Sourcing guide
AQL Inspection for Garments: A Buyers Guide to Quality Control
AQL levels, defect classes and the pre-shipment inspection process explained for buyers sourcing garments from Bangladesh, with a practical checklist.
Updated
Thats the short answer. The longer, more useful answer is what actually happens during an AQL inspection, how to read the report youre handed, and where buyers most often get quality control wrong even when they think theyve done everything right. This guide covers all three, specifically for European brands sourcing garments from Bangladesh.
Why AQL Inspection Exists
Every defect found during inspection is sorted into one of three categories, and the classification, not just the count, determines whether a batch passes:
Buyers who dont specify all three levels in writing before production often find, at inspection time, that the inspector and factory disagree on which category a given defect belongs to, a dispute thats far easier to prevent than resolve.
What Poor Quality Control Actually Costs a Brand
The Three Stages of Quality Control in Garment Sourcing
Before bulk sewing begins, fabric is checked against the approved tech pack for GSM, colour shade consistency, and flaws, and cut panels are checked against pattern measurements. Catching a fabric defect here avoids sewing hundreds of garments from flawed cloth.
How to Read an AQL Inspection Report
A proper inspection report should give you more than a pass/fail stamp. Before you approve a shipment, check that the report includes:
If a report gives you a pass/fail conclusion without the underlying data, ask for the full breakdown before you release payment, a report without photos and itemised defects isnt independently verifiable.
Where Buyers Get Quality Control Wrong
Using a Factory-Employed Inspector
A factorys own QC staff have an inherent conflict of interest in reporting their own output. Independent, third-party inspection, someone with no commercial stake in the outcome, is the only way to get a report you can trust without discounting it.
Setting No AQL Level at All
Releasing Balance Payment Before Inspection Sign-Off
Accepting a Verbal "Its Fine" Instead of a Written Report
A phone call or WhatsApp message saying goods "look good" is not an inspection report. Insist on the full documented report described above before approving shipment, every time, including on reorders of styles youve approved before.
A Practical Pre-Shipment Inspection Checklist
Before you approve any shipment, confirm: