Most brand owners treat sample approval as the finish line. The fit is confirmed, the colour is signed off, the spec is agreed. From here, production simply runs.
It does not. Between approval and shipment, fabric gets booked, a marker gets made, trims get ordered and a cutting table gets scheduled. Every one of those steps can still change, and each costs something different to change. The difference between a calm order and an expensive one is rarely the factory’s skill. It is whether the change arrived as a documented event or as a message sent at eleven at night.
This is a working guide to what is frozen at each stage, what a change order must contain, and how to allocate cost before the first change happens.
Why the Approved Sample Is Not a Freeze
An approved sample confirms three things: the construction is buildable, the fit block is acceptable and the colour reference is achievable. It confirms nothing about fabric being booked, trims being in stock or the marker being efficient.
Buyers get caught because they read approval as a contract. The factory reads it as a green light to start spending money — on a dye lot, on trim purchase orders, on cutting table time. Both readings are reasonable, and the gap between them is where change disputes are born.
The practical rule: approval authorises the factory to commit money. Anything you change after that commitment carries a price, and the price depends on how far the commitment has gone.
The Four Stages of Commitment
| Stage | What is committed | What can still change cheaply |
|---|---|---|
| Specification | Documents only — tech pack, BOM, size grading | Almost anything, on paper |
| Material booking | Fabric mill slot, dye lot, trim purchase orders | Nothing on fabric or colour; trims can sometimes swap |
| Pre-production | Marker, sample set, artwork, screens, packaging tooling | Artwork and packaging, if tooling is not cut |
| In production | Cut fabric, sewn units, bulk-dyed yarn | Nothing. This is rework, not change |
Negotiating change terms at the fourth stage leaves one question: how much of the loss you absorb. Terms agreed at the first stage cost nothing to agree.
The Six Changes That Restart Development
| Change | What it restarts | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Base fabric or mill | Lab dip, fabric testing, hand feel approval | A different mill means a different dye house, greige and shrinkage profile |
| Colour or shade | Lab dip, bulk dye approval, possibly colour fastness testing | Colour is a chemistry decision, not a swatch swap |
| Trim — elastic, drawcord, zip, label | Component testing, sometimes garment fit | Trims carry their own restricted substances and their own stretch behaviour |
| Construction — seam type, stitch density, hem finish | Sampling, fit approval, the tech pack revision | Construction changes how the garment behaves in the wash |
| Print or embroidery placement | Artwork setup, print paste, screens or files | Placement looks minor and is not; the print may need retesting |
| Packaging and labelling | Tooling, artwork, care and content statements | Labels carry compliance text, so packaging can reopen compliance work |
A colour change and a packaging change both feel small. One restarts dye chemistry, the other restarts artwork and tooling. Treating them as the same request is how schedules slip without anyone being able to say why.
What a Change Order Must Contain
A change sent in chat is not a change order. It is a rumour with a timestamp.
| Field | What it must state | Common omission |
|---|---|---|
| Reference | Style, PO, and the current spec revision | The revision, so nobody knows which version is being amended |
| The change | Exactly what replaces what | A drawing instead of words, or the reverse |
| Reason | Fit, cost, compliance, customer request | Nobody records why, so the same change is debated twice |
| Cost | Who absorbs it, and the agreed amount | Agreed verbally and disputed at invoice |
| Timeline effect | Revised cut date, revised ship date | The change is approved without moving the ship date |
| Approval | Named person, dated | Approval by emoji, which no one can audit |
A factory that never receives the last two fields absorbs the change and moves the ship date without discussion.
Freeze Dates Beat Change Rules
Most change disputes come from a missing date, not a missing clause. Agree three at the start.
- Fabric and colour freeze — after this date the mill slot is booked and no shade change is possible.
- Artwork and packaging freeze — the date tooling is ordered.
- Cut date — the last point at which a construction change can be made without waste.
Put them in the tech pack and refer to them in the PO. A buyer who knows the freeze date rarely needs to test whether the factory will be flexible.
Who Pays for a Change
| Change arrives | Normal outcome | What to agree upfront |
|---|---|---|
| Before material booking | Factory absorbs; no cost | Nothing needed |
| After booking, buyer-initiated | Buyer absorbs material and wastage | How wastage is calculated |
| After booking, factory-initiated | Factory absorbs; buyer keeps the schedule | Default schedule protection |
| Compliance-driven, either side | Shared, or buyer-initiated by law | How new test costs are split |
| After cutting | Buyer absorbs, and the ship date moves | That this is the expensive scenario |
The last row is the one to write down in plain language. Buyers who have not seen a post-cut change cost do not believe the number, and then argue about it.
The Part Buyers Skip: Version Control
A tech pack emailed eleven times has eleven versions. Number every revision, and never send one without superseding the previous version in writing. A spec line reading rev 3, supersedes rev 2, changes colour reference only prevents more arguments than any contract clause.
Our sample evaluation checklist covers what to verify before approval, so fewer changes are needed afterwards.
One Honest Note
We can put a freeze-date structure into your tech pack, log every change against a revision number, and quote the cost and schedule effect before doing the work rather than after.
What we cannot do is absorb an open-ended change culture. If a programme averages a change a week after the fabric is booked, no factory prices it accurately and none holds the original ship date. That is not a negotiating position. It is arithmetic.
If your design process will still be moving after the mill slot is booked, say so at quoting. We would rather build the schedule around two sample rounds than pretend one will do.
FAQ
Q: Can I change the colour after I approve the lab dip?
A: Technically yes, commercially it is a new colour. The mill has booked a dye slot and often a greige lot, so expect the cost of the booked slot and a new dip cycle. If a shade change is likely, approve two shades rather than one.
Q: How late can I change the print placement?
A: Until artwork setup and screens are prepared. After that the setup is spent whether or not you use it. Ask for the artwork freeze date explicitly — it is usually earlier than buyers assume, because print setup is subcontracted.
Q: The factory changed a trim without telling me. Is that allowed?
A: Only if your spec permits substitution, and most tech packs are silent on it. Write a substitution clause: trims may not be substituted without written approval, or name the approved alternatives in the BOM.
Q: Do changes always move the ship date?
A: Not always, but assume they might and get the answer in writing. A change that fits inside existing slack costs nothing in time. A change that lands after the cut date always moves it.