Which Certificates Win the Order, and What They Cost

Published scheme fees, checked 3 Nov 2026

Fees change, so confirm each figure with the scheme before budgeting.

WRAP's FAQ says the registration fee does not include the price of the audit. SAI, which owns SA8000, says neither it nor its accreditation body sets specific costs for SA8000 certification; the accredited certification bodies do. Textile Exchange says the same of its standards. No public price list was found for OEKO-TEX or ZDHC MRSL conformance on 3 Nov 2026; both are quoted per site.

The costs nobody quotes

SAI lists four kinds of out-of-pocket cost for SA8000: pre-audit work to meet the standard, administration including the US$300 self-assessment, the certification cycle itself, and corrective actions after non-conformities are found. Only one of the four has a fixed price.

A certification body's fee list shows the rest. The ICEA fee list bills auditor car travel per kilometre plus tolls, food and accommodation, charges laboratory tests at cost including sample shipping, and still charges travel already incurred if the client cancels. Those lines explain why quotations for the same scope differ.

A failed audit costs a second visit. Under WRAP, a facility whose report shows insufficient compliance gets a list of corrective actions and is certified only after an additional inspection by the monitoring firm. WRAP certificates are valid for one year.

A benchmark: 2.7 audit days at about US$500 a day

The STAR audit fatigue paper cites a 2018 Social and Labor Convergence Program estimate: 92,084 audits a year in apparel and footwear, averaging 2.7 person-days each at about US$500 a day, or US$124.3 million that could be saved if audit data were shared. That works out to about US$1,350 per audit before travel.

Worked example. A 150-worker garment unit seeking WRAP for the first time:

• WRAP registration for 101 to 200 workers: US$950.

• Audit at the benchmark, 2.7 days at US$500: about US$1,350.

• Subtotal about US$2,300, before auditor travel and any corrective work.

• If the first report fails and the follow-up visit costs as much as the audit, add about US$1,350, for about US$3,650.

These are benchmark figures, not Pakistani quotations, and no Pakistan-specific average was found. Use them to sense-check a quote: if one comes in far below, ask which layer is missing. Ask three audit firms to quote the same scope, and compare like with like.

Buy in order of shared evidence

• Get the requirement in writing. Ask each current buyer to name the scheme it accepts. Retailers publish their lists; Walmart's audit guidance, for example, names amfori BSCI, SA8000 and Sedex SMETA among its approved programmes.

• Test for duplication before spending. If two buyers name two social schemes, ask whether one will accept the other's report.

• Buy one social audit first if more than one buyer asks for social compliance. A factory audit checklist shows what auditors look for.

• Add one management system. OEKO-TEX STeP recognises BSCI, SA8000, ISO 14001 and ISO 9001, among others. An ISO certificate does not satisfy a buyer asking for a labour audit.

• Add product certification only when a buyer needs a product claim. GOTS, OEKO-TEX and GRS certify products or materials. They are a different category from a labour audit, and neither replaces the other.

• Defer subscription programmes such as Higg and ZDHC until a buyer or a regulation requires them, because they recur every year.

Ask whether a certificate already held will do

WRAP says hundreds of buyers accept its certification, but each in its own way: some in place of their own audits, some only in specific countries, for licensees, or where a particular audit firm did the work (WRAP FAQ). So before paying for a second, overlapping certificate, ask the buyer whether the one already held covers this order.

Where Tti Labs fits

• Laboratory testing under ISO/IEC 17025, PNAC LAB-022, for the restricted substance, chemical and performance results that product schemes and buyers ask for, through testing services.

• Inspection under ISO/IEC 17020 through Tti Inspections Pvt Ltd, PNAC IB-006.

• ZDHC MRSL V3.1 conformance certification at Level 1 and Level 2, and ZDHC approved wastewater testing, through sustainability services.

• A published accreditation scope a buyer can check before commissioning a test.

Tti Labs is not a certification body for social compliance, ISO management systems, GOTS, OEKO-TEX, GRS, WRAP, BSCI or SA8000, and it collects no scheme fee for them. Those certificates and their prices sit with the scheme owners and their accredited certification bodies.

Related guides: PPE Testing in Pakistan: EU 2016/425 Compliance, REACH Testing for Pakistan Textiles, Leather and Footwear.