Quality Agreement and Spec Sheet for China

Last fact-checked: November 10, 2026.

A signed specification, a marked approved sample, and a quality agreement are three papers. A chat that says "OK" is none of them. NIST calls quality control that part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements. The requirement has to exist before anyone can fulfill it. Article 615 of the Civil Code's English text, checked November 10, 2026, says the seller delivers to the quality the parties agreed, and to the quality specification the seller provided. Article 470 lists quality as a usual contract clause. Article 596 says a sales contract generally includes the standard and method of inspection. This page is those measurements. It is not a template you can download and call official.

A handle color that was approved in a chat

A buyer receives a phone photo of a tool handle and replies "OK." The signed sample, still in a drawer, is a different cream. Mass production follows the phone. At inspection the handles match the photo and miss the sample. The supplier points at the message. Article 615 points at the quality that was agreed. If the agreed file is the sample, the message did not replace it unless you wrote that change into the file. No price is attached to the handle.

What the three papers do

Write defect classes as observations, not as moods. "The hinge rocks when closed" can be checked. "Poor quality" cannot. If color is judged by eye, say under what light and against which sample, and say who is in the room when you disagree. A tolerance you cannot measure will be re-argued on every lot. The visit that uses the file is either during production or pre-shipment, which is the inspection timing page. If you name a sampling standard, the BSI catalogue lists BS ISO 2859-1:2026, published 31 January 2026, checked November 10, 2026. Name the edition, the sample size, and the accept and reject numbers in the agreement. This page does not invent them. How a limit becomes a sample size is the AQL page. The fields you should have asked for in the first place are an RFQ.

Fields worth writing before the line starts

• Measurements, with the unit and the method, not "about right."
• Material by a name both sides mean, tied to the sample if the name is ambiguous.
• Color against the approved sample, including what "a little off" is not allowed to mean.
• Packing, marks, and the carton. The packing list will repeat the count. It should not invent the pack.
• Defect classes you will use: what is critical, what is major, what you will live with. Write them as things that can be seen or measured.
• Who may visit, and whether a fail holds the balance.

When a thickness or a color changes, give the file a new date and say what changed. Both sides sign that version before the line uses it. Retire the old sample so an inspector cannot pick it up by habit. A chat "OK" on the new photo does not retire the old sample.

Read the specification out loud against the sample before anyone signs. If a sentence cannot be checked on the sample, rewrite the sentence or drop it. A file full of unchecked sentences will be quoted back at you later as if those sentences had been tested. Number the pages and the version in the corner, so "the spec" is not three files with the same title. Put the version on the sample tag as well, or the drawer and the file will drift apart. Do both.

Pitfalls

• Letting a chat approval outrank a marked sample.
• Writing "A-grade" and discovering, at the warehouse, that nobody defined it.
• Changing the spec and leaving the old version in the inspector's folder.
• Copying another brand's internal manual and calling it the standard. It is not.
• Putting AQL numbers in the file that nobody took from the standard you named.

Attach the spec, or say that you need help writing one, on the RFQ. The worksheet list on the site is the quality control checklist. The visit is quality-control inspection. Getting the sample made is sample development.

Frequently asked questions

Is a signed spec the contract?

It is the quality the contract should point to. Article 470 and Article 596 put quality and the inspection method among the clauses a contract generally contains. The price, the parties, and the dispute path stay on the purchase-contract page. Keep them as one deal with a schedule, not as two stories.

Can we approve the sample in WeChat?

Article 469 says a reproducible data message can be a writing. You may still lose the argument about which photo was the sample. Mark a physical sample, record the date, and have both sides sign the version. Use the chat to send the file, not to replace it.

What if the goods arrive off spec?

Open the version they were supposed to build, the inspection report that used those measurements, and Articles 617 and 621 for default and notice. The conversation about repair or a hold comes after that. The claims page is the evidence order. It does not guarantee a result.

The check that follows this one is Third-Party Inspection in China, a factory audit before the first order, product testing and compliance, and tracking production.

Official sources

• Civil Code, English attachment, Articles 469, 470, 596, and 615. Checked November 10, 2026. The Chinese text prevails.
• NIST glossary, quality control. Lexicon date June 12, 2023. Checked November 10, 2026.
• BSI, BS ISO 2859-1:2026, catalogue date 31 January 2026. Checked November 10, 2026. No acceptance number is copied here.

This is not a signable quality agreement and not legal advice.