When a supplier sends an audit report, check five things: the factory name and address on the report must match the business licence exactly; the audit date must be within the last 12 months; the report must have a verifiable reference number you can check on the scheme’s official database (BSCI, Sedex/SMETA, SCAN); the scope must cover the product category you are buying; and the audit grade or score must be stated, not just "passed". A report that fails any of these five checks is not evidence — it is decoration.
Every serious sourcing guide tells you to "ask for the audit report". Almost none of them tell you what to do with the PDF when it arrives. That gap is where bad suppliers live — because a BSCI or SMETA report is simultaneously the most requested and the most abused document in garment sourcing.
We send our own reports to buyers every week, so we know exactly where people look, what they miss, and where a dishonest supplier would hide things. Here is the five-point check we would run on us, if we were you.
Red Flag 1: The Name Does Not Match Exactly
Open the report's first page and compare the audited company name and address against the supplier's business licence and the bank account name they want you to pay.
They must be identical — character for character. Not "close". Not "same group". Identical.
The classic trick: a trading company sends you the audit report of a factory they sometimes buy from. The name differs by one word — "Fujian Rising Garments" instead of "Fujian Rising Outdoor Products" — and unless you line the two documents up side by side, you will never notice. If the names differ, the report belongs to someone else, full stop.
Red Flag 2: The Date Is Older Than 12 Months
Social-compliance audits are annual snapshots. A BSCI audit from 2023 tells you what that factory looked like in 2023. It says nothing about today.
We learned this one the hard way ourselves: our own BSCI audit report lapsed in April 2024, and for a stretch we kept quoting it to buyers before a customer's compliance team politely pointed out the expiry. That was embarrassing — and instructive. Now we say plainly: our latest reports are available under NDA, and we commission fresh audits on the cycle our customers require. Any factory that sends you a two-year-old report as if it were current is either careless or hoping you will not read the date. Neither is a good look for a quality supplier.
Red Flag 3: No Verifiable Reference Number
Every legitimate audit has a reference: a report ID, an audit number, or a Sedex ZC/ZS code. That number exists to be checked.
- BSCI: reports sit on the amfori BSCI platform; the factory can generate a share link
- SMETA: the ZC reference verifies on Sedex Advance
- SCAN / C-TPAT-style security audits: verify directly with the issuing audit firm
If the PDF has no reference number — or the supplier "cannot share it for confidentiality reasons" — treat the report as unverified. Real factories share reference numbers precisely because they can be checked. Forgery lives in documents that cannot.
Red Flag 4: The Scope Does Not Cover Your Product
Read the scope line: "Manufacture of woven outdoor jackets" is not the same as "Manufacture of knitted sportswear".
An audit is issued to a specific site doing specific processes. If you are buying taped-seam waterproof rainwear and the report scope covers only cut-and-sew fleece, the audit tells you nothing about the seam-taping room where your order would actually be made. Ask: does the audit cover the process your product needs — cutting, sewing, taping, printing, packing — at this address?
Red Flag 5: "Passed" With No Grade
BSCI grades A through E. SMETA reports list findings. SCAN gives a score. A supplier who tells you "we passed BSCI" but will not show the grade or the findings page is showing you a cover page, not an audit.
For the record: most large European importers accept a C grade as the baseline for a first order, with a corrective-action plan for the findings. A C grade shared openly is worth more than a claimed A grade you cannot verify. What you are testing with this request is not the factory's score — it is the factory's honesty about its score.
What This Looks Like From Our Side
When buyers ask us for audit documentation, this is what goes into the data room: the full report PDF (not the cover), the scheme reference number, the current status, and — if anything has lapsed or is mid-renewal — a one-line note saying so. Buyers working under NDA get the complete findings list.
That is also what we suggest you demand from every supplier quoting you right now, us included. [Send your audit checklist](/#contact) and we will return the documentation within 24 hours — with reference numbers you can verify yourself.
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Fujian Rising Outdoor Products Co., Ltd. is a BSCI, SMETA and SCAN-audited manufacturer of outdoor workwear and PPE, serving brands in the EU, US, Canada and Australia since 2012.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a factory audit report be faked?+
Yes, and it is common. The two most frequent tricks: sending a report issued to a different company in the same group (the name is close but not identical), and sending an expired report with the date edited. Both are caught by checking the reference number against the scheme’s official online database — BSCI reports on the BSCI platform, SMETA on Sedex Advance, SCAN via the issuing audit firm.
What is the difference between BSCI, SMETA and SCAN?+
BSCI (amfori) is the mainstream social-compliance scheme for selling into Europe, graded A to E. SMETA (Sedex) is the audit format most UK and US buyers accept, issued as 2-pillar or 4-pillar. SCAN is a supply-chain security audit requested mainly by US importers. They overlap but are not interchangeable — the scheme your customer’s compliance team asks for is the one that matters.
Is a C-grade BSCI report a dealbreaker?+
Not necessarily. BSCI grades run A (best) to E. Most large European importers accept C as the baseline for a first order, with a corrective-action plan for the findings. What matters more than the letter grade: whether the factory shares the full findings list openly, or only shows you the cover page. A factory that hides the findings section is the red flag, not the C.
Should I still visit if the audit report checks out?+
For a first order under roughly US$50,000, a live video call walking the production floor is usually enough after the documents verify. For larger programs, a third-party on-site inspection (SGS, TÜV, QIMA — typically US$300–800 per man-day) is cheap insurance. The audit report tells you the factory passed a compliance snapshot; the visit tells you it can actually run your product.
About Fujian Rising Outdoor Products
BSCI, SMETA and SCAN-audited manufacturer of outdoor workwear & PPE since 2012. 865 workers, 250 computerized sewing machines. Serving brands in the EU, US, Canada and Australia.
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