Inspecting and inventorying a kit upon arrival is one facet of homebuilding builders seldom consider as they contemplate kit options, avionics, paint schemes, upholstery, and who their first passenger will be. However, both are important protections to take at the onset of your project.
Shipping Damage
Checking for shipping damage is easy and can save you thousands of dollars. When your shipment arrives—large or small—inspect the packaging, pallet, or crate for damage. If you see external damage, dig further and don’t let the truck driver leave until you’ve documented the damage on the bill of lading and taken photographs. Also, make sure you’ve received every package you’re owed. I’ve seen kits leave the factory as strapped and wrapped pallets of boxes only to be delivered as individual, free-ranging boxes. Even if the boxes look to be in good shape, you want to make sure you’ve received all of them.
Missing Parts
If the delivery looks like it survived three transfer warehouses and a trucker who had to slam on their brakes on Atlanta’s bypass, let them be on their way and begin to inventory each box. Yes, it’s a big task and I suspect few do it, but it’s for your protection. Honest packing errors occur, but so do honest unpacking errors. If you claim aileron skins are missing from the shipment shortly after receiving your kit, a reputable kit company will make you whole. If you claim they are missing two years into your build, your claim will fall on deaf ears.
Defect Discoveries
Identifying defective parts is a gray zone. Clearly, every part cannot be inspected in every way, yet obvious damage and defects can be rooted out: dented wing skins, a broken canopy, a bent spar channel. I retailed aviation art for nigh on 10 years. As glamorous as that sounds (it had its highlights), as a middleman, it was little more than shipping and receiving and looking for year-end tax deductions. I knew how to handle lithographs to prevent damaging them. I also knew when a customer mishandled a print and tried to pawn it off on me, or it didn’t even occur to them they damaged it while removing it from its tube. The same is true for airplane parts. If I was told there was a kinked leading edge shortly after a kit delivery, while the skin was still in its box, I could assume it was damaged going into the box. If the kink was reported after the skins were removed from the box, I knew that was a customer handling error. It’s no fun telling a customer the replacement cost is on them, and it’s no fun hearing that news.
What can’t be reported in a timely manner are defects that can’t be seen: incorrect bits of hardware, a damaged gasket in an oil pump, or valves in a cylinder head that don’t seat properly. When those discoveries are made, contact the kit manufacturer for a path forward.
It’s in your interest to become familiar with the seller’s shipping damage and missing/defective part policy before the kit arrives. In general, the transport company is responsible if the boxes show external damage and the contents of the package are damaged (or missing) on arrival. The seller is responsible if an intact package contains damaged or defective parts or parts are missing. The builder is responsible if they don’t report shipping damage to the carrier upon receipt, don’t inspect and inventory the shipment within the seller’s prescribed time period, or damage a part.
More on this topic and others related to homebuilding can be found here.
