Before placing a first order with a new garment factory, verify ten things: legal registration and ownership, social compliance audit status, structural and fire safety, subcontracting policy, environmental permits, chemical management, wage and hour records, worker grievance mechanisms, production capacity against your order, and financial stability. Most of these can be checked before you ever visit — and the ones that cannot are the reason to visit.
Why this list is shorter than most
Compliance checklists tend to sprawl until nobody completes them. This one is limited to the checks that either carry legal exposure, threaten delivery, or are cheap to verify and expensive to miss.
One framing note before the list: an audit certificate is evidence, not proof. It records conditions on the day of the audit at the facility that was audited. Both of those qualifiers matter, and the second one — which facility — is where most real problems hide.
The ten checks
1. Legal registration and ownership
Get the registered entity name, registration number, and registered address, and confirm they match the entity that will invoice you. Check who owns the facility and whether the company you are contracting with actually operates it.
Mismatches between the operating facility and the invoicing entity are common and not always sinister — but they change who you can hold responsible, so you want to know before, not after.
2. Social compliance audits
Ask for the most recent report in full, not the certificate. Check the audit date, the auditing body, whether it was announced or unannounced, and — critically — the corrective action plan and whether those actions were closed out.
An audit with open major non-conformities is more informative than a clean certificate, because it tells you what the facility struggles with and whether it fixes things.
3. Structural, fire and electrical safety
Building safety certificate, fire safety clearance, and evidence of electrical inspection. Confirm exit routes are unobstructed, that fire equipment is serviced, and that evacuation drills are documented.
This is the category where the consequences of a gap are not commercial.
4. Subcontracting policy
Ask directly: will any part of this order be produced outside this facility? Which processes — embroidery, printing, washing, embellishment — are routinely outsourced, and to whom?
Unauthorised subcontracting is the single most common way brands end up connected to a facility they never audited. Put a written subcontracting clause in your purchase order requiring prior disclosure and approval.
5. Environmental permits
Effluent treatment plant consent, air emissions clearance, hazardous waste authorisation, and water use permits, where the facility performs wet processing. If dyeing or washing is subcontracted, run this check on the subcontractor too.
6. Chemical management
A restricted substances list, evidence it is enforced, chemical inventory with safety data sheets, and appropriate storage. If you have your own RSL, confirm the factory has seen it and can meet it before you order, not after a test fails.
7. Wage and hour records
Payroll records showing wages at or above the legal minimum, overtime paid at the statutory rate, working hours within legal limits, and social insurance contributions where required.
Look for consistency between payroll, attendance and production records. Inconsistency between those three is the usual signal of double bookkeeping.
8. Worker grievance mechanism
Is there a functioning way for workers to raise concerns, and is there evidence it gets used and resolved? A mechanism with zero recorded complaints in two years is not a good sign — it means workers do not trust it.
9. Capacity against your specific order
Machine count and type, line count, monthly capacity for your product category, and current utilisation. Then ask what proportion of capacity your order represents.
Both extremes carry risk. Above roughly 30% you are a significant customer with leverage but also concentration risk for them. Below about 5% you may find yourself deprioritised when a larger buyer pushes.
10. Financial stability
A factory under financial stress delays orders, substitutes materials, and in the worst case fails mid-production with your fabric on its floor. Ask for basic financials or a bank reference, and check trade references from buyers of comparable size.
What to verify remotely and what needs a visit
| Check | Remote | On-site |
|---|---|---|
| Legal registration | Yes | — |
| Audit reports and CAPs | Yes | — |
| Environmental permits | Yes | — |
| Chemical management docs | Yes | Verify storage |
| Wage and hour records | Partial | Cross-check with workers |
| Fire and structural safety | Certificates only | Yes — exits, equipment |
| Subcontracting reality | Ask | Yes — this is why you visit |
| Capacity | Claimed | Yes — count machines and lines |
| Grievance mechanism | Policy only | Yes — ask workers |
A pragmatic sequencing
- Before sampling: legal registration, audit status, capacity claim, certifications you require.
- Before bulk order: full audit report and CAP, environmental and chemical documentation, subcontracting disclosure in writing, financial reference.
- Before or during first production: on-site visit covering fire safety, actual capacity, subcontracting, and worker interviews.
- Ongoing: re-verify audit status annually and whenever certification lapses.
The checks that are cheapest to run are the ones most often skipped, and they are the ones that would have caught the problem.
Zushi helps garment brands run RFQs, compare quotes, and track orders in one place.