Factory vetting process step — fire safety document review
In brief: Fire safety document review for a Bangladesh buying house means verifying five current documents before any order: the RSC (formerly Accord) inspection report, the Fire Service & Civil Defence approval letter, the electrical wiring inspection report, quarterly fire drill records, and emergency exit signage photographs. I check the issue date on all five. An expired RSC report is a disqualification, not a paperwork problem.
5 docs
Required Stack
Five fire safety documents reviewed on every factory before any order moves forward.
Quarterly
Drill Cadence
Fire drill records must show a minimum of one documented drill per quarter.
24 mo
RSC Cycle
Accord/RSC inspection reports older than 24 months indicate a missed or failed re-inspection.
The fire safety document review sits early in the Bengal Origin Co. factory vetting process for a reason. It is the fastest way to learn whether a Bangladesh factory is currently inside or outside the post-Rana-Plaza compliance system. The documents do not lie about dates. A factory that cannot produce all five with current issue dates is a factory I do not put a European brand's first order into.
What does fire safety document review actually check?
I am checking five specific documents and the dates on each. The current RSC inspection report — RSC is the body that took over Accord's remediation and inspection function, and its reports replace the original 2014 Accord report. The Fire Service & Civil Defence approval letter, issued by the Bangladesh government department, which confirms the building meets the fire code. The electrical wiring inspection report, which is the document Rana Plaza made non-negotiable. The fire drill records, which should show one drill per quarter at minimum with attendance lists. And emergency exit signage photographs from every production floor, taken within the last 90 days.
The review takes me one working day per factory when the documents are produced on request. When a factory cannot produce them within 48 hours, that is itself the answer to whether they should be on a European brand's supplier list.
Why does the issue date matter more than the document itself?
Because a fire safety document with an expired date is worse than no document. It tells me the factory was inside the inspection system and has now fallen out of it. RSC inspections happen on a predictable cycle. A factory operating with an expired Accord inspection report is operating on borrowed time. Either the factory failed the most recent inspection or has not booked it. Either answer is informative, and both produce the same outcome from my side — the factory is not vetted until the inspection is current.
The Fire Service & Civil Defence letter is renewed annually. Anything older than 12 months is treated the same way: expired equals not vetted. Electrical wiring inspections in Bangladesh garment facilities should be re-issued every 24 months at the outside. Beyond that, the assumption is that the wiring has not been independently checked since the certificate was issued.
What does this review not cover, and why does that matter?
Fire safety document review is the floor of factory vetting, not the ceiling. It confirms the factory exists inside the post-Rana-Plaza compliance system. It does not confirm anything about labour conditions, wage payment timing, financial health, or subcontracting risk. Those are separate review steps in our protocol — the BSCI or SMETA audit covers labour, the bank solvency certificate covers financial health, and the written subcontracting prohibition covers the third risk.
The reason I separate these is that I have seen factories with an excellent fire safety stack fail on financial monitoring. I have also seen factories that score well on a BSCI audit fall behind on RSC re-inspection. The documents measure different things. How BSCI audit scores do not predict delivery covers that gap in more detail.
How does the fire safety review fit into the wider vetting sequence?
The two columns below contrast what a factory typically presents on first contact with what enters the Bengal Origin Co. vetted-factory file.
| Vetting input | What factories typically offer first | What enters the vetted-factory file |
|---|---|---|
| Fire inspection | 2014 Accord report | Current RSC report, issued within 24 months |
| Government approval | Verbal confirmation | Fire Service & Civil Defence letter under 12 mo. |
| Electrical safety | Reference to overall audit | Standalone wiring inspection under 24 months |
| Fire drills | Statement that drills occur | Attendance records — minimum one per quarter |
| Exit signage | Walkthrough during visit | Dated photographs from each production floor |
Source: Bengal Origin Co. factory vetting protocol applied across 120+ Bangladesh facilities, 2023-2026.
After fire safety document review passes, I move to LEED status verification — covered in what LEED Gold certification measures in a garment factory — and then to the financial vetting protocol described in how Bengal Origin Co. vets factories financially. Fire safety is the gate; the other reviews answer whether the factory is the right gate to walk through.
Fire safety document review — scope and limits
Current RSC inspection report
Fire Service & Civil Defence approval letter
Electrical wiring inspection report
Quarterly fire drill attendance records
Emergency exit signage floor photos
Issue dates on all five documents
BSCI or SMETA labour audit
LEED facility certification check
Bank solvency certificate review
Subcontracting prohibition clause
Pre-shipment AQL 2.5 inspection
Quarterly financial monitoring
What This Means for European Brands
If your sourcing partner cannot produce all five fire safety documents on request with current issue dates, you are not in compliance with the documented due diligence CSDDD and the German Supply Chain Act require. The fire safety stack is the most checkable layer of factory vetting — the documents are issued by named third parties and the dates are public information. If a buying house tells you "the factories are compliant" without producing the documents, that is not vetting. Ask for the five documents and the dates.
If you want to see what a full fire safety document file looks like for a Bangladesh factory we have vetted, I am happy to walk you through one in practice.
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