How to run a construction punch list (free punch list template)

Download the punch list template

Download the punch list template (Excel, .xlsx). No sign-up and no email. It opens in Excel and in Google Sheets: in Google Drive choose New, then File upload, then open the file with Google Sheets.

One file per job, with these tabs:

• Punch List — one row per item: area, room or location, the trade that fixes it, a description, whether it is incomplete work or a correction, priority, a photo reference, who added it and when, the due date, status, the date it closed, who checked it, and an estimated cost to complete. It works out days open, flags overdue items, and flags any item closed without a check or a date.
• Sub Sheet — pick a trade and it lists that trade’s open items only, with the deadline and sign-off lines, ready to print or save as a PDF and send.
• By Trade — items, open, in progress, ready for review, disputed and closed for every trade, with how many are overdue, the cost of the open items and the oldest one still open.
• Summary — the dates, percent closed, what is waiting for you to check, what is overdue, and how much retainage the open items can hold up.
• Setup, Checklist and Start Here — the job, the dates and the holdback rule, the closeout checks, and how to use the file.

Blue text is what you type. Black text is a formula. Yellow cells are settings. The file comes with a sample job, a dental clinic fit-out with 32 items across 12 trades. Its dates are set from today, so the overdue flags keep showing; type your own over them.

What a punch list is, and where it comes from

A punch list is the list of work still to be completed or corrected when a job is substantially complete. On AIA contracts it travels with the certificate of substantial completion, form G704. AIA’s instructions for the form say the contractor prepares a list of items to be completed or corrected, the architect verifies and amends it, and the list is attached to the certificate along with the time the parties agree for finishing it. AIA Contract Documents

The date on that certificate matters beyond the list. The same instructions say that warranties required by the contract documents start on the date of substantial completion. AIA Contract Documents

Substantial completion is not the end of the job. Final completion comes when the list is done, and the list does not limit what you owe: AIA’s article on the two milestones says creating it does not relieve the contractor of responsibility for other work that fails to meet the contract documents. AIA Contract Documents

Florida’s prompt payment law for local government work makes the same point in its own words: leaving corrective work or pending items off the list does not change the contractor’s responsibility to complete everything in the contract. Florida Legislature

Before the walkthrough

Ask for the substantial completion inspection only when the job is ready for it. AIA’s article warns that a premature request can lead to repeat visits that may be billable to the owner as additional services. That is a poor start to closeout with the person holding your retainage. AIA Contract Documents

Then walk the job yourself, room by room, before anyone else does. List every item you find with a photo of each. AIA’s article describes the contractor typically preparing the list when they believe the work is substantially complete, and a list you made first is one you control: every item on it is already assigned and already moving when the architect walks. AIA Contract Documents

What every punch item needs

AIA’s article puts it plainly: use one controlled list with an item number, location, responsible party, due date, status and a verification field, and separate incomplete work from corrective work when that helps the team prioritize. The common mistake it names is the opposite: a vague list without owners, due dates, locations or verification status. AIA Contract Documents

The same article says the work left at substantial completion should be identified, quantified in terms of estimated cost and given a completion period. So the template has an estimated cost to complete on every item, because that number decides how much money the open items can hold up. It also has a photo reference, because “touch up paint, corridor” gets fixed on the wrong wall. AIA Contract Documents

What open punch items cost you: retainage

AIA’s article notes that substantial completion may affect retainage, with the contract and the law controlling the amount and timing, and that at final completion withheld retainage may become eligible for release, subject to the contract, the required documents, unresolved claims and the law. Until the last item closes, every open one is a reason to keep holding money. AIA Contract Documents

Some states put the arithmetic in law. In Florida, every construction contract with a local government must provide for a single list of items with the estimated cost to complete each one, developed within 30 calendar days of substantial completion on projects under $10 million. The final completion date must be at least 30 days after the list is delivered, and within 20 business days of the list being created the local government must pay the remaining contract balance, including retainage, less 150 percent of the estimated cost to complete the items on the list. Florida Legislature

The template does the same sum for any job. Put the holdback percentage your contract or state uses on Setup, with the retainage held, and the Summary shows what the open items support holding. In the sample, 19 open items with $6,940 of estimated cost support a $10,410 holdback at 150 percent, against $48,500 of retainage held; the other $38,090 is not tied to the punch list. Track the retainage itself in the retainage tracker.

Closing items: check before you close

AIA’s article says to close an item only after the required party verifies it, and to treat the punch list as a live completion register, not a one-time attachment, with dated updates. AIA Contract Documents

The template has five statuses. Open and in progress are with the sub. Ready for review means the sub says it is done and someone needs to look. Closed means someone has looked, with the date and their name filled in; the Check column flags any closed item without them. Disputed is for the item a sub says is not theirs or not in the contract: settle it in writing, and if it is new scope, price it as a change order.

Send each sub their own list, not the whole job’s. The Sub Sheet tab lists one trade’s open items with the deadline; print it or save it as a PDF, and ask for the item numbers back as each one is done.

Closeout checklist

These are the checks on the template’s Checklist tab.

1. Is the job ready before you ask for the walk?

   What a good answer sounds like: Life safety, building systems and anything the owner needs to use the space work before you request the substantial completion inspection.

2. Did you walk it yourself first?

   What a good answer sounds like: Your own list of every incomplete and correction item, made before the architect’s walk.

3. Is there one controlled list?

   What a good answer sounds like: One numbered list with location, trade, due date, status and who checked it. No second lists in notebooks or text threads.

4. Is every item marked incomplete or correction?

   What a good answer sounds like: So the team can see what is unfinished work and what is a defect, and prioritize.

5. Does every item have a photo or a precise location?

   What a good answer sounds like: So the sub fixes the right thing the first time.

6. Does every item have a cost to complete?

   What a good answer sounds like: It is what the owner may hold back, and it settles arguments about what is small.

7. Is the deadline agreed in writing?

   What a good answer sounds like: The time allowed to finish the list is in the certificate of substantial completion or the contract.

8. Has every sub received their own list?

   What a good answer sounds like: Each trade has its open items and the deadline, not the whole job’s list.

9. Is anything closed that nobody checked?

   What a good answer sounds like: Nothing is closed until someone has looked at it, with the date and their name recorded.

10. Are disputed items settled in writing?

    What a good answer sounds like: If it is new scope, it is a change order, not a punch item.

11. Is the warranty start date recorded?

    What a good answer sounds like: On AIA contracts, warranties start at substantial completion unless your documents say otherwise. Write the date down.

12. Is the final completion package ready?

    What a good answer sounds like: Operation and maintenance manuals, warranties, record drawings, final lien waivers and consent of surety, if the contract asks for them, collected before the last item closes.

When a punch list spreadsheet stops being enough

The template works for one job with someone keeping it up to date. These are the signs it has been outgrown:

• The same list lives in three places: the spreadsheet, a notebook and a text thread with the super.
• The photos are on someone’s