Before You Approve That Drilling Rig Order: A 7-Point Checklist from the Admin Side

When This Checklist Actually Applies

If you're the one approving a drilling rig PO or an attachment order but you're not the person who's going to run the thing on site—this is for you. Seven steps. Each one takes 10-15 minutes. Skip any of them and you'll feel it later, usually in a meeting you didn't want to be in.

I handle the admin side of purchasing at my company. Roughly 60 to 80 orders a year across 8 vendors. Rock drills and mining attachments aren't the biggest line item on our books, but they're the highest-stakes. Get a shipment wrong and it's not one person's problem—it's a crew standing around waiting.

Step 1: Get the Actual Spec Sheet—Not the Brochure

Brochures look great. Photos look great. The spec sheet is where reality shows up.

For any drilling rig catalog entry you're evaluating, pull these at minimum:

• Hole diameter range and drilling depth (specific numbers, not "up to")
• Operating weight and transport dimensions
• Hydraulic flow and pressure requirements
• Connection type—thread standard, coupling size
• Voltage/phase if it's an electric configuration

If the rep can only give you a render and a promise, stop there. Ask for the PDF. If they can't provide one, that tells you something.

Step 2: Match the Attachment Before You Sign

Learned this one the hard way. We ordered a hydraulic breaker that looked compatible on paper. Turned out the flow range overlapped with our carrier only at the very top end of the spec—meaning it technically qualified but underperformed in practice. Cost us two days renegotiating and a lot of awkward emails.

Before approving any attachment, confirm:

• Hydraulic flow (attachment requirement vs. your carrier's actual output)
• Coupler type and size
• Operating weight compatibility
• Auxiliary circuit requirements (one-way vs. two-way)

I'm not a hydraulic engineer, so I can't speak to the valve-level details. What I can tell you from a procurement desk is this: put both spec sheets side by side and go line by line. Don't trust "it'll work" said over the phone.

Step 3: Ask for Compliance Docs Before You Need Them

Most people skip this until something goes wrong. Compliance documents aren't decoration—they're the reason a shipment clears customs, gets onto a site, or passes a client audit.

Standard asks:

• CE marking or regional equivalent for your destination
• MSHA documentation if it's headed into mining operations
• ISO 9001 supplier certification
• Certificate of origin (for tariff and procurement records)
• Safety data sheets or operating manuals, as applicable

"We'll send those along later" is a phrase I've heard too many times. They don't come later. They come after three emails and a phone call to somebody's manager.

Step 4: Verify the Part Number, Not Just the Description

Here's the trap. Two vendors quote you a "drill bit adapter compatible with [model]." Sounds identical. It isn't.

Always ask for the full part number and cross-check it yourself—against the Epiroc official catalog or an OEM-published parts list. Descriptions can overlap. Part numbers don't.

I still kick myself for a shipment we approved in 2022 where the description matched but the thread pitch didn't. Two weeks of lead time lost because nobody checked six characters on a spec line.

Step 5: Get Lead Times in Writing. All of Them.

Verbal lead times are the single biggest source of procurement pain. And I'm not just talking about the rig itself—it's the attachments, the consumables, the wear parts. Every line item needs a date.

My rule: every line on the quote gets a delivery estimate in writing. Not "approximately 4 weeks"—a date. If I can't get a date, I don't approve the PO. That sounds rigid (and it is), but it's saved me more times than I can count.

Step 6: Confirm Delivery, Unloading, and Installation Scope

This is the step I see skipped most often. A drilling rig doesn't arrive on a pallet at the loading dock. Who unloads it? Who does the setup? Is the commissioning included, or is that a separate line item you didn't see?

Ask before the PO goes out. Ten minutes of clarification now saves a week of back-and-forth later.

Step 7: Pre-Stage Consumables and Spares

New rig shows up. You need drill bits, couplings, and wear parts within the first week. If those weren't part of the same procurement conversation, you're already behind.

Before the rig ships, have a quote on the consumables list. You don't have to buy them yet—but you need pricing and lead time locked in so the first service week isn't a scramble.

Notes and Common Mistakes

The checklist isn't the hard part. Discipline is.

• Don't confuse "same spec" with "same part." Different vendors interpret specs differently. Cross-check part numbers every time.
• Get verbal promises into writing. Whatever the rep says on a call needs to be in an email, quote, or order confirmation. If it's not written down, it didn't happen.
• Compliance documents are a lead-time item. Some certificates take weeks to issue. Request them at the quote stage, not the shipping stage.
• Don't skip the after-sales question. Service coverage, response time, and who pays for travel—those matter more than the unit price most days.

Revise this checklist as you go. Just don't skip steps because a deadline is tight. That's exactly when they bite.