The sample approval is the single point where you have the most leverage and the least time. A twelve-point check that prevents the expensive arguments later.
On custom lighting, the sample stage is the last moment when a problem costs nothing to fix. Once you have written “approved”, you own the outcome. This is the checklist we would want a customer to run against our own samples.
Take a photograph with a tape measure in frame, or ask for one. Compare against the approved drawing, including the drop and the mounting canopy size. Photographs taken from a low angle make a piece look larger than it is.
Screens lie about metal. A brushed brass can look gold on one monitor and grey on another. If the finish matters, ask for a physical sample panel by courier before the run — and keep it. That panel becomes the standard your production batch is judged against.
Look at the lit sample, not the unlit one. Confirm the kelvin value and check the light quality on a real surface — skin, fabric, food. Two fixtures at nominally the same kelvin can render colour very differently.
Is the light even across the piece, or are there hot spots and dark patches? On a multi-arm fixture this is the most common defect, and it is almost always a driver selection or wiring-order issue rather than a design one.
Record a short video with the fixture lit. Flicker frequently does not show up in a still photograph and does not show up at all in the factory under different power. Ask for a dimming test if the installation includes dimmers — incompatibility between dimmer and driver is one of the most common site failures.
Ask how the piece arrives and in how many parts. Look for numbered joints that match a drawing. If the sample is one piece but the final fixture will be six metres, the sample told you nothing about the hard part — ask to see a joint.
Get the total weight and the load per fixing point in writing. Your structural engineer needs it, and the question is much easier to answer before shipment than after.
Run a hand over accessible edges on the sample. On decorative metalwork, finishing quality shows up here first. Confirm that no live part is accessible without a tool.
The suspension is what holds several thousand euros over someone’s head. Check the cable or chain rating, the ceiling canopy build and the connectors. This is a common place to find cost-cutting that is not visible in any photograph.
Ask how it will be packed, in photographs or in writing, before the sample is approved. Frame crated or loose? Glass and crystal double-boxed? Is there a packing list with component numbering? Damage in transit is the most frequent post-shipment problem, and it is usually a packing decision made long before.
Installation drawing, wiring diagram, component list, spare parts, cleaning guidance. Confirm this in the approval email, so there is a written record.
Approve by email, referencing the photographs you were sent. That single habit removes most disputes: both sides are looking at the same image when they say “that is what was agreed”.
Do not approve a sample verbally, informally, or with a message that says “looks good, go ahead” while a question is still open. Finish the open question first. It is the cheapest hour you will spend on the project.
Most first enquiries stall because one number is missing. Here is the short list that lets a factory quote you properly on the first reply — and the two numbers people most often get wrong.
Read the guide ›A stairwell fixture only works if it is judged from the floor below, not from directly underneath. Here is how to set the diameter and the drop so it reads correctly from where people actually stand.
Read the guide ›Send dimensions, a drawing or a reference photo. You get a straight answer — including “this will not work” if that is the truth — within one working day.
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