The inspection is the moment the commission changes hands. Once the sign-off report is signed with no reservations, risk passes to the hotelier, the right to final payment matures, and only defects that weren’t recognisable at the time of checking remain open to dispute. That’s why the signature doesn’t go at the end of a day of fitting, with the lights off and the supplier’s lorry double-parked outside. It goes on after an unhurried walk-through, with a tape measure, a spirit level and a written list.
In practice, inspecting a hotel supply breaks down into three stages that often get confused: checking the goods conform to the order on delivery, checking the fitting once rooms are finished, and formal acceptance with a sign-off report. Anyone who skips the first stage ends up arguing over a chipped door once the packaging is already in a skip, with nobody able to say any more whether the damage happened in production or in transit.
Contents
Sample-checked or checked in full
On twenty rooms, everything gets checked. Above fifty, checking everything costs more than it’s worth, and you move to statistical sampling. The industry reference is an attributes sampling plan with normal inspection level and an acceptable quality limit around 2.5 per cent: on a batch of two hundred identical pieces, thirty-two samples are drawn and the batch is accepted with no more than two defects.
In hotel contract furnishing, this can be simplified without losing rigour. Full inspection on the pilot rooms, meaning the first five fitted, and on every non-repeating job such as counters, bespoke panelling and one-off pieces for the lobby. A 20-30 per cent inspection on the serial rooms. If that sample turns up defects above the agreed threshold, inspection extends to 100 per cent at the supplier’s expense. This clause needs to go into the specification before the order is signed, because nobody accepts it once the job is finished.
The pilot rooms are also where fitted furniture gets compared against the sample room approved at the design stage. If the sample room was signed off, that’s the contractual reference: finish, tone, handle, edge thickness. Any difference from it can be disputed without argument.
The tolerances that are acceptable
A piece of bespoke furniture isn’t a watch movement, and demanding absolute zero tolerance only leads to pointless disputes. But tolerances need to be written down, otherwise everyone applies their own.
| Check | Acceptable tolerance | How it’s measured |
|---|---|---|
| Gap between two adjoining doors | 2-3 mm nominal, max 0.5 mm variance | feeler gauge or calliper, at three points |
| Flushness between adjoining doors | max 1 mm | 1 m straightedge and feeler gauge |
| Squareness of a cabinet | difference between diagonals max 2 mm over 1 m | tape measure on both diagonals |
| Flatness of a top | max 1 mm over a 1 m straightedge | 1 m straightedge in multiple directions |
| Verticality of a fitted element | max 1 mm per metre of height | 2 m spirit level |
| Horizontal alignment across multiple elements | max 2 mm over 3 m | reference string line or laser level |
| Gap between a cabinet and the wall | max 5 mm, covered by trim | straightedge and feeler gauge |
| Colour variation between adjoining pieces | not perceptible at 1 m under room lighting | visual comparison against a signed sample |
The last line causes the most arguments, because wood tone naturally varies. The way to manage it is to fix the viewing criteria in the specification, meaning distance, light and angle, and to keep signed finish samples on file. Without a signed sample, no colour dispute can be won.
For fitting in a property still receiving guests, one more criterion applies: the room needs handing back clean and ready to sell, not just fitted. Anyone who has run a site with the hotel open knows the difference between “fitted” and “sellable” is worth half a day per room, and that half-day needs stating in the contract for whoever has to deliver it.
Visible defects and defects discovered later
Defects recognisable through an ordinary check get disputed at inspection. These are scratches, chipped edges, doors out of square, crooked handles, missing feet, grain that doesn’t match the sample.
Defects not recognisable at the time of checking remain open to dispute afterwards. These are a panel swelling where the edge banding wasn’t holding, a hinge loosening after three thousand cycles, a finish yellowing under light, glue failing on a side panel exposed to bathroom steam. Under a works contract, Italian civil law sets a short limitation period from discovery of the defect, generally sixty days, and a two-year prescription period from delivery of the work. These are tight deadlines: it means that when housekeeping flags a problem, formal notice to the supplier needs sending that same day, not at next month’s meeting.
That’s why the defect log doesn’t close with the inspection. It should stay open for at least a year, with one sheet per room, cross-checked against the furniture maintenance schedule: if the same fault turns up in twenty rooms out of eighty, that’s not wear, it’s a supply defect.
