Punch list and handover checklist

Two sheets for the end of the project. The punch list records every item that is incomplete, damaged or not as agreed, with a photo, a date and a named person, until it is verified fixed. The handover checklist is the set of documents and sign-offs that make the project finished in the eyes of the building department, the lender and the next owner, not only in yours. Both are taught in Module 11. They are saved only in this browser; export the binder from the binder page and keep the handover documents themselves in your house file.

Sheet 1: punch list

One row per item, however small. "Standard or reference" is what the item is being measured against: a drawing sheet, a line in the contract, the manufacturer's installation sheet, a sample you approved. "Needs professional review" is the status for anything you cannot judge by looking, for example a light that flickers or a door that will not latch, and it routes the item to the trade or the inspector rather than to an argument. "Verified date" is when you looked again and agreed it was done. Load the example rows for the fictional Alder Street kitchen's final week.

Sheet 2: handover checklist

What should exist before the final payment and the retainage are released. "Who" is the office or person who produces or signs each item; it is never the owner. Tick each when you hold the document, and write the date and where it is filed. Items that do not apply to your project (no lender, no septic) stay unticked with "n/a" in the notes.

How to use these sheets

• Walk the punch with the contractor, not after them. Room by room, clockwise, with the drawings and the selection log open. Two people agreeing on a list on day one is faster than two lists reconciled later.
• Photograph before you write. Every row has a "photo taken" box because a punch item without a photo becomes a disagreement about what it looked like. Use the naming from the photo guide: 2026-11-03_kitchen_sink-wall_punch-07-before.jpg.
• Name a person, not a company. "Hale & Daughters" fixes nothing; "Dee Hale to schedule the fabricator" might.
• "Disputed" is a status, not a verdict. It means you and the contractor read the standard differently. Note both readings, and if it is about money, route it through the change-order process in the budget tracker; if it is about whether work is correct, ask the trade or the inspector.
• Complete is not the same as verified. The contractor marks it complete; you look, and only then fill the verified date. The verified date is the one that counts against the retainage.
• The handover checklist runs in parallel. Lien waivers, warranties and the closed permit take weeks to collect. Start them when the punch list starts, not when it ends.
• Print both before the final meeting. The printed punch list with verified dates and the printed handover list with every box ticked are what you sign the final payment against.