Oct 14, 2026Manufacturing
Pool Robot Factory Audit: ISO 9001 to BSCI
What ISO 9001, 14001, 45001 and amfori BSCI really cover, what an auditor should check on a pool robot line, and what to request before the visit.
A factory audit costs a buyer flights, a few days and an auditor's fee, so it pays to know before you go what the certificates already prove and what you can only see on the line. Certificates show how a factory is managed. The line shows how a pool robot actually gets built and tested.
Our factory, Changzhou FreeGo Robotics in the Wujin High-Tech Zone, is Silver Home's own pool robot plant, with capacity for 200,000 pool units a year. This is the briefing we'd give any buyer's auditor before a visit.
Is the factory really ISO certified?
Check three things on every certificate: who issued it, who it was issued to, and what it covers. Ours were issued by CQC, the China Quality Certification Centre, to Changzhou FreeGo Robotics, and each certificate number can be checked on CQC's own website. That check matters more than it sounds. A certificate in another company's name, or with a scope that covers different products or a different address, tells you nothing about the line you'll be buying from. Read the scope line and the expiry date before anything else on the page.
What do ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 actually cover?
ISO 9001 is a quality management system: documented processes, records, corrective action when something goes wrong, and regular internal audits. ISO 14001 covers environmental management, such as how waste and chemicals are handled. ISO 45001 covers occupational health and safety. None of the three certifies a product. A factory with ISO 9001 can still build a robot with a weak seal; what the standard gives you is a system for finding out why and stopping it from happening again.
So a good auditor asks for evidence that the system runs. A recent corrective action report with a root cause and a closing date, the last internal audit, and the calibration records for the test equipment on the line tell you more than the framed certificate on the wall.
What does a BSCI audit check?
The amfori BSCI audit is a social audit. It looks at how people are treated: working hours, wages, health and safety, and whether workers can raise complaints without fear. Our factory has been audited under amfori BSCI by TÜV Rheinland. If your customers ask for BSCI, as many European retailers do, ask for the latest audit report and check its date. A BSCI result says nothing about product quality, so it won't replace a visit to the line.
What will our auditor look at on the line?
On a pool robot line, the most telling stations are the water test, the final inspection and the cosmetic check. Every robot we build runs in a water tank before packing, so ask to stand at the tank, watch a few units go through, and ask where a unit goes if it fails. At final inspection, ask to see the checklist. For cosmetics, our standard holds part gaps and steps under 0.3 mm and matches colors against approved samples, so ask for the approved sample at the station and compare a unit off the line with it yourself.
Two areas are specific to battery-powered products. Look at how lithium batteries are received and stored before assembly. Then ask how the factory keeps battery documents matched to the batteries going into the robots, because the UN38.3 test report and MSDS your forwarder needs have to belong to the exact battery in the box.
What should we ask for before the visit?
Send the request a week ahead, so the visit time goes to the line instead of to paperwork. Ask for copies of the ISO certificates and the BSCI audit report, the process flow and inspection checklist for the model you're buying, the cosmetic standard, the battery documents for that model, and the production schedule. That last one is easy to forget. If your model is off the line that day, you'll see a tidy, quiet floor and learn very little, so pick a date when it's in production.
What can't a factory audit tell you?
An audit is a snapshot of a day or two. It won't tell you how the last unit of your order compares with the first, which is what a pre-shipment inspection is for. It won't tell you how the design holds up after a season in a pool either; that's the job of validation tests and your own sample testing. Use the audit to confirm the system and the line exist, and use the other two to check the product.
FAQ
Who issued your ISO certificates?
CQC, the China Quality Certification Centre, issued ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 to Changzhou FreeGo Robotics, our own factory. Each certificate number can be checked on CQC's website.
Does a BSCI audit cover product quality?
No. It covers working conditions. For quality, look at the ISO 9001 system in practice, the checks on the line and the product's test results.
Are product certifications part of a factory audit?
No. Market certifications such as CE or FCC are issued per model. Tell us the model and the market, and we'll send that model's document list.
Planning a factory audit for a pool robot program? Tell us the model you're buying and share your auditor's checklist through the form below, and we'll come back with the documents we can send ahead of the visit. Our team will reply by email within 1 business day.
Written by the Silver Home R&D and quality team.
