Scissor Lift Pre-Shipment Inspection: A Buyer's Checklist and Reporting Guide

“The machine is finished. You can arrange the balance payment.”

The message comes with several photographs and a short video showing the platform going up and down.

You can see that a machine has been assembled, and that it performed at least one movement. You still do not know whether it has the batteries specified in the order, whether the required safety functions were checked, whether the agreed spares are included, or even whether the unit in the video is the one allocated to you.

A useful pre-shipment inspection compares the actual lift against the purchase requirements. It checks identity, configuration, visible assembly condition, agreed functions and accompanying items. Just as importantly, the report must distinguish what was verified, what differed from the order and what was not checked. Factory acceptance work is concerned with contract requirements, tests and documentation—not merely whether a machine will start. (SGS: Factory Acceptance Test)

This guide uses a new, self-propelled electric scissor lift as the example. It explains how an overseas buyer can arrange the inspection and what to expect from the report.

1. When should the inspection take place?

Schedule it once assembly, commissioning and the supplier's own checks are complete, but while the relevant parts of the machine are still safely accessible. Agreed accessories and documents should be ready too. There is little value in finishing the machine inspection while the spare-parts list is still being negotiated.

Build inspection, corrective work, reinspection and dispatch into the order schedule. If inspection results are to be a condition of a payment, put that in the agreement early—not when the container is already being arranged.

There are two unhelpful extremes.

Too early: the battery has not been fitted and the controls are still being adjusted. An interim visit may be worthwhile, but the report must say the machine is incomplete. It cannot be presented as final acceptance.

Too late: the machine has been packed, the collection truck is waiting, and several checks remain undone. The remedy is to revisit the shipping schedule—not to change “not tested” into “passed”.

Before the visit, confirm the test area, operators and technical staff, available battery charge, applicable manuals and any necessary tools. Specialist tests may also require agreed equipment, procedures and competent personnel. Manufacturers require inspections and function tests to be performed by appropriately qualified people using the correct manuals; the safety of the testing conditions must be assessed as well. (Genie: Inspections and Function Tests)

Agree the inspection criteria before anyone arrives

An inspector needs more than a factory address and the instruction “check the quality”.

Supply the final purchase order, agreed technical specification, approved changes, accessory and document lists, and the manuals applicable to the exact model and version. Include the supplier's factory test or inspection records where available.

For measured or functional items, agree the method, conditions and acceptance criteria beforehand. Deciding on site what lifting time is acceptable—or how much dimensional variation is allowed—invites disagreement and inconsistent results.

The inspection is judged against the contract and applicable technical and safety requirements, not the inspector's personal preferences. If the original specification is unclear or problematic, record the question and refer it to the appropriate people. Do not quietly add or remove criteria during the visit.

2. What should a scissor lift pre-shipment inspection cover?

Use the table below to define the assignment. It is a buyer's inspection framework, not a universal test procedure suitable for every make and model.

Manufacturer guidance can help define inspection points for the structure, hydraulic and electrical systems, guardrails and markings. Genie's pre-operation guidance, for example, calls attention to damage, missing items, unauthorised modifications and structural cracks. The actual check must still follow the documents for the machine being inspected. (Genie: Pre-Operation Inspections)

A long checklist is not evidence that every entry received a thorough inspection. Several details make a substantial difference to the quality of the report.

Tie every finding to an identifiable machine

For an order of one or a few lifts, check each machine's identity and configuration and arrange the agreed function tests for each unit.

If sampling is agreed, state the total order quantity, the number available at the site, the number inspected and the serial numbers selected. Testing one unit does not justify marking every machine in the shipment “functionally satisfactory”.

Photographs and videos should also be traceable. Identify the unit before showing the check; otherwise you may later have no way to establish which machine a recording relates to.

Same model and same paint colour are not enough.

Verify what is fitted, not only what appears on the quotation

Where it is safe and practical, read the installed battery, charger and key-component labels. If a label is inaccessible, a cover cannot safely be removed, or identification would require disassembly outside the agreed scope, record the limitation. Do not turn the supplier's verbal description into an observation of the actual machine.

If a component model has changed, request the proposed change and supporting information in writing and refer it to the buyer for treatment under the order. “It's an upgrade” is not, by itself, acceptance.

