Free template
The construction punch list template.
Every fix left before a job is really done — pinned to a location, assigned to a trade, tracked until someone other than the sub says it's closed. Print the blank template below and fill it in, or skip the clipboard and pin each item straight to the plan.
How builders actually close out a punch list.
- 1.Write it standing in the room. The location and the trade are obvious right now — reconstructing them from memory later is where a punch list falls apart.
- 2.Attach a photo, not just a description. "Cracked tile in the kitchen" is one of a dozen kitchen items by week two; a picture isn't.
- 3.Give every item a trade and an owner. An item nobody's assigned to is an item nobody feels is theirs to fix.
- 4.Verify before you close it. "Ready to inspect" and "done" aren't the same status — closing is a second look, not the sub's word for it.
The faster way
The punch list shouldn't live apart from the drawing.
In Projects, every punch item is pinned to the exact spot on the plan it describes, with before-and-after photos attached. Assign it to the sub doing the fix and they see their own list through a portal link — no app login, no download — mark it ready to inspect with a note, and it's you who verifies before it closes. Nothing closes itself.
Also grab the change order template, the daily log template, the 3-week lookahead template, or the schedule of values template.
Punch list questions, answered.
What is a punch list?
The list of small fixes left before a job is really done — a cracked tile, a door that doesn't latch, paint that needs a second coat. Each item gets a location, who's fixing it, and a status, tracked until it's verified closed.
Why keep it separate from the regular task list?
Because punch items come from a final walk, not the schedule, and they need their own close-out step. A task is done when it's done; a punch item is one person's word that it's done until a second person checks it — collapsing the two loses that check.
What should a punch item include?
A clear description, the trade responsible, where it is on the job — ideally pinned to the drawing, not just named — a priority, and a status with more than just open and closed: something in between for work that's finished but not yet verified.
Who closes a punch item, and when?
Not the person who did the fix. An item moves to ready to inspect when the sub or crew says it's done, and only closes when someone else looks at it and agrees — otherwise the list is just a record of promises.