Pre-Shipment Inspection During Production Pre-Production Inspection Factory Audit Lab Testing Supplier Verification Container Loading Social Compliance Production Monitoring Defect Sorting Sample Testing First Article Inspection

Electronics Textiles & Garments Furniture & Home Toys & Children's Automotive Medical Devices Food & Agriculture Building Materials Cosmetics Promotional Sports & Outdoors Bags, Luggage & Cases Home & Kitchen Lighting Hardware & Tools

Locations

About Us Our Story How We Inspect Who Pays Us Our Guarantee When We're the Wrong Choice Our Team Certifications Case Studies Careers

Pricing

Measuring & Dimensional Weighing Visual & Surface Color & Print Softlines Electrical Toy & Children's Safety Materials & Hardlines Climate, Food & Cold Chain Packaging, Barcode & Sampling All Kits

Blog AQL Calculator Sample Reports QC Checklists Glossary FAQ Service Finder Business Case Tool Amazon FBA Inspection First-Time Importers First Order From China Shipping Deadlines PPWR Packaging Check Quality Fade Passed But Defective Dispute Evidence

Contact

IndustriesLighting

Lighting Inspection in China

Roughly 1 in 3 lighting shipments fails inspection on an electrical-safety or photometric fault the buyer never sees until units are energized — our inspectors in Guzhen, the "Lighting Capital of China" where over 60% of the world's fixtures originate, verify creepage, lumen output, CCT and flicker before your container loads.

Get a quote See a sample report

Early on we passed a container of IP65-rated solar path lights that looked flawless on the bench — every unit lit, every finish clean. Three weeks after the first rain, half the batch had water inside the housing because the factory had swapped to a thinner gasket mid-run and the cable gland wasn't sealed. Since then every outdoor luminaire we inspect gets an actual ingress spray test and a gasket-thickness measurement, not just a visual on the seal.

James Liu

Founder & CEO

2.5

Major AQL

4.0

Minor AQL

Checkpoints

3.8

Avg defect types per fail

What We Inspect

Products We Cover

LED bulbs (A19/E27/GU10)LED panel lightsRecessed downlightsCeiling lights & flush mountsWall sconcesTable & floor lampsChandeliersTrack lightingLED strip / tape lightsString & holiday lightsSmart / Wi-Fi bulbsOutdoor & solar lightsLED flood & security lightsGrow lightsNight lightsEmergency & exit lighting

Most Common Defects We Find

Lighting failures cluster around electrical safety and light-quality issues that only appear once a unit is powered and measured — not on a passive visual check. These are the most common defects our inspectors document across LED and fixture inspections.

Defect type

Rate

Description

Electrical safety & wiring

27%

Exposed live parts, insufficient creepage/clearance, ungrounded metal housing, loose terminals, undersized wire gauge, no strain relief

Lumen & color mismatch

22%

Light output below labeled lumens, CCT deviating from stated Kelvin, low CRI, visible color variation unit-to-unit across the batch

Flicker & driver defects

16%

Visible/high percent flicker, buzzing or overheating drivers, dimmer incompatibility, premature driver failure on burn-in

Housing & finish

13%

Scratches, cracked or hazy diffusers, warped lenses, uneven paint, gaps and poor part fit

IP rating / sealing failure

Water ingress on outdoor units, thin or misseated gaskets, unsealed cable entry, cracked seals failing the claimed IP65/IP67

Functional / DOA

Dead-on-arrival units, intermittent connection, dead LED segments, solar panels not charging, smart bulbs failing to pair

Labeling & certification

Missing or wrong voltage/wattage marking, counterfeit UL/CE/RoHS marks, incorrect energy label, missing warnings

Our Protocol

Inspection Checklist

Every checkpoint run, findings photographed.

Visual inspection of housing, diffuser, lens and finish for scratches, cracks and gaps

Power-on functional test of 100% of sampled units (no DOA, no flicker, stable operation)

Photometric check: measured lumen output and CCT/Kelvin vs. labeled spec

Electrical safety: creepage/clearance, earth continuity on metal parts, insulation and live-part access

Flicker and driver test, including dimmer compatibility where applicable

Input voltage/frequency and power/wattage draw verification

IP ingress and gasket check on outdoor, solar and bathroom fixtures

Burn-in / aging test to catch early driver and LED failures

Dimensional and thread/base fit check (E27, GU10, socket compatibility)

Label, marking and certification mark verification (voltage, UL/CE/RoHS, energy label)

Packaging, retail box, insert and drop/carton drop protection check

Quality Standards

Recommended AQL Levels

Critical

Zero tolerance

Safety & function failures

Major

2.5

Significant defects

Affects product usability

Minor

4.0

Cosmetic issues

Visible but non-critical

AQL levels are set per shipment against your spec — tighten the major limit to 1.5 for outdoor or high-voltage fixtures on request.

Certifications

Certifications & Standards

United States

UL 8750

LED equipment safety

UL 1993

Self-ballasted lamps & adapters

FCC Part 15B

EMC / RF emissions

European Union

EN 60598

Luminaire safety requirements

EN 55015 / EN 61547

Lighting EMC emission & immunity

EN 62471 / RoHS

Photobiological safety & restricted substances

Global

IEC 60598

Global luminaire standard

IEC 60529 (IP)

Ingress-protection rating verification

IEC 62717 / 62722

LED module & luminaire performance

Coverage

Where We Inspect

Zhongshan (Guzhen)

41 inspectors

Foshan

29 inspectors

Ningbo

22 inspectors

Shenzhen

34 inspectors

Xiamen

18 inspectors

Dongguan

26 inspectors

Case Study

Water Ingress Caught at PSI

Outdoor Lighting Importer (Denver, CO, USA)

A $300 pre-shipment inspection on 6,000 IP65 solar path lights caught water ingress the factory's own QC had passed — a mid-run swap to a thinner gasket left the cable glands unsealed, and our spray test flooded half the sample. Holding the container avoided a full field-failure recall across three retail accounts and the UL mark exposure that came with it.

Container held | Gasket reworked

View Full Case Study Book Your Inspection

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Electrical safety is the primary gate: UL 8750 / UL 1993 for the US, and CE with EN 55015 (EMC) and EN 62471 (photobiological safety) plus IEC 60598 for luminaires in the EU. RoHS covers restricted substances and IEC 60529 defines IP ingress ratings. We verify creepage, earthing and marks on-site and coordinate accredited certification testing.