How to confirm a supplier audit visit in English (B2 upper-intermediate): fixed plans, invitations and a reply deadline

A good visit confirmation shows at a glance what is fixed, what is optional, what you advise and when you need an answer. Use the present continuous for arrangements (“We’re meeting the facilitator at 08:45”) and mark optional parts with “We’d like to invite you to…”. Give advice with a reason and end with one dated request. This B2 (upper intermediate) topic is for buyers, auditors and quality or sustainability staff who arrange supplier visits. Ten minutes a day is enough.

Who this is for

Buyers and supply-chain staff who arrange visits to check a supplier’s labour, safety or environmental claims.
Auditors and quality or sustainability leads who send or receive itineraries and need to see what is fixed and what is optional.
Managers who host visitors and want to invite, advise and offer alternatives without sounding vague or pushy.
Too early: if plans and polite offers in English still feel shaky, start with the B1 article on customer service and a service plan.
Too easy: if you already separate arrangements, invitations and advice comfortably, move on to a decision memo that says when a trial will be reviewed, or to C1 proposals that do not overstate a trial.

Open the sample pages

Word cards

explain the plan

state the organising idea and intended sequence

The idea is to begin with the worker forum and then inspect the treatment system.

offer an opportunity

describe access the guest will receive

You’ll get the opportunity to question the independent auditor without management present.

invite

offer participation politely

We’d like to invite you to join the community sampling team.

welcome

make clear that an optional action is permitted and encouraged

You’re welcome to request any non-confidential inspection record.

advise or recommend

give formal guidance; use advise someone to do, recommend doing, or recommend that someone do

We advise you to wear closed shoes, and we strongly recommend speaking to agency workers.

offer an alternative

provide another useful option when the first does not fit

Alternatively, we’d be delighted to arrange a video call with the night-shift supervisor.

Conversation

Maya The idea is to test Northbank’s claims rather than tour only its best production line. We’re beginning with a confidential worker forum at nine.

Owen Will managers be in the room? Their presence could affect what people say.

Maya No. The independent facilitator is leading it, and management will receive themes rather than names. You’ll get the opportunity to ask about pay, promotion and agency contracts.

Owen Good. What are we doing about the canal concern?

Maya We’d like to invite you to observe collection of samples upstream and downstream. We strongly recommend bringing waterproof shoes because the bank is uneven.

Owen I can join the first collection, but I’m presenting to a client at two.

Maya That’s fine. Alternatively, we’d be delighted to send the chain-of-custody record and arrange a call with the laboratory on Thursday.

Owen Please do. I also want to understand the college donation. Generosity is positive, but it isn’t evidence about factory conditions.

Maya Agreed. We’re meeting the principal at four thirty to verify the training results, and our approval decision will remain conditional on the employment and water evidence.

Language pattern

will — decision now

use will plus infinitive for a decision made at the moment of speaking

The sampling lab is unavailable? I’ll call the university team now.

will — prediction or future fact

use will for a neutral prediction or fact about the future

The new reporting rule will affect every approved supplier next year.

be going to — prior intention

use be going to when the decision or plan already exists

We’re going to interview agency workers before final approval.

be going to — visible evidence

use be going to for a strong prediction based on present evidence

That untreated sample is turning dark; it’s going to fail the clarity test.

present continuous — arrangement

use am, is or are plus -ing for a diary arrangement, especially with a time, place or purpose

We’re meeting the worker representatives at the east gate at nine on Tuesday.

present simple — timetable

use the present simple for a published or fixed schedule

The return train leaves at 18:12, and the visitor centre closes at five.

present simple with be — personal schedule

be is commonly used in the present simple for a person’s scheduled location or availability

Maya is at the laboratory on Wednesday and away on Thursday.

More practice

Northbank Components: claim, evidence or open risk?

Maya and Owen examine evidence about a supplier's ethical conduct.

Northbank Components employs 240 people and supplies circuit housings to medical-device manufacturers. Its public code promises fair recruitment, safe work and lower water use. An independent payroll review sampled 60 employee records and found equal base-pay bands for comparable roles. However, it did not examine promotion decisions or agency workers.

The factory legally discharges treated water into a canal. It complies with the current permit, and meter data shows that water use per unit fell 18 percent after a closed-loop cooling system was installed. Residents still report an unusual smell after heavy rain. Northbank has agreed to joint sampling with the local authority next month; no test has yet identified the source.

Last year, a sales agent offered a customs official an undeclared ‘speed fee’. Northbank reported the approach, ended the agent’s contract and introduced approval checks for intermediaries. No improper payment was made. The company also donates equipment and staff time to a technical college, whose principal confirms that 48 adults completed repair training.

The supplier is cheaper than the verified alternative by 4 percent. The purchasing director must decide whether to approve it now, reject it, or make approval conditional on evidence about agency workers, promotions and canal sampling.

Confirm the visit for the independent auditor

Maya and Owen check the visit confirmation and safeguards checklist.

Subject: Northbank evidence visit — Tuesday arrangements

Hello Owen,

We’re meeting the independent facilitator at Northbank’s east gate at 08:45 on Tuesday. The confidential worker forum begins at 09:00, and the site shuttle leaves for the canal at 11:15. The purpose is to test the supplier’s employment and water claims while protecting participants’ identities. Managers will receive themes, not names.

We’d like to invite you to observe the first upstream and downstream samples. We strongly recommend wearing waterproof closed shoes because the canal bank is uneven. As you’re presenting at 14:00, we’ll send you the chain-of-custody record and arrange a laboratory call on Thursday. You’re also welcome to join our 16:30 meeting with the technical-college principal; it is optional and will verify the reported training results.

