Report template
Pre-shipment inspection report template
Linkora Source publishes its pre-shipment inspection report template in full: the sections, every field name and the filling rules an inspector works to. What follows is the blank template used on our own inspections, not a client report, and no client report is published on this site. Read it to see what a report will contain before you book one.
Updated 8 September 2026
Download the template
This is the blank template, not a client report. No client report is published on this site, and nothing on this page describes an inspection we have carried out. Every value below is a field to be filled in on the day. What a finished report actually contains depends on the scope agreed beforehand, the product, and the access available at the time of the visit.
The template, section by section
Eight sections in this order. An inspection report is read backwards by most buyers, from the recommendation to the evidence behind it, so each section has to hold up when it is read on its own.
0
Cover
The cover carries the identifiers a report needs before anyone reads a single finding: which report this is, which type of inspection it records, the two dates that matter, the overall result, and who did the work and who reviewed it. Two dates rather than one, because the day of the visit and the day the report was written are different facts.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Report no. | LS-INS-[YYYYMMDD]-[sequence] |
| Inspection type | Pre-shipment inspection |
| Inspection date | The day of the on-site work |
| Report date | Within 48 hours of the on-site work finishing |
| Overall result | Pass / Fail / Pending buyer decision |
| Inspector | The inspector's name |
| Reviewed by | The reviewer's name. The person who inspected is not the person who signs off |
| Statement | The scope and confidentiality statement that governs the report |
1
Scope and reference
Section 1 records what the inspection was measured against. A finding only means something if the standard behind it is written down, so the reference documents, the checks agreed in advance and, just as importantly, what was placed outside the scope are all named here before any observation is recorded.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Client | The company commissioning the inspection |
| Purchase order | The PO number the goods were made against |
| Product | Name, model, colour |
| Order quantity | Quantity and unit |
| Supplier | Name, or an anonymised reference such as Factory A (Zhejiang) |
| Location | City and province |
| Reference documents | Specification version, approved-sample number and the date it was sealed, packaging requirement, labelling requirement — one line each, and where there is none, the line reads none rather than being deleted |
| Agreed checks | Drawn from the specification and the buyer's quality-critical points |
| Out of scope | For example laboratory testing, functional life, compliance certification |
2
Supplier and site
Section 2 describes the visit rather than the goods: when the inspector arrived and left, who accompanied them, how much of the order was finished, packed or not yet made, and how the goods were being stored at the time. Storage and production status are what tell you whether the inspection happened early enough to be worth anything.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Time on site | Arrival and departure |
| Factory contact | Job title, not a personal name |
| Production status | Finished [n] / packed [n] / awaiting packing [n] / not yet produced [n] |
| Storage condition | Warehouse, workshop floor or pallets; damp protection and stacking height |
| Site observations | Anything seen that bears on this order, such as a rework area or a risk of goods being mixed |
3
Quantity and sampling
Section 3 makes the statistical basis of the result visible. Sample size, inspection level and the accept and reject numbers are recorded rather than argued about afterwards, and the cartons the samples came from are listed by carton number so the draw can be repeated by someone else.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Quantity presented | [n] pieces, and what percentage of the order that is |
| Sampling standard | ANSI/ASQ Z1.4, general inspection level II, normal inspection |
| AQL | Critical 0 / major 2.5 / minor 4.0 |
| Sample size | [n] pieces drawn from [k] cartons, with the carton numbers listed |
| Ac / Re | Critical [0/1], major [Ac/Re], minor [Ac/Re] |
| Carton selection | How the cartons were chosen at random |
4
Product and packaging checks
Section 4 is where the checking is written down, split into five tables so that a workmanship judgement is never confused with a measurement and a measurement is never confused with a test. Each table carries the standard the check was made against, the number of pieces examined, and the resulting verdict.
| # | Check | Standard | Sample size | Finding | Result |
|---|
One numbered row per check, 4.1.1 onward. The finding reads either as a description or as no issue found; the result is pass or fail.
| Item | Specification | Tolerance | Readings (5 pieces or more) | Minimum | Maximum | Result |
|---|
One row per dimension, weight or capacity. Individual readings are written out; a single averaged figure hides the spread that matters.
| Test | Method | Sample size | Outcome | Result |
|---|
For example: filled with water for 30 minutes without leaking, opened and closed 100 times, one 80 cm drop. The method is written out so the test can be repeated.
| Item | Approved sample | Production goods | Same / deviation |
|---|
Colour, material feel, logo position and accessories, compared item by item against the sealed sample.