What gets tested by hand, piece by piece
Doors are opened and closed five times, all of them. It sounds pedantic, and it’s the check that catches the most problems: unadjusted hinges, doors rubbing against the side panel, soft-close mechanisms that don’t latch. A fast fitting crew adjusts the first five rooms carefully and the last ones by eye.
Drawers are pulled out to full extension and loaded with a few kilos, because a 30 kg-rated runner fitted crooked only jams under load. Locks are tested with the key that will actually stay at the property, not the fitter’s service key. Sockets and light points built into furniture are switched on one by one, something almost nobody does: it’s not unusual to find the bedside USB socket wired in but not powered, and it only comes to light with the first guest.
Then what’s underneath and behind gets checked: feet levelled and all making contact, wall anchors present wherever the specification calls for them, continuous sealant where needed, technical compartment backs screwed rather than glued in.
Certification is part of the supply
An inspection signed off without the documentation package is only half an inspection. Delivery needs to include the fire-reaction certificates or approvals for upholstery, curtains and covering materials, with a declaration of conformity of the actual pieces supplied against the certified prototype. A certificate made out for a material that isn’t the one actually fitted is worthless in an inspection, and it needs checking by cross-referencing the fabric code against the panel code. The full picture of which documents are needed and how they’re kept is covered in fire safety certificates for hotel furniture.
Alongside the certificates, finish maintenance sheets, a spares list with codes, and any extended warranties on components such as hinges, runners and mechanisms need handing over. On the spares list, it’s worth ordering a small stock of components and finishes right away, because once the supply is closed, unit prices for individual pieces double.
Reservations, retention and final payment
A reservation is a written dispute recorded in the sign-off report. It needs to be specific: not “finishes to review” but “room 214, left-hand wardrobe door, 12 mm chip on the edge, inside face.” A generic reservation is weaker than no reservation at all, because it shows the defect was seen and not described.
Every reservation needs three elements: a description with its location, a deadline by which the supplier must act, and an amount withheld pending resolution. The typical deadline for aesthetic defects is fifteen days, thirty for anything requiring new production, and it should be checked against real production lead times, because a door that needs remaking in solid wood with an open-pore finish isn’t coming back to site in two weeks.
The usual retention held as a guarantee in hotel contract work is 5-10 per cent of the taxable amount, released six or twelve months after a positive inspection. The supplier can ask to replace it with a bank or insurance guarantee of the same amount, and that’s a reasonable request worth accepting, provided the guarantee is on-demand and waives the benefit of prior enforcement against the principal debtor. The percentages and release terms should be settled alongside the rest of the commercial terms when the quantity breakdown and specification of the supply are drawn up, not negotiated once the work is finished.
Final payment is made once reservations are closed, with a second report declaring them resolved one by one. Anyone who pays everything at the first report loses the only leverage they have, and from that point on, remedial work slips to the back of the queue behind every other commission.
Frequently asked questions
Who signs the furniture inspection report?
The client or a technical representative appointed by them, together with the supplier’s point of contact. In better-organised properties, the works manager also signs, being the person who followed the checks on site. The report should be drawn up in two copies and attached to the list of reservations.
What tolerances are considered acceptable on bespoke furniture?
Gaps between doors of 2-3 mm with a maximum variance of half a millimetre, flushness within 1 mm, squareness with a difference between diagonals within 2 mm per metre, verticality within 1 mm per metre of height. These need writing into the specification before the order, otherwise everyone applies their own standard.
How long do I have to dispute a defect discovered after inspection?
For defects not recognisable at the time of checking, Italian civil law sets a short limitation period from discovery, generally sixty days for a works contract, and a two-year prescription period from delivery of the work. Notice needs to be given in writing as soon as the defect appears.
How much is withheld as a guarantee on a furniture supply?
Between 5 and 10 per cent of the taxable amount, released six or twelve months after inspection. The supplier can propose a bank or insurance guarantee of the same amount instead, which should only be accepted if it’s on-demand.
Is it worth inspecting every room, or just a sample?
Up to twenty rooms, full inspection is manageable and worthwhile. Above fifty, it’s worth moving to a 20-30 per cent sample plus full inspection of the first rooms fitted and of every non-repeating piece, with an extension to full inspection at the supplier’s expense if the sample exceeds the agreed defect threshold.
