Writing a clear product requirements brief

Why the brief does more work than any other document

Suppliers can only quote what they understand. If one assumes a thicker material and another a cheaper finish, their quotes look comparable but are not. The Trade Commissioner Service advises buyers sourcing from China to know their requirements and prepare proper drawings and specifications, and to ask for samples before production starts^[1].

The brief then follows the whole project. It is the reference for comparing quotes, for approving samples, for the purchase order and for the inspector's checklist. A gap in the brief tends to reappear later as a dispute about what was agreed.

What a useful brief contains

Product and intended use

Describe the product in one or two plain sentences and say who will use it and how. Intended use affects material choices and, often, which destination rules apply.

Materials and construction

Name materials as precisely as you can, such as a steel grade, a fabric weight or a wood species, and say how parts are joined. If you do not know the right term, describe the behaviour you need, for example “must not rust outdoors”, and mark it as an open question.

Dimensions and tolerances

Give key dimensions with units and an acceptable range. A drawing or annotated photo is better than words. Without a tolerance, an inspector has nothing objective to measure against.

Finish, colour and branding

Reference colours with a recognised colour system or a physical swatch, and describe the logo method, position and size.

Packaging, labelling and marking

Specify the retail packaging, the number of units per carton, the carton markings and any language or labelling the destination expects. Packaging failures are common and avoidable.

Quantity, destination and timing

State the destination country, a quantity range, the required arrival window and the delivery term you want quoted, such as an Incoterms® 2020 rule with a named place^[2]. These shape price, lead time and which suppliers are realistic.

Compliance and documents

List the destination requirements you know of and those still to be confirmed. In Canada, CBSA's list of other government import requirements shows which departments regulate which goods^[3], and Health Canada's guide to the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act sets out duties for manufacturers and importers of consumer products^[4]. For Saudi Arabia, a U.S. government trade guide describes SASO's SABER platform, with different routes for regulated and unregulated products^[5]; in the UAE, MoIAT issues conformity certificates for regulated products under the Emirates Conformity Assessment Program (ECAS)^[6]. Say who will arrange any testing. The brief records the requirement; it does not replace advice from the authority, your customs broker or a qualified testing provider.

Separate requirements, preferences and open questions

Mark every line of the brief with one of three labels. This tells suppliers where they can propose alternatives and where they cannot.

• Required: the product fails without it. Suppliers must meet it or say clearly that they cannot.
• Preferred: you would like it, but you will consider an alternative with a stated cost or quality trade-off.
• Open question: you do not yet know. Ask suppliers to propose, and record who answered and how.

The same honesty applies to answers. When a supplier says a material meets your requirement, record it as Claimed until a document, a sample test or an inspection supports it.

Why “same as sample” is not a specification

A sample shows what is possible; it does not define what must be delivered. Samples get lost, age, or are remade slightly differently. Write down what the approved sample demonstrates, keep a signed and dated reference sample in your own hands or your representative's as well as the supplier's, and refer to both in the purchase order.

Keep it short enough to be read

A brief for a simple product can fit on two pages plus a drawing. Put the essentials first: product, use, destination, quantity and timing. These are exactly the fields in our sourcing brief form, which is a reasonable first version. Add detail as it becomes known, rather than waiting for a perfect document before speaking to anyone.