| Item | Requirement | Actual | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inner packaging | — | — | — |
| Carton size and material | — | — | — |
| Pieces per carton and gross / net weight (actually weighed) | As specified | Weighed on at least 3 cartons | — |
| Shipping marks | — | — | — |
| Barcode scan | The code required | The scan result | — |
| Destination labelling requirements | For example country of origin, warning wording | — | — |
5
Photo evidence and finding log
Section 5 is the part a buyer reads first when something is wrong. Every finding carries a severity, a location, a count, the clause it breaches and a photo number. The log is shown to the factory on site and signed there, and the AQL summary then shows how the overall verdict was arrived at.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| 5.1a Signed by factory representative | Job title and date of signature, signed on the printed finding log, photographed and filed under a photo number |
| 5.1a Factory comments | The factory's own words, not rewritten. Where there are none, the field reads none |
| # | Severity | Description | Location | Pieces / sample size | Standard breached | Photo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F-01 | Critical / major / minor | — | — | — | The specification clause | P-xx |
Findings are numbered F-01 upward, and each one points at the clause it breaches and at a photograph.
| Category | Findings | Accept number | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Critical | — | 0 | — |
| Major | — | — | — |
| Minor | — | — | — |
| No. | Content | Time |
|---|---|---|
| P-01 | Overview of the goods | — |
| P-02 | The cartons selected, and the shipping marks | — |
Numbering continues in the order set by the photo list agreed for the job.
The finding log is shown to the factory on site and signed there, and the signature page goes into the photo index. A signature does not mean the factory has agreed to rework anything. It means the log records what both parties saw on the day, which is what stops a finding becoming a matter of opinion a week later.
6
Recommendation and buyer decision
Section 6 turns findings into a decision. The basis of the result, the open issues, the recommendation, the assumptions the report rests on, and the decisions the buyer has to make — each with a deadline and the consequence of not deciding — are written out, and the buyer's answer is recorded back into the report afterwards.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Basis of result | The AQL summary and the critical items it rests on |
| Open issues | One line each, pointing at the finding numbers |
| Recommendation | Release / rework and re-inspect / accept by concession, with the conditions stated / reject |
| Buyer decisions required | What has to be decided, by when, and what happens if it is not decided |
| Assumptions | What the report depends on, for example that specification v2 supplied by the factory is the current one |
| Next steps | Who, what, when |
| Buyer decision (recorded) | The buyer's written decision and its date, filled in afterwards |
7
Filling rules
The rules below are what keep the template honest, and they are the part most worth comparing against anybody else's report. They govern what may be written in a field, what happens to a check that was not carried out, and when the report has to be delivered.
- All quantities, weights and dimensions are the measured values. The word approximately is not used.
- A check that was not carried out is recorded as not checked, out of scope. The row is not deleted.
- Every finding must carry a photo number. A finding with no photograph is not written into the report.
- A verdict is given only against the agreed standard. Anything the standard does not cover is recorded as an observation, not as a failure.
- The report is delivered within 48 hours of the on-site work finishing, which is the same commitment published on our pricing page.
What this template is not
A report is only as good as the things it refuses to claim. These limits are built into the template rather than added as a footnote, and they are the reason some fields exist at all.
- This is the blank template. It is not a client report, and no client report is published on this site.
- A finding without a photograph is not recorded, so the report does not contain assertions you have no way to check.
- A check that was not carried out is written down as not checked, out of scope rather than left blank, so the report cannot imply a coverage it does not have.
- A verdict is given only against the agreed written standard. A sample-based inspection does not decide whether your product is safe, legal or certified for your market.
- Laboratory testing is not part of an inspection. We can draw and seal samples under observation, but the laboratory is engaged by you directly and reports to you.
Once more, because it matters
Everything above is the blank template we work to. It is not a client report, and no client report is published on this site — a report belongs to the buyer who paid for it, and the factory named in it did not agree to be named on a website. What we can publish is the method, which is the part you are actually buying.
Download the templateRelated
Report structure
Why a report should make the next decision clearer.
Quality inspection
What is checked, and what is agreed before the visit.
Factory audit report template
The other template we work to, published the same way.
Factory audit vs inspection
Which question each one answers, and when.
When an inspection fails
What to do with the report once it says no.
Pricing
USD 99 per man-day, report within 48 hours of the on-site work.
Want this filled in for your order?
Tell us the product, the quantity and the factory's location, and we will confirm the sample size, the checks and whether an inspection is the right thing to book at all. Inspection is USD 99 per man-day; the report reaches you within 48 hours of the on-site work finishing.
Discuss an inspection scope