If I pay, will the sewing factory give me the tech pack for my garment?

The first question to ask is, who makes the tech packs? Usually it's the brand as will be explained later.

If you, the brand, have no intention of creating a tech pack then the factory will make it. Sewing factories must make a tech pack for their own internal production processing. Will they give you their tech pack? Most likely not. It's their property and they fear that you will take their tech pack to another factory. Factories will make the tech pack in-house but they won’t give it to you. Why should they? They spent the money to get it done. All you are paying for is mass production.

Even if you offer to pay, most factories will not accept payment nor will they give you their tech pack. They are not in the business of tech pack creation.

I recommend you don't let a factory make your tech pack. You will be at their mercy. If one week into working with a factory, the factory refuses your order or their price is too high then you have to go to another factory - with no tech pack - and repeat the whole process. You could lose weeks of precious time worth thousands of dollars. So, arrive at the factory with your tech packs in hand.

Diep, who has worked in Vietnamese factories as a technical designer tells us how it is usually done. Most big brands create their own tech packs. In fact, big brands have teams of people working on one tech pack. Each team member is updating different parts of a tech pack. Designers update flat sketches. Pattern makers update measurements and merchandisers update the trims and accessory details. Big brands make a lot of changes during development and they manage the evolution of the tech pack through stages: proto-sample, fit sample and pre-production sample. In this case the brand clearly owns the tech pack.

Diep goes on to say, "brands do not allow us to update to their tech packs. We can only make suggestions. The tech pack is a brand intellectual property. I cannot imagine any brand letting the factory "take over" the tech pack."

Diep's advice to fashion start-ups is, "it's mandatory for all start-up fashion brands to have tech packs when they're looking for manufacturers. First, It shows that you are professional and your looking for a professional cooperation. 2nd, factories see that you know and you care about your product and design. 3rd, the factory will quote a more accurate price. Finally, having tech packs save you and the factory time when making samples in pre-production stages."

Make your own tech packs or, if the factory makes them for you, don't expect the factory to give you the tech pack.