GCCQS — Inspection
Third party · ISO/IEC 17020
Inspection is what someone reports having actually seen.
01The examination
An opinion is not an inspection.
An inspector attends on a stated date and works through a checklist agreed before the visit.
02The record
What could not be examined is written down, not passed.
Photographs, measurements, serial numbers and limitations, assembled for a reader who was not there.
A dated report, naming the inspector who stood there.
What it is
One item. One requirement. One moment.
Inspection does not assess a system or a year. It answers a narrow question about a specific item, site or consignment, at the moment it was examined, and records who examined it.
We inspect strictly as a third party. Our inspectors do not design, supply, install, repair or maintain what they inspect, and no inspector is assigned where a commercial relationship could shape the finding.
Framework followed
ISO/IEC 17020
The international standard for the operation of bodies performing inspection.
Impartiality
Independence from the parties is confirmed before an inspector mobilises.
Competence
Qualification for that equipment, process or commodity is recorded, not assumed.
Method and records
A written method, evidence retained, and a report that states its own limits.
Working to a framework is not the same as being accredited to it. Accreditation details will be published here once confirmed.
Where we are asked to go
Four sectors. The work, not the label.
Inspection is always scope-specific, so each column names what an inspector actually examines.
Industry and manufacturing
- Equipment and installation checks before commissioning
- In-process and final inspection against specification
- Witnessing of factory acceptance tests
Oil and gas
- Tanks, pipework, valves and pressure equipment during construction and shutdown
- Review of material certificates and welding documentation
- Quantity and condition at loading and discharge
Logistics and supply chain
- Pre-shipment inspection: count, condition, marking, packing
- Container and vehicle suitability checked before sealing
- Warehouse storage, segregation and handling conditions
Construction and infrastructure
- Reinforcement and concrete placement records against approved drawings
- Steelwork, services and finishes against specification
- Site safety: access, work at height, lifting, temporary works
What is included
Five things, on every assignment.
Whatever the sector and whatever the scope, an inspection from GCCQS carries all five. If one of them is missing, what you have is a visit, not an inspection.
A scope agreed in writing
What will be examined, against which specification, standard or contract clause, and what counts as conforming. Fixed before anyone travels.
A named, qualified inspector
Competence for the scope is recorded and freedom from conflict of interest confirmed before mobilisation. The inspector is named in the report.
Examination against a defined checklist
Line by line: conforming, non-conforming or not applicable. Anything that could not be examined is logged as a limitation on the day.
Photographic and documentary evidence
Dated photographs, measurements, serial numbers and copies of the certificates and records examined.
A written report
Scope, method, date, place and findings, reviewed internally before release. A certificate of inspection where the transaction calls for one.
How it runs
Request to closure, in five steps.
Nothing in the sequence depends on trust. Each step leaves a record the next one is built on.
Request and scope
You tell us the item, the place and the criteria. We put the scope, the checklist basis and the reporting format in writing, and quote against them.
Assignment
An inspector with recorded competence for the scope is assigned, and confirmed free of conflict of interest.
On site
The checklist is worked through, measurements taken, evidence photographed and limitations logged as they arise.
Reporting
Findings are written up and reviewed internally before release, with any non-conformity stated plainly.
Closure
Where non-conformities are raised, we agree what evidence closes them and by when. Closure is by document review or by a return visit.
The request
Tell us what needs looking at.
Send the item, site or consignment, the criteria that apply to it, and the window it has to be covered in. We confirm the scope, the inspector's competence for it, and availability.