Battery substitutions deserve particular care. On some scissor lifts, batteries also form part of the counterweight system and manufacturers specify their weight and other characteristics. A change of battery may therefore affect machine requirements, not merely purchase cost or capacity. (Genie operator manual)

Describe visible defects precisely

“Average welding”, “some oil leakage” and “build quality looks fine” do not make useful inspection records.

Locate the observation. For example: oil residue at a particular fitting after operation; a missing fastener at a guardrail connection; a suspected crack at an identified point on the structure. Include photographs that show both the detail and its position on the machine.

A visual inspection must not be reported as proof that the internal quality of every weld is acceptable. Weld assessment methods include visual examination, ultrasonic and radiographic testing, as well as mechanical tests, and they answer different questions. If specialist testing is required, define the method, scope and qualified personnel separately. A close-up photograph does not perform that work. (ATS: Visual Weld Inspections)

The inspection itself must also be safe. Where access under a raised platform is necessary, follow the model-specific provisions for safety supports. Do not enter an inadequately secured scissor mechanism merely to obtain a better photograph. (Genie operator manual)

3. A lift that goes up and down has not completed its function tests

Function checks should follow the procedure for the exact model. One continuous demonstration video is not a substitute for individual tests.

Genie's published scissor-lift guidance, for instance, distinguishes checks of ground and platform controls, emergency stop, emergency lowering, steering, driving and braking, as well as tilt sensing, elevated travel speed and pothole protection. Some items depend on equipment configuration. The procedure and expected response must always come from the applicable operator or service instructions. (Genie: Function Tests)

Three distinctions are especially important.

Normal operation is not evidence that protective functions work

A successful lift cycle does not demonstrate that the emergency stop works. Normal lowering is not proof of emergency lowering.

Give each required function its own entry. Record the procedure used and what the machine actually did. If a test was not performed, mark it as such; do not infer a pass from an unrelated movement.

Safety devices must not be bridged or defeated to create a convenient demonstration. Manufacturer instructions prohibit unauthorised changes or disablement of safety-related switches and other components. (Genie operator manual)

An unloaded run is not a load-performance test

An unloaded lift cycle establishes what happened during that unloaded cycle—nothing more.

If the order calls for verification under a defined load, agree the applicable procedure, load distribution, measurements and acceptance limits in advance. Have the work performed by competent personnel. Do not improvise a test by adding weight during an ordinary demonstration and declaring the lift satisfactory because it still moves.

When the factory provides a load-test record, establish whether it is a historical or supplier-generated record, or a test performed on the identified machine and actually witnessed by the inspector on the inspection date.

Both may be relevant. They must not be presented as though they are the same evidence. Professional factory acceptance services likewise distinguish carrying out a test from witnessing one on the buyer's behalf. (SGS: Factory Acceptance Test)

Charging is not the same as validating battery runtime

A charger that starts and a machine that completes several movements have not demonstrated a full working day's battery endurance.

Similarly, reading the amp-hour value on a battery label confirms the stated configuration; it does not measure the battery's actual available capacity.

If runtime is a material part of the purchase commitment, agree a repeatable duty cycle and test plan. If no endurance test is performed, a precise report might say “charging function checked; operating endurance not tested”, not simply “battery normal”.

The conclusion should go no further than the evidence.

4. What should a useful inspection report look like?

After reading it, the buyer should be able to answer four questions:

Which machine was inspected? Against which requirements? What was found? What remains unresolved?

The front page should identify the order, model, serial number, date, location, inspector and versions of the reference documents. The body should connect each item checked with its method or information source, observed result and supporting evidence reference.

These identifiers are not administrative decoration. Genie's pre-delivery preparation records also call for model, serial number, date and inspector details, and distinguish acceptable condition from cases requiring the machine to be taken out of service or repaired. (Genie: Pre-Delivery Preparation Record)

Use more than “pass” and “fail”

A practical set of report statuses is:

Conforms; deviation found; not inspected/not tested; corrected—retest pending; not applicable.

“Not applicable” needs an explanation—for example, a function that does not exist on that model. If a test was skipped because no suitable equipment, conditions or time were available, it remains incomplete. It is not “not applicable”.

Keep measured values separate from information copied from documents. If the report quotes overall width from a brochure, name the source. Use “measured” only if a measurement was actually taken, with the method recorded.

The following entries are fictional examples, not findings from an actual order:

This is more useful than a report that says only “overall condition good”. The buyer should not have to guess whether an unmentioned item was satisfactory or simply never examined.

Photographs and videos should support specific findings

Retain the original files and organise them by serial number, inspection item and issue reference.

A function-test video should show enough of the operation and response to make the result intelligible. A defect photograph should include both the detail and a wider view that locates it. A close-up of one drop of oil does not identify which lift—or which fitting—it came from.

An inspector's on-site observation, a live remote viewing and a supplier video reviewed later are three different sources of evidence. Label them accordingly.

An inspection report does not need to resemble a marketing brochure. It needs to let a reader trace each important conclusion back to something recorded.

5. What happens when the inspection finds a problem?

Start by separating the nature of the issue from the commercial response.

If a safety function behaves abnormally, a structural concern is identified, or another condition may affect safe operation, stop the relevant testing and refer the machine to competent technical personnel. Manufacturer guidance requires faulty equipment to be removed from service, repaired by qualified personnel and checked again before use. (Genie: Inspections and Function Tests)

A safety-critical finding should not be treated as an ordinary cosmetic defect that can be overlooked in exchange for a discount.

For appearance or commercial-configuration deviations that do not involve safety or mandatory compliance, the parties may consider rework, replacement or written acceptance by the person authorised to make that decision under the contract. The inspector records evidence and observations; the inspector should not silently accept changes on the buyer's behalf.

“Fixed” should be followed by evidence of reinspection

Give each issue a stable reference number. Keep the original finding, supplier action, required recheck, result and responsible party together.

If the original concern appeared while the machine was running, a still photograph after repairs does not reproduce the original test conditions. The necessary reinspection should be determined from the issue and applicable technical requirements.

A final report can mark an issue closed, but should preserve the initial record. Do not rewrite the history to make it look as though no defect was ever found.

If the supplier subsequently changes batteries, modifies controls or alters another key configuration after the inspection, assess which findings remain valid and which need to be checked again. An inspection records the condition of a machine at the time it was examined. It is not advance approval of later changes.

Payment or dispatch release should follow the agreed contractual process and be confirmed by the authorised decision-maker. Receiving an inspection report does not, by itself, mean every delivery condition has been satisfied.

6. Pre-shipment inspection is not the same as loading supervision

These are separate services with different scopes. SGS's inspection service descriptions likewise treat loading supervision as a distinct activity, including checks intended to help establish that the goods shipped correspond to the goods previously inspected. (SGS: Inspection Services)

During inspection, prepare a delivery-identification list: serial number for each machine, each accessory and spare-parts item, quantities, and the package in which each item is intended to travel.

At loading, check against that list again. Record which machines and packages were actually loaded, their visible condition and, where applicable, container and seal details. Securing and transport preparation must be performed by the responsible personnel in accordance with the equipment's transport instructions and the agreed shipping arrangement.

Do not report events that have not yet occurred as completed checks.

If the container has not been packed, the pre-shipment inspector cannot certify which container the machine ultimately went into. Spare parts standing beside the lift are not the same as spare parts shipped with it.

Likewise, the source of package counts, dimensions and weights on a packing list should be clear. A machine's catalogue net weight cannot simply be copied as the gross shipment weight once packaging and accessories are included.

You do not need to repeat the entire inspection at loading. You do need a traceable link between the machine inspected and the goods dispatched.

7. Inspection preparation notice: a template for the supplier

A good inspection report does not have to say “passed” in every row.

It may confirm the configuration of one machine, identify a safety-function test still to be completed, and show that several spares have not yet been packed. That is not a less valuable report because it looks less tidy. It gives the buyer something concrete to decide on.

While a machine is still at the factory, a problem can often be located, discussed and corrected before the distance and cost of dealing with it increase. That is what a well-defined pre-shipment inspection is for.

Your scissor lift is nearing completion and you need an independent delivery check?

Send Levantis the final quotation, configuration list, quantity, factory location and expected completion date. We can help define the inspection scope, organise the findings and follow through on outstanding issues and dispatch checks.

This article is intended to help buyers plan inspections. It does not replace model-specific inspection procedures, product conformity assessment, operator training or checks required before the machine is used after arrival. Technical testing must be undertaken by competent personnel under the applicable requirements.