Quality control
Pre-Shipment Inspection, AQL & Defects
Every serious football buyer inspects the order before releasing final payment. Here is how AQL sampling works, what counts as a major vs minor defect, and what a real pre-shipment report should contain.
AQL basics
Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) is a statistical sampling standard from ISO 2859-1. For general merchandise footballs, buyers default to AQL 2.5 on majors and 4.0 on minors. That means the batch is rejected if the sample turns up more defective units than the AQL table allows for that lot size.
Sample sizes (Level II, single sampling)
- 1,201–3,200 pcs lot → 125 pcs sample → accept ≤7 majors / ≤10 minors.
- 3,201–10,000 pcs lot → 200 pcs sample → accept ≤10 majors / ≤14 minors.
- 10,001–35,000 pcs lot → 315 pcs sample → accept ≤14 majors / ≤21 minors.
- Below 1,200 pcs — inspector samples per the ISO 2859-1 code letter.
Major vs minor defects
Majors — the ones that get the batch rejected: circumference outside spec, weight outside spec, valve leak, seam split, panel debond, wrong logo, wrong Pantone. Minors — cosmetic issues that get flagged but rarely block shipment: light print smudge, small ink dot, off-centre logo within tolerance, small scuff. Critical defects (safety, wrong product) — one is enough to reject the batch regardless of AQL.
Third-party labs
SGS, Intertek, Bureau Veritas and TUV all run football inspections in Sialkot with 48–72 h notice. Cost is roughly $250–450 per man-day. For orders above 3,000 pcs the third-party fee is a fraction of a percent of order value and worth it — the report is the paperwork trail if a chargeback dispute lands later.
Report structure to demand
- Cover page: lot ID, quantity, inspection date, inspector name & agency.
- Sample size chosen and AQL table applied.
- Physical test results (circumference, weight, sphericity, rebound) with tolerances.
- Defect counts by category (critical / major / minor) with photos.
- Verdict: PASS / FAIL / HOLD, signed by the inspector.
- Packaging & carton audit — labels, barcodes, shipping marks.