Punch List Template

A punch list is a closeout document, not a complaint list

The distinction matters, and it changes how the document is received.

A punch list is the short list of incomplete or defective items standing between substantial completion and final payment. It is a normal, expected part of finishing a job — every project has one, and a good contractor is waiting for it so they can close the file and get paid. Written that way, it gets worked through.

A list written as grievances gets defended against. Same items, different reception. Describe the condition and the location, not the failure of character: "grout haze on tile above range", not "tile guy rushed the backsplash". You want the item fixed, not an admission.

Keep it to work that is genuinely incomplete, defective, or not what the contract called for. Things you have changed your mind about are change orders, not punch items, and mixing them in is the fastest way to lose credibility on the whole list.

Walk it with the contractor, do not email it

An emailed list arrives as a verdict. A list built while walking the house together becomes a shared to-do.

There are practical reasons beyond tone. Half the items get resolved on the spot — a switch you thought was dead is on a different circuit, a mark you thought was a defect is a shadow, a door that binds gets adjusted while you are standing there. The rest get clarified: you point at the exact spot, they see what you see, and nobody spends a week fixing the wrong thing.

Bring a phone and photograph every item as you go, with something in the frame for location. Number the photos to match the row numbers. Photos end most of the disagreements about whether something was already like that.

Go at the right time. Walk once at substantial completion, in daylight, with the power on and the water running. Bring a flashlight, hold it flat against walls to rake the light across drywall and paint, and check every outlet and switch. Open and close every door and window. Run every fixture and look under every sink while it drains.

Tie final payment to it, and hold enough back

This is the only leverage that reliably works.

Once the last payment is gone, a punch list becomes a favour. The crew is on another job, the trades have moved on, and the small stuff — the sealant, the missing register cover, the one cabinet door — stretches out over weeks of unreturned calls. Nobody is being malicious. It is simply that unpaid work is not scheduled work.

Hold 5 to 10% of the contract until the list is closed. Say so at contract signing, not at the walkthrough, and write it into the payment schedule so nobody is ambushed. The amount has to be worth coming back for: on a $60,000 job, $500 will not bring a crew back across town, and $4,000 will.

Set a completion date for the whole list at the walkthrough, and set it in the document. "As soon as we can" produces an open list six months later.

What is not a punch item

Latent defects — the ones you could not have seen at the walkthrough — are warranty items, not punch items. A leak that shows up after the first hard rain, a floor that cups in month three. Do not fight to squeeze those onto the punch list; note in the sign-off that signing the list does not waive warranty obligations, and handle them under the warranty when they appear.

Normal settling cracks, hairline drywall lines at joints in the first year, and minor nail pops are usually covered by a one-year callback rather than final payment. Most contracts spell that out. Read that clause before the walkthrough so you know which pile each item goes in.