Straight answers,
including the awkward ones.

A floor plan and a destination city are enough for a serious first answer. Anything else you already have, elevations, a BOQ, reference images, target quantities, shortens the process and reduces the assumptions we make on your behalf. If all you have is a sketch with dimensions on it, send that. We will tell you what is missing rather than guessing.

No. Many clients arrive with drawings and no material scheme, or with a mood board and no drawings. We produce material selections, boards and 3D visualisation of the key spaces from whatever you have. If you already have a full specification from your own architect, we simply execute it rather than redesigning around it.

There is no published minimum, because the useful question is whether consolidation makes sense for you. A single bathroom rarely justifies a shipment from China. A full apartment usually does. Send the scope and we will tell you honestly whether the numbers work, including when the answer is that they do not.

Yes, and for some project types it is the faster route. A BOQ tells us quantities and specifications directly. What it cannot tell us is how items relate in space, which matters for joinery, staircases and anything made to a drawing. For those categories we will still ask for the relevant plan or elevation.

The first pass, understanding your project and coming back with a material scope and a direction, is part of quoting the work. Detailed 3D visualisation and full specification drawings are a defined deliverable within the Whole-Project and Turnkey levels. We will tell you which side of that line your request falls on before doing the work, not after.

By visiting them. A manufacturer enters the NovaLink network only after we have been on their production floor, seen what they actually make rather than what their catalogue shows, and checked that their quality is repeatable across a run. Being an hour away from most of them is what makes that practical rather than aspirational.

Yes, and nothing enters production without one being approved. Samples are shipped to you, or reviewed together in Foshan if you visit. We record written approval per material so the standard is fixed rather than remembered differently by two parties three months later when a batch is being inspected.

Three stages. Pre-production, checking that materials and components match the approved sample. During production, to catch a systematic defect while it is still one batch rather than the whole order. Pre-shipment, with a photographic report per supplier. Defects are resolved with the factory before goods leave, while they are still the factory's problem.

Tell us immediately with photographs, before the cartons are dispersed around the site. Transit damage and factory defects are handled differently, so establishing which one it is comes first. We take it up with the supplier or the carrier directly. Our inspection reports and packing records are what make that argument winnable.

Usually, and this is one of the more common requests. Send a photograph, and a physical sample if you can get one. We will find the closest available equivalent and send you a sample to compare against your reference. Where an exact match does not exist we say so, rather than shipping something close and hoping.

Where certification exists and the factory can evidence it, yes, and we confirm the requirement against your local code before ordering rather than after arrival. Where a certification cannot be evidenced for a specific item, we tell you plainly instead of forwarding a document we have not verified ourselves.

Manufacturing for a complete project typically runs 45 to 60 days depending on scope. Made-to-drawing categories such as joinery, staircases and cut stone sit at the long end. Stocked categories are much shorter. Shipping time is separate and depends entirely on your destination, so we give it to you per route rather than as a general figure.

That is the default and the whole point of consolidation. Every supplier delivers into one Foshan warehouse, the order is checked line by line, and one shipment leaves. The alternative, fifteen factories each shipping when they happen to finish, is what most of our clients came to us to escape.

By room and by installation sequence, cross-referenced to the material schedule you approved. Your installer opens what they need when they need it instead of searching a container. Fragile and oversized items are crated for the specific route rather than to a generic standard.

Sea freight for most project shipments, air freight where a small quantity is genuinely holding up a site. The choice is a cost and programme decision, so we put both in front of you with the actual difference for your route rather than picking one on your behalf.

Yes. Export documentation is prepared to match the signed Proforma, and destination handling is coordinated with your customs broker. Values are declared according to the signed Proforma and compliant shipping documents. We are sometimes asked to under-declare, and the answer is always no.

Yes, and on larger projects it is usually the right call. Phased shipments follow the construction sequence so your site is not storing material it cannot install for two months. It needs planning at the specification stage rather than being bolted on later, so raise it early.

Once the material scope is agreed we issue a Proforma Invoice carrying the registered company name, the order detail and the payment instructions. You pay against that document, production is released, and the balance follows the schedule written on it. Nothing is ever payable against a message alone.

Yes. Factories in this region start production against a deposit, and a project touching many suppliers cannot be held open without one. The exact split between deposit and balance is set per project and written on your Proforma before you are asked for anything.

The currency for your order is stated on the Proforma Invoice, and that is the currency the payment must be sent in. If you need a different one, raise it before the Proforma is issued, because changing it afterwards means reissuing the document and the shipping paperwork that references it.

Check that the account name matches the registered company name printed on your invoice exactly, with no additional trading name or personal name attached. Then message us on WhatsApp and ask us to confirm it before you send. We would far rather answer that message than deal with what follows if you do not send it.

Yes, and it is the single biggest thing you can do to de-risk a project. You select materials in person, approve samples on the spot, and leave with a complete material list. Most remote sourcing agents cannot offer this, because it requires a team physically present in the manufacturing cluster.

Yes. We meet you at the airport, any time, any day, and transfer you to your hotel. Arriving in a city where you do not read the signage and do not speak the language is the part of the trip clients worry about most, so we take it off the table.

Guangzhou Baiyun and Foshan Shadi. Guangzhou Baiyun is the main international gateway and is where most clients land. Tell us your flight details once they are booked and we will confirm the pickup arrangement in writing before you travel.

We arrange your accommodation and plan a showroom itinerary around your project. The booking is made on your behalf and billed to you: the arranging is our job, the room is your cost. We will tell you what is available around your dates before anything is confirmed.

Yes. We provide a formal business invitation letter to support your visa application to China. An invitation letter supports a visa application. It does not guarantee approval, which remains the decision of the Chinese consular authorities. Start the application early, because timelines vary considerably by country.

One to three days depending on scope. A single apartment rarely needs two full days. A hotel usually needs three, particularly if a factory visit is warranted for a category being made to your drawing. The itinerary is built around your specific project rather than a fixed tour.

Pickup, guiding, translation and itinerary planning are provided by NovaLink. Flights, accommodation and personal expenses are yours. We book the hotel for you if you want us to, but it is billed to you. There are no hidden charges attached to the visit itself.

English, French, Arabic or Mandarin, spoken directly by the person accompanying you. There is no third-party translator standing between you and the factory, which matters when the conversation turns to a tolerance or a finish rather than a price.

English, French, Arabic and Mandarin. That last one is the difference between negotiating with a factory and negotiating through someone. Documents, specifications and inspection reports are issued in the language you work in, not translated approximately at the last moment.

Yes to both. Showroom visits are standard and cover the full range of categories. Factory visits are arranged where the project warrants it, usually for a category being made specifically to your drawing, where seeing the production line answers questions a sample cannot.

No. NovaLink supplies, coordinates and supervises. We are not the main civil works contractor, we do not hold your building permit, and we do not employ the crew on your site. Structural work, wet trades and the construction programme stay with your contractor.

Yes, and it is included at the Turnkey level. Technical drawings and the installation sequence go to your site team before the container is opened. Supervision is remote or on site depending on the project, and we stay reachable for the technical questions that only surface once things are being fitted.

That is fine, and it is a common way to start. A single category, sourced and inspected properly, is a reasonable first project and a low-risk way to see how we work before committing a whole building to it. The service does not change, only the scope.