Open the machine.
Not the entire business.
Give qualified buyers enough evidence while controlling safety, confidential information, disruption and responsibility for tests.
Inspection access needs a scope and an owner.
A buyer may need power-on evidence, measurements, service records or a third-party inspection. The seller still controls site access, production disruption, confidential data, safety and restoration.
Facts to establish
- Buyer and inspector identity, qualification and purpose
- Date, duration, machine state, tools, material and utilities
- Permitted observations, covers, tests, measurements and samples
- Site safety, supervision, PPE and hazardous-energy rules
- Confidential information, programs, customer parts and photography
- Damage, restoration, ownership of results and offer conditions
Documents and deliverables
- Inspection access and confidentiality terms
- Approved test plan
- Site safety orientation and supervision record
- Pre- and post-inspection condition record
- Inspection report and data-use rules
- Written offer contingency and resolution
Ask before the decision becomes expensive.
A useful answer identifies a person, document, number, date, scope or acceptance test. Replace assumptions with evidence.
Who is coming on site?
Verify buyer, technician, appraiser or agent identity and authority before granting access.
What will they do to the machine?
Approve power-on, covers, tests, tools, material, measurements and any invasive work in advance.
Who owns the inspection results?
Define report distribution, confidentiality, reliance and whether the seller receives a copy.
What happens if a problem is found?
Connect the finding to offer validity, cure, price adjustment, rejection and restoration terms.
Pause when the scope is vague.
- Inspector identity disclosed only at arrival
- Unapproved removal of covers or components
- Customer programs or drawings visible during inspection
- Production test requested without safety and restoration planning
- Offer contingency has no deadline or resolution standard
What a controlled file contains.
- Visitor and authorization record
- Approved inspection scope
- Safety and confidentiality controls
- Condition before and after
- Finding and offer-resolution file
Use the source that controls the question.
These links provide a starting point. The exact machine, agreement, site, jurisdiction and qualified professionals control the final decision.
Connect this question to the whole machine.
Machine ownership is a chain. Use the next relevant guide instead of treating any one checkpoint as the complete answer.
Prepare defensible evidence
Give inspectors a clear serial-specific baseline.
Open the guide →AGREEMENTControl contingencies
Define inspection rights, deadlines and remedies in writing.
Open the guide →MARKETINGQualify the buyer first
Stage access based on identity, authority and seriousness.
Open the guide →Direct answers, with the boundary intact.
Machine Blue Book organizes research. It does not replace engineering, legal, tax, insurance, safety, appraisal or trade advice.
Should every inquiry receive an on-site inspection?
No. Sellers can use staged qualification and evidence while applying consistent lawful policies.
Can a buyer remove covers?
Only under an approved, safe scope with appropriate supervision and energy-control procedures.
Who pays for inspection?
Agree on cost, access, disruption, restoration and report rights before the inspection.
Does allowing inspection eliminate seller risk?
No. Accurate representations, controlled access, written terms and transaction-specific advice still matter.
Selling a CNC Machine
Carry this evidence into the rest of the decision—from machine identity through handover and final economics.