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Heavy Buddy Inspection Service

Independent, certified mechanical inspections for the construction and railway machinery you are about to buy, sell or refurbish. Local inspectors. Standardised reports. PDF in 5 business days.

iWhen do we inspect?

Two clear use cases. A third one (post-delivery) is opened on demand.

Buyer — pre-purchase inspection

On demand. Before you commit. The inspector visits the machine while it is still on the seller's site, and you receive the report before paying the escrow.

Seller — pre-listing inspection

On demand. Before publishing your ad. The report is attached to the listing as a quality signal that boosts buyer trust and accelerates sale.

Post-delivery inspection

Different scope, designed together with the client (reception protocol, contradictory expertise, dispute mediation). Available on request — contact us to scope it.

1How it works

5 steps, no surprise. You only pay once the quote is accepted.

1
Inspection request
You submit the machine info from the ad page or the contact form.
2
Heavy Buddy quote
Our team gets back to you with a tailored quote (price, inspector, dates). Inspector on site within 7 business days.
Quote under 48h
3
Quote acceptance
You approve the quote in one click from the platform.
4
Payment
Secured payment via Stripe. The mission only starts after confirmation.
5
PDF report
Full report delivered through the platform, with photos and ratings.
Within 5 business days

2How we perform the inspection

Local certified inspectors, standardised forms, a global rating you can act on.

We certify local inspectors who speak the client's language and have followed a dedicated training on the machine model being inspected. Each inspector works from a machine-specific checklist tailored to the model, so the report is comparable across machines, brands and countries.

Strict rotation policy — every inspector mission is automatically assigned according to a transparent rotation rule that excludes any inspector with a declared link (geographic, commercial or family) to the seller. The audit trail is logged and reviewable by the requesting client at any time.

One inspection level only — we do not offer "light" inspections. When we send an inspector on site, every system is reviewed in full so we can deliver a complete and detailed refurbishment quote afterwards. This is part of what makes our reports actionable.

Each inspection covers the following 11 areas:

A global rating is given and the PDF report is delivered to the client through the platform within 5 business days. The PDF includes photos and written comments on every sub-section that requires one.

3Refurbishment quote with timeline

Going beyond the diagnostic — turning the report into a concrete plan.

A full refurbishment quote is delivered to the client within 10 business days after the inspection report. The quote includes a clear refurbishment scope, an itemised price, a recommended partner workshop and a transparent timeline (calendar) for the work.

4Call with the Heavy Buddy Technical Director

Within 15 business days, included with every inspection — no extra fee.

Titouan Fauré, our Technical Director, personally calls every client within 15 business days of the report. The call is free, lasts about 30 minutes, and covers:

5Who has access to the inspection reports?

Strict access control by default — extension only with explicit consent or after fee.

Requesting organisation

All members of the organisation that ordered the inspection.

Inspectors

The inspector(s) who performed the mission — full read/write access during the mission.

Heavy Buddy engineering team

Our certified engineers — for refurbishment quotes, dispute resolution and quality control.

6Can I access an inspection that has already been done?

Yes — and the seller cannot block it. By publishing the machine on Heavy Buddy, the seller has accepted our T&Cs, which include inspection reusability. A new buyer unlocks the original report (PDF + photos + ratings) for a flat access fee of ~100 USD.

Transparent fee split: 40% to Heavy Buddy (platform + audit), 40% to the original inspector (passive royalty rewarding inspection quality), 20% to the buyer who paid the first inspection (reimbursement that incentivises ordering inspections in the first place).

Validity: 12 months max. Machinery deteriorates fast — hydraulic and electrical systems especially, depending on storage conditions. Past 12 months we strongly recommend a fresh inspection, and we apply a discount on the second mission.

If you are the seller and want to read the inspection report a buyer ordered on your machine, you can — for a fixed fee of 100 EUR. Buyer-requested reports are not visible to the seller by default to preserve negotiation symmetry.

+Good to know

Common questions before placing your first inspection request.

Geographical coverage

EU-27, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway and Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru and others). For other countries, contact us — we evaluate case-by-case.

Pricing

Quotes are tailored to the machine type, location and depth of inspection. A pricing simulator is on the way — until then, the team replies with a quote under 48 hours.

Confidentiality

Reports are stored on Swiss infrastructure (Infomaniak) and never shared with third parties. The seller does not see a buyer-ordered report by default (paid access only — see section 6).

If a major hidden defect is missed

If our report misses a major defect (vice caché) that was not declared in the ad, we refund 50% of the inspection fee — the remaining 50% covers the inspector's travel and labour, which were already spent on site. Machines explicitly listed as inoperative are inspected as-is and the fee is non-refundable.

Railway-specific certification

For rail-road conversions or trackside machines, our engineering team adds the EPSF, EBA or ORR documentation that is required for service on a national network.

Urgent missions

An express option is available with a 2-business-day report turnaround for an additional fee. Subject to inspector availability in the area.

Recurring inspections for rental fleets

Rental companies can subscribe to a recurring inspection plan: each machine in your fleet is inspected before every short-term rental, with a standardised handover report and photo evidence. Reduces dispute risk and increases customer trust. Ask us for the volume pricing.

Ready to inspect a machine?

Tell us about the machine and the deadlines — we come back with a quote in under 48 hours.

Are you an experienced field inspector?

Join our network of certified inspectors and get paid missions on heavy construction and railway machinery near you.

Become an inspector
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Choose a machine first

To request an inspection, browse our marketplace and pick the machine you want inspected. The inspection request will be pre-filled with the machine details.