The return train leaves at 18:12. Could you confirm by noon tomorrow whether you’re joining the sampling visit and college meeting? I’ll issue the final itinerary immediately afterwards.

Regards,

Maya

Accept, decline or delay without ambiguity

accept

make a clear positive commitment

Why not? That sounds useful. Please add me to the afternoon tour.

partly accept

accept one part while setting a limit

I’d be glad to join the briefing, but I’ll need to leave before the site walk.

decline

refuse clearly and politely, normally with a brief genuine reason

Thanks for the invitation, but I’m visiting another supplier that afternoon.

partly decline

reject the proposed option while leaving another option open

The evening reception won’t work for me, although I could join the morning session.

delay the answer

avoid committing until a named uncertainty is resolved

That would be helpful, but can I let you know after I check the train times?

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What a visit confirmation has to make clear

An evidence visit tests a supplier’s claims; it is not a tour of the best production line. Here a purchasing lead briefs a visiting auditor about water samples from a canal next to the factory.

Listen: what is optional, what is advised, and what is the backup? (Observing the samples; waterproof shoes; the chain-of-custody record and a Thursday call.)

Owen Good. What are we doing about the canal concern?

Maya We’d like to invite you to observe collection of samples upstream and downstream. We strongly recommend bringing waterproof shoes because the bank is uneven.

Owen I can join the first collection, but I’m presenting to a client at two.

Maya That’s fine. Alternatively, we’d be delighted to send the chain-of-custody record and arrange a call with the laboratory on Thursday.

Future forms: choose by meaning, not by the time word

With “will” for everything, the reader cannot tell what is booked from what is only predicted.

Arrangement, present continuous: “We’re meeting the worker representatives at the east gate at nine on Tuesday.”
Timetable, present simple: “The return train leaves at 18:12.”
Plan decided earlier, going to: “We’re going to interview agency workers before final approval.”
Decision while speaking, will: “The sampling lab is unavailable? I’ll call the university team now.”

Invite, welcome, advise: show how binding each part is

Each frame tells the reader whether something is planned, optional or advised. Watch the grammar: “advise someone to do”, “recommend doing” or “recommend that someone do”, never “recommend to do”.

Invite: “We’d like to invite you to join the community sampling team.”
Welcome, optional: “You’re welcome to request any non-confidential inspection record.”
Advise: “We advise you to wear closed shoes, and we strongly recommend speaking to agency workers.”
Offer an alternative: “Alternatively, we’d be delighted to arrange a video call with the night-shift supervisor.”

Replying to an invitation without ambiguity

“Maybe, we’ll see” leaves the host unable to plan. Say how much you commit to, and add a reason or a next step.

Partly accept: “I’d be glad to join the briefing, but I’ll need to leave before the site walk.”
Delay: “That would be helpful, but can I let you know after I check the train times?”

Ethics vocabulary: claim, evidence or open risk?

“Comply with regulations” means meeting the legal minimum, not proving there is no harm. Use the noun for the issue and the adjective for the conduct.

Discuss: is legal compliance enough, or should companies also publish their problems?

credibility, credible: “Independent sampling gave the supplier’s water-quality claim greater credibility.”
deception, deceptive: “Calling the entire range recyclable was deceptive because only the packaging could be recycled locally.”
bribery, a bribe: “The agent tried to bribe an inspector, who reported the offered bribe as evidence of attempted bribery.” An attempt is not a completed payment.
generosity, generous: “The donation was generous, but it did not cancel the company’s duty to repair the damage.”

Learn this unit your way

The confirmation email in five moves

Write 150–180 words to one named reader, fixed times first. Subject: “Supplier evidence visit: Tuesday arrangements”.

Fixed plan: “We’re meeting the facilitator at the east gate at 08:45. The worker forum begins at 09:00.”
Purpose: “The aim is to test the supplier’s labour and water claims.”
Invitation and advice: “We’d like to invite you to observe the first sample collection, and we recommend waterproof shoes because the canal bank is uneven.”
Alternative: “As you’re presenting at 14:00, we’ll send you the chain-of-custody record.”
Dated request: “Could you confirm by noon on Monday whether you’ll join the optional 16:30 meeting?”

Common mistakes

These blur the plan or overstate the evidence:

“We recommend to bring waterproof shoes.” Use “recommend bringing”.
“Welcome to request any record.” Add the subject: “You’re welcome to request…”
“It complies with regulations, so there is no problem.” Compliance is the minimum, not proof.
“A corrupted inspector.” The adjective is “corrupt”.
Ending with “Let me know.” Ask for one decision with a date: “by noon on Monday”.

A 10-minute daily practice routine

Use a real visit, audit or site tour from your work.

3 minutes: say one arrangement, one timetable fact and one plan about it.
4 minutes: write the five moves for one named reader.
3 minutes: repeat the briefing line by line, then reply with a partial acceptance.

What comes next

Next, write a decision memo that says when a trial will be reviewed.

Frequently asked questions

How do you write a site visit confirmation email in English?

Give the fixed day, time and meeting point, then the purpose. Mark optional parts with “We’d like to invite you to…” and end with one dated request.

Is it “recommend to do” or “recommend doing”?

“Recommend doing” or “recommend that someone do”: “We recommend bringing waterproof shoes.” “Advise” takes a person: “We advise you to wear closed shoes.”

When do you use the present continuous for the future?

For arrangements already made, usually with a time or place: “We’re meeting the principal at 16:30.”