What does an independent surveyor do in the cargo trade?

An independent surveyor attends a cargo for a principal and records its quantity and condition. The surveyor inspects the holds or tanks, measures the quantity, draws and seals samples, logs the times and issues a report or certificate. The principal is usually the buyer, the seller or both; the work is worth something to either side only if the figures do not depend on who pays.

Two tasks are the core of the job: determining the weight, which means really measuring with a thermometer and the other instruments, and determining the quality. The surveyor checks the figures together with the terminal and the ship rather than taking them over. If a surveyor does delay a ship, that is entered in the statement of facts and the cost lands with the client, not with the surveyor. See statement of facts.

Independent surveyor, cargo surveyor, superintendent

GAFTA and FOSFA contracts speak of superintendents; FOSFA notes that its superintendent members are sometimes known as surveyors, and its contracts read a reference to surveyors as one to its member superintendents.

The principal is not always a trader. After an incident that may lead to a claim, a P&I club (the ship's liability insurer) or its local correspondent may send an independent surveyor to the vessel, according to West of England's guidelines for ships' personnel. In that situation, the same guidelines tell the crew to establish who appointed any visitor and whose interests they represent, and to admit a surveyor not acting for the club only once the owner or the club's correspondent has approved. A surveyor for cargo interests should carry a written appointment and have access arranged through the agent in advance.

What an independent surveyor does, from hold to report

The sequence below follows FOSFA's Code of Practice for Member Superintendents (revised November 2022) for oils, fats and oilseeds, and GAFTA's Code of Practice and Rules 124 for grain and feed.

Stage	The surveyor's work	Where it is recorded
Before loading	inspects holds or tanks for cleanliness, dryness, odour, residues and loose rust; under GAFTA's code, obtains written confirmation of the last three cargoes and the cleaning since	inspection report; for oils, the FOSFA previous cargo lists
Quantity	for liquids the terminal measures the shore tanks and the surveyor checks the readings, with ullage on seagoing ships and sounding on shore tanks and tank barges; containers and road trucks go over a weighbridge; a draft survey only on a ship and only when no other method exists, as for dry bulk	draft survey, ullage report, weight certificate
During the operation	draws samples throughout loading or discharge; keeps a time log of what it attends or witnesses	sampling receipt; the surveyor's own log, checked against the agent's statement of facts
After sampling	seals and labels samples jointly with the other side; the analysis sample goes to an approved analyst	certificate of analysis vs certificate of quality
When something goes wrong	reports departures from normal practice to the principal; FOSFA's checklists have protests lodged for loss, damage, delays and stoppages	letter of protest, outturn report

GAFTA 124 lets superintendents halt loading or discharge when they cannot otherwise reach the cargo safely to sample it; the parties are taken to have agreed to that (rule 4.8).

The surveyor draws and seals; an analyst tests, on GAFTA terms one from GAFTA's Approved Register of Analysts (rule 1.4). The two roles fall under different standards: see ISO 17025 versus ISO 17020.

Why independence is the whole point

The rule books handle independence differently:

• GAFTA. Superintendents are appointed by or for buyers and/or sellers and must operate independently, free from commercial, financial or other pressure (rule 3.3). The Approved Register requires Category C membership plus certification to GAFTA's own standard or ISO/IEC 17020 accreditation as a Type A inspection body, which ILAC describes, for the 2012 edition, as having no involvement in the items it inspects. See what GAFTA is.
• FOSFA. A member superintendent must be totally independent of any business trading directly in FOSFA commodities. The same code has it protect the principal's interests (Part One, 2.1). See what FOSFA is.
• NOFOTA. Its Trading Rules require a NOFOTA-recognised superintendent company unless the contract or national law or regulations require a government or other non-recognised body. Such a company may not trade in NOFOTA products and must work independently of any sister company, such as a laboratory. See what NOFOTA is.

Independence, then, means no stake in the goods, not no client.

Who appoints the independent surveyor, and who pays

The sale contract decides, as three examples show:

• GAFTA 100 (feedingstuffs, CIF and C&F, July 2026) has the parties appoint superintendents from the Approved Register for supervision and sampling (clause 17). Weights count at discharge, at the buyer's expense, unless the parties make them final at loading on an approved superintendent's certificate at the seller's choice and expense (clause 15).
• FOSFA. A superintendent may be appointed by the buyer, the seller or both, and the principal bears the effects and costs of its intervention for everyone involved (Part One, 2.2 and 2.5). FOSFA's scheme page adds that generally the seller appoints and pays the superintendent, while the buyer pays for the goods against the documents produced.
• Negotiated terms. A contract may have the seller appoint a mutually agreed independent inspector, with costs shared equally.

Instructions are the principal's job. GAFTA 124 puts the duty to give precise instructions on the parties (rule 4.1). FOSFA's code keeps the superintendent within them and has the other party, the terminal, the vessel and others in the string told who was nominated and for what (Part One, 2.3 and 2.4). Under GAFTA 124, if one side is not represented for sampling or refuses to seal, the other must, after notice, call in a superintendent from another approved company, at the defaulting party's extra cost (rule 4.2). This does not apply where the contract makes the quality certificate final. How a surveyor turns an appointment into a rate is covered in how to price a cargo survey.

How the surveyor's report works in a dispute

A survey report records facts. Who pays for a shortage or an off-spec parcel follows from the contract and, failing agreement, arbitration; see cargo claims in bulk shipping.

Unless the contract makes it final, the report is evidence among others. Under GAFTA's Arbitration Rules No. 125 (July 2026) the claimant serves written submissions with supporting documents, and an oral hearing takes place only if the tribunal grants or convenes one (rules 4.1 and 4.8), so the report may have to speak for itself. On CIF and C&F terms a claim can be brought until one year after the end of the shipment period or completion of final discharge, whichever is later (rule 2.1); GAFTA's code has superintendents keep reports, instructions and weight or tally sheets for at least seven years (section 5.1). See GAFTA and FOSFA arbitration.

Under English law, a certificate the contract makes final settles the point, within limits; a departure from the prescribed method can undo it (see inspection certificate and inspection report).

Based on the working practice of our sector specialist: 25 years in the port, 20 of them as a cargo surveyor. The client pays the surveyor, which can be the buyer or the seller.

General advice: many arguments about a surveyor's report turn out to be about the instructions, meaning what was asked, by whom, by which method. Put them in writing before the ship berths and copy the other side.

Where Operium stands

Operium Solutions is a software company. It does not survey, inspect, sample or weigh cargo, and it is not a member of GAFTA, FOSFA or NOFOTA. FOSS is software for inspection companies and the port, with a sector specialist at the table: measurements entered once, offline on board if need be, nine report types from the same input, sample tracking and a client portal with live status. To talk it through, get in touch; we start with a free QuickScan.