charged at cost, and are shown as separate lines.

Send us the job and we will quote it.

Product, site, dates. That is enough to start.