Quality
Pre-shipment inspection of a bronze order from Vietnam
How to run a pre-shipment inspection on a bronze order from Vietnam: when to book it, AQL sample sizes, tolerances and the checks that matter.
Book the inspection in the last week of the casting run — day 21 to 27 of a 21–30 day order — after the patina is finished and before a single carton is taped shut. The inspector measures height against the approved sample, weighs a full set, checks wall thickness at the rim and at the load-bearing points, and confirms set proportion. On hand-cast bronze, 1–3 cm of variation is normal and over 5 cm is a defect. Here is how we run it.
When to book it
A bronze order here takes 21 to 30 days from deposit to packed cartons. Booking an inspector for “the end” is too vague — a day either side changes what can still be verified, and what can still be fixed without re-casting.
| Stage | Day of run | Still checkable | Still fixable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mould and wax | 1–6 | Drawings, approved sample | Everything |
| Pouring | 6–15 | Raw castings, wall thickness, porosity | Re-cast the piece |
| Chasing and polishing | 14–22 | Seams, chasing depth, dimensions | Re-work by hand |
| Patina and lacquer | 19–27 | Colour against sample, coverage | Strip and re-do finish |
| Packing | 25–30 | Cartons, marks, drop test | Re-pack only |
The useful window is day 21–27: the finish is on, so the inspector judges the real product, and there is still room to re-work a piece without moving the sailing date. If you inspect on day 29 you are only inspecting cardboard.
What counts as a defect on hand-cast bronze
Sand-cast bronze finished by hand does not hold machine tolerance, and any supplier who tells you it does is either machining or importing. We publish the numbers we hold ourselves, and we want your inspector to hold us to them.
| Check point | Accept | Query | Reject |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall height vs approved sample | within 1–3 cm | 3–5 cm | over 5 cm |
| Wall thickness, body | 5 mm | 4.5–5 mm | under 4.5 mm |
| Wall at base, handles, lid knob | 8 mm | 7–8 mm | under 7 mm |
| Weight, size-65 five-piece set | 36 kg ±5% | ±5–8% | over ±8% |
| Crane height above the burner | 5–7 cm | 4–5 / 7–9 cm | outside 4–9 cm |
| Candlestick height below the burner | 12–15 cm | 10–12 cm | under 10 cm |
| Incense bowl height | about 1/3 of burner height | 1/4 – 1/3 | under 1/4 |
| Porosity pinholes on a show face | none over 1 mm | 1–2 mm | over 2 mm |
Note that a nominal “size 60” burner measures about 57 cm in reality — the size name is a traditional trade size, not a measurement. Your inspector should measure against the approved sample, never against the size name. The full dimension and weight tables are on our specifications page.
How many pieces your inspector should open
Most buyers of decorative bronze use ISO 2859-1 / ANSI Z1.4, general inspection level II, at AQL 2.5 for major defects and 4.0 for minor. On a mixed order, treat each item code as its own lot rather than sampling the container as one.
| Lot size (pcs) | Sample | Accept / reject, major (2.5) | Accept / reject, minor (4.0) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26–50 | 8 | 0 / 1 | 1 / 2 |
| 51–90 | 13 | 1 / 2 | 1 / 2 |
| 91–150 | 20 | 1 / 2 | 2 / 3 |
| 151–280 | 32 | 2 / 3 | 3 / 4 |
| 281–500 | 50 | 3 / 4 | 5 / 6 |
| 501–1200 | 80 | 5 / 6 | 7 / 8 |
One warning about AQL on this product: a five-piece altar set is one saleable unit, not five. Count sets, open all five pieces of each sampled set, and judge the set as failed if any piece in it fails. Buyers who count pieces end up shipping sets whose crane and candlesticks came off different batches and no longer match in tone.
The fourteen points we check before your inspector arrives
Our own foreman runs this list on every order. Give it to your inspection agent so both sides are checking the same thing:
- Height, width and base diameter of every sampled piece against the approved sample.
- Wall thickness at the rim, measured with a gauge, not by feel.
- Wall thickness at base, handles and lid knob.
- Weight of one complete set on a calibrated scale.
- Crane, candlestick and bowl proportion within the set.
- Tone match across the pieces of one set, viewed together under daylight.
- Patina colour against the retained reference piece.
- Lacquer coverage in the recesses, where thin coats fail first.
- Chasing depth and symmetry on the decorated faces.
- Seam and joint lines dressed flat, no proud edges.
- Base sits flat on a level surface with no rocking.
- Moving parts — lids, removable knobs — seat without forcing.
- Carton marks, item codes and quantities against the packing list.
- One sealed carton dropped from 80 cm on a corner, then opened and re-checked.
We hold no ISO, BSCI or SEDEX certificate
We say this on every page and we will say it here: this is a village foundry in Dong Quy, Nam Truc, Nam Dinh. We have no ISO, BSCI or SEDEX audit. If your buying policy requires an audited factory, we are not the right supplier and you should not spend time on us.
What we offer instead is verification you run yourself. Book any third-party agency you already use, or send your own person — we open the workshop, and the three showrooms in Nam Dinh, Hanoi and Hai Phong hold finished reference pieces you can measure against on the same trip. The commercial framework for all of this sits on our trade terms page.
What happens when a lot fails
Nobody plans for this, so agree it in writing before the deposit rather than after the report lands:
- Re-work: for finish, chasing and tone failures, we re-work in place. Allow 3–6 days; nothing is re-cast.
- Re-cast: for wall thickness, porosity or over-5 cm dimension failures, the piece goes back to the mould. Allow 12–18 days on that item only.
- Partial ship: the passed item codes sail on schedule, the failed codes follow in the next consolidation. Most buyers prefer this to holding a full container.
- Re-inspection: the second visit is at our cost when the first failed on our workmanship. Put that sentence in the purchase order.
More of this kind of detail — tolerances, packing, documents — is collected in our importer guides.
Frequently asked questions
Can I inspect before paying the balance?
Yes. The normal sequence is deposit, casting, inspection in the day 21–27 window, then balance against the inspection report and photographs of the loaded cartons. We do not release cargo documents before the balance clears.
Do you allow third-party agencies into the workshop?
Yes, with two working days’ notice so the order is staged for them rather than half-packed. Bring your own gauges and scale if you want independent readings — we will not argue with a calibrated instrument.
What if I cannot send anyone to Vietnam?
Tell us and we run the fourteen-point list ourselves and send photographs and measurements piece by piece, plus a short video of the drop test and the final packing. It is not a substitute for an independent inspector and we will not pretend it is.
Is a 3 cm height difference really acceptable?
On hand-finished sand-cast bronze, yes — 1–3 cm across a batch is the honest number, and it is why two burners from the same mould never weigh exactly the same. Over 5 cm is our own reject line. A supplier quoting ±2 mm on this product is not casting it by hand.
How early should the inspection be booked?
Book the agency slot when you approve the sample, at the start of the run, and confirm the exact date around day 15 once pouring is done. Agency calendars in Nam Dinh and Hai Phong tighten before Tet and before the autumn sailing peak.
Send us the item codes and quantities you are considering and we will come back with a quotation, the tolerance sheet for those pieces and the realistic inspection window for your order. Quotations go out within two working days. Use the request a quote form, or message us on WhatsApp or Zalo at +84 926 199 999.