Buying & sourcing
SPC Flooring RFQ Checklist for Importers
An RFQ is more useful when it describes the flooring you need, the market you serve and the decisions still open. Use this checklist to separate buyer requirements from configuration and commercial terms that need confirmation.
Key takeaways
- Name the product route and describe the complete construction; do not let “SPC” stand in for a specification.
- Include market, quantity, timing and visual direction. Mark unknown fields as “to confirm” instead of guessing.
- Keep quotation, physical sample validation and technical qualification as separate decisions.
Checklist / 01
Start with the product route
State whether your brief concerns standard SPC, SPC with attached IXPE, or a project-specific Herringbone requirement. A pattern or decor preference does not, by itself, define the construction.
- Product route
- Name the route you want to evaluate. If it is not decided, say which routes you are comparing.
- Target market and sales context
- Describe the intended market and application, together with the importer, distribution or brand context relevant to the brief.
- Open decisions
- Separate confirmed buyer requirements from preferences and questions that still need review.
Checklist / 02
Describe one complete configuration
Keep related specification fields together. When requesting an attached-backing construction, identify the backing as part of the intended assembly. If you compare alternatives, give each a separate configuration rather than mixing fields from different options.
- Thickness and wear layer
- List the intended total thickness and wear-layer requirement separately. Clarify what the thickness description includes.
- Plank dimensions
- State the required length and width, or identify these as fields to confirm.
- Backing
- State whether attached backing is required and describe the intended backing. Do not assume an available combination.
- Locking, installation, surface and edge
- Describe known requirements at specification level. Ask for configuration-specific confirmation; this checklist is not an installation diagnosis.
Checklist / 03
Separate visual direction from sample validation
A decor view can help communicate the look you want. It does not establish the complete construction, compatibility or performance of the flooring. Explain what you need a physical sample to help you review.
- Visual or decor requirement
- Identify a known decor reference or describe the intended direction. Keep visual preference separate from product availability.
- Sample need
- Say whether a sample is needed and which visual, surface or physical questions you want to examine.
Checklist / 04
Add the commercial context, not assumed terms
Give enough context for a quotation discussion without presenting desired terms as confirmed supply conditions. Actual MOQ, inventory, lead time and configuration remain RFQ- and quotation-confirmed.
- Quantity or volume
- Provide the intended quantity with its unit and the relevant order context.
- Timing
- State your target timing and which dates matter to the project. A requested date is not a confirmed lead time.
- Packaging or branding questions
- List any packaging or private-label need as a requirement for review, not a promise of availability or customization.
Checklist / 05
Ask for evidence that matches the requirement
Identify the technical question and the proposed product configuration together. Read any supplied report with its stated assembly, method and conditions. Evidence for one construction should not be generalized to another.
- Documents required
- List the specification, performance evidence or compliance documentation you need reviewed for the intended market and configuration.
- Applicability to confirm
- Ask which available evidence applies to the proposed assembly. Do not treat a generic certificate or a different tested assembly as proof.
Checklist / 06
Check the brief before requesting a quote
Read the brief once as a whole: can the product route, specification, visual direction and commercial context be understood together? Keep unknowns visible. A useful first enquiry can name the remaining questions without inventing answers.
- Requirement summary
- Product route; target market; total thickness; wear layer; dimensions; backing; locking/surface/edge; decor direction; quantity; timing; packaging questions; sample and technical-document needs.
- Decision to request
- Ask for review of the proposed configuration and the information needed for quotation. Keep sample validation and technical qualification explicit.
Related resources
Shortlist the construction before defining the requirement.
Compare the fields that describe a complete configuration.
Read evidence with its tested assembly and stated scope.
Follow the sourcing workflow from requirement to supply coordination.
Next decision
Prepare your SPC flooring requirements
Bring the brief and its open questions into a project-specific quotation discussion.
Request Quote