Factory Audit Checklist

A factory audit is usually the last gate before a first order. Buyers spend the time preparing the commercial file and very little preparing for the visit, which is the part the auditor will actually score.

What an auditor works through

The structure is consistent across most schemes — BSCI, Sedex, a buyer's own protocol. The differences are in the scoring weights, not the categories.

• Legal identity and licences. Business licence, production permit, the address on the licence against the address of the building you are standing in. A mismatch is the single most common finding and the hardest to explain away.
• Worker records. Contracts, ages, working hours, wage records, and whether the hours match the production records for the same period. Auditors cross-check these two sets of numbers.
• Health and safety. Exits, extinguishers, first aid, machine guarding, chemical storage separate from production, and drinking water. Cheap to fix, heavily weighted.
• Environment. Waste handling, effluent if dyeing is on site, and chemical management documentation.
• Quality system. Incoming inspection records, in-process checks, final inspection, calibration records for measuring equipment, and how a rejected batch is handled.
• Subcontracting disclosure. Who else touches the product. Undisclosed subcontracting is a common cause of a failed audit.

What to send the auditor before the visit

• The licence and permits as scans, so the document check happens before anyone travels.
• A organisation chart with the person responsible for each audited area.
• The last internal or third-party audit report and the corrective action log.

What to prepare on the floor

• Production records for the last three months, available in the room — not fetchable from another office.
• One witness per area who can answer questions, not someone who has to find the person who knows.
• A sample of the product being audited on the line. An auditor who cannot see the product being made will note it.

If you are auditing us

We will provide the licence, permits and quality records ahead of the visit, and you are welcome to walk the floor unaccompanied. If a finding needs correcting before a first order, we would rather know at the audit than at the inspection.