How should factory acceptance criteria be written for a wind equipment order?

The short answer

Write factory acceptance criteria as a requirement-by-requirement test matrix. Specify the equipment identity, test method, conditions, measuring instruments, pass criteria and retained evidence. The supplier and buyer should agree the matrix before testing, so a successful demonstration has a defined meaning rather than depending on different expectations after the event.

Separate demonstrations from acceptance tests

A workshop demonstration may show that an assembly runs or a display responds, while an acceptance test addresses a stated requirement under controlled conditions. Identify which observations are informative and which determine release. Ask how test conditions relate to the purchased configuration and which site-dependent functions remain outside factory verification. Do not use a limited workshop test to claim an annual energy yield, unrestricted grid compatibility or a product certification that the test was never designed to establish.

Make each criterion assessable

For every agreed test, record the reference requirement, setup, permitted conditions and objective decision rule. Include instrument suitability and the information needed to interpret results. Numerical thresholds must come from applicable technical documents or an agreed engineering basis, not from a generic FAQ. Where the result is a functional observation, describe the expected sequence and evidence. Clarify how interruptions, deviations and missing readings will be treated before a witness has to decide whether the test passed.

Preserve a release-ready record

The completed record should connect the tested item, procedure revision, actual conditions, results, witnesses and disposition. List unfinished tests and failures separately from successful checks. Define correction and retest arrangements for nonconformances. A concise matrix with traceable evidence is more useful than a long report that never identifies its acceptance basis. Factory release should close the agreed factory scope while leaving site installation, commissioning and operating permissions subject to their own documented gates.