How do you calculate source inspection cost?

Multiply inspected lots by cost per lot by the chargeable share, then add fixed visit and staging cost. With 6 lots at $780/lot, 100% chargeable, plus $1,250 fixed, the chargeable portion is $4,680 and the total is $5,930.

What is the chargeable source inspection share?

It's the percentage of per-lot inspection cost you can actually bill to the contract or recover, versus absorb. At 100% the full $4,680 is chargeable; if only part is recoverable you'd lower this and the chargeable cost drops proportionally.

Why separate fixed visit and staging cost?

Because mobilizing a source inspector — scheduling, presenting hardware, staging paperwork, and the hold time — costs the same whether they inspect one lot or six. The $1,250 fixed cost in the example is independent of the per-lot math.

How can I reduce source inspection cost?

Batch more lots into a single inspector visit so the $1,250 fixed cost is spread across more lots, and reduce per-lot cost through delegated inspection or certificate-of-conformance arrangements where the customer allows it.

Is DCMA source inspection chargeable?

Government source inspection labor itself typically isn't billed to you, but your internal staging, presentation, and coordination effort is real cost. Model that as the per-lot cost and fixed visit cost so your quote isn't understated.

What drives the per-lot cost up?

First-article inspections, lots requiring functional test witnessing, and any hardware needing special staging or teardown all raise per-lot cost well above a routine acceptance like the $780 default.

Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing calculator

Source Inspection Cost Calculator

Source Inspection Cost captures what it actually costs to have a customer, prime, or government representative inspect and accept product at your facility before it ships. Aerospace and defense suppliers face this constantly — DCMA source inspection, customer source inspection, and supplier source inspection all add per-lot cost on top of fixed costs for the visit itself. The metric matters because these costs are easy to under-quote: people remember the per-lot inspection fee but forget the fixed staging, hold time, and coordination cost of mobilizing an inspector. Getting the total right protects your margin on contracts that mandate source acceptance.

What this calculator does

Estimate customer or government source inspection cost from inspected lots, cost per lot, accepted scope share, and fixed visit cost.
a quality or program manager needs to estimate source inspection cost for a shipment or production lot
It totals source inspection cost by multiplying inspected lots by per-lot cost and your chargeable share, then adding a fixed visit and staging cost.

Formula used

Chargeable source inspection cost = inspected lots × cost per lot × chargeable inspection share
Source inspection cost = chargeable inspection cost + fixed visit and staging cost

Inputs explained

Source-inspected aerospace lots:
Source inspection cost per lot:
Chargeable source inspection share:
Fixed visit and staging cost:

How to use the result

Use it when quoting a contract that requires source inspection, or when allocating inspection cost across a delivery schedule.
It treats per-lot cost as uniform; in reality complex lots requiring teardown or first-article-level scrutiny cost far more per lot than routine acceptance.

Current U.S. benchmarks

Steel mill PPI stands at 348.53 (BLS, May 2026), up 6.7% from a year earlier. New factory orders are up 2.3% year over year (Census).
The U.S. has 11,691 transportation equipment establishments employing about 1,682,910 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Common questions

How do you calculate source inspection cost? Multiply inspected lots by cost per lot by the chargeable share, then add fixed visit and staging cost. With 6 lots at $780/lot, 100% chargeable, plus $1,250 fixed, the chargeable portion is $4,680 and the total is $5,930.
What is the chargeable source inspection share? It's the percentage of per-lot inspection cost you can actually bill to the contract or recover, versus absorb. At 100% the full $4,680 is chargeable; if only part is recoverable you'd lower this and the chargeable cost drops proportionally.
Why separate fixed visit and staging cost? Because mobilizing a source inspector — scheduling, presenting hardware, staging paperwork, and the hold time — costs the same whether they inspect one lot or six. The $1,250 fixed cost in the example is independent of the per-lot math.
How can I reduce source inspection cost? Batch more lots into a single inspector visit so the $1,250 fixed cost is spread across more lots, and reduce per-lot cost through delegated inspection or certificate-of-conformance arrangements where the customer allows it.
Is DCMA source inspection chargeable? Government source inspection labor itself typically isn't billed to you, but your internal staging, presentation, and coordination effort is real cost. Model that as the per-lot cost and fixed visit cost so your quote isn't understated.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.