Free Checklist
Eight questions that separate a real fabrication partner from a slab trader. Use it to vet any stone supplier in India — including us. No sign-up, nothing gated.
Why it matters
Get these questions right up front and you sidestep the delays, breakages and surprise costs that derail international stone orders. Here is the exact list we would use — take it with you.
Fabrication to your drawings
A pure slab trader hands the hardest part — cutting to size, edge profiles and holding tolerances — back to you or a separate workshop. Every extra hand-off is another place for the detail to drift and for accountability to blur.
Ask for: Ask to see shop drawings from a past order, and confirm they work cut-to-size to your dimensions, finishes and tolerances before anything is cut.
Inspection before shipment
Finding a dimension or finish problem after a container has cleared customs is slow and expensive to fix. Inspection has to happen while the material is still on the factory floor.
Ask for: Ask for their pre-dispatch inspection process and for QC photos measured against the cutting list, not just glamour shots.
Matched to what you approved
Natural stone varies block to block. Without control samples and batch- or block-matching, what arrives can look nothing like the piece that won the approval.
Ask for: Ask how they lock in colour and veining — control samples, approval photos, and block- or batch-matching for larger runs.
One point of contact
When sourcing, fabrication and shipping sit with different vendors, coordination — and blame — lands back on you. Time-zone gaps turn a simple question into a lost week.
Ask for: Confirm you get one named coordinator, and test how quickly and clearly they respond before you commit to anything.
Packed for sea freight
Most transit damage is a packing failure, not bad luck. Loose or poorly crated stone arrives chipped, cracked or out of sequence — and replacements cost you weeks.
Ask for: Ask for packing photos: foam-lined, strapped timber crates, with pieces numbered to your set-out.
Export docs & Incoterms
Paperwork errors and unclear shipping terms stall consignments at the port and create surprise costs late in the project, when you can least absorb them.
Ask for: Ask which Incoterms they quote (FOB / CIF) and whether they coordinate container loading and the export documents themselves.
A written breakage policy
A verbal "don’t worry" is worthless when a crate arrives short or damaged. You need the remedy agreed before you pay a deposit, not negotiated after a dispute.
Ask for: Get their replacement, re-fabrication and shortfall policy in writing, before the order is confirmed.
A provable track record
Anyone can photograph a nice slab. Delivered, installed projects and contactable references are what tell you a supplier can carry a job all the way to completion.
Ask for: Ask for photos of installed work, years in operation, and references you can actually speak to.
The short version
We built this list from the exact failures we exist to remove. Here is how Karma Stone Engineering answers all eight.
We prepare shop drawings for your approval and fabricate cut-to-size, CNC and waterjet to your exact specification.
Every order is checked for dimension and surface quality against your drawings before it is packed.
You approve control samples and photos before production, and we block- or batch-match wherever consistency matters.
One project coordinator stays with you from drawings to delivery, so nothing falls between vendors.
We pack in foam-lined, strapped timber crates numbered to the set-out and built for container export.
We quote on FOB or CIF, load the container and handle the export documentation end to end.
We agree the exact handling of any breakage or discrepancy with you in writing before the order is confirmed.
Leadership brings 20+ years delivering installed stone projects, with real project photography and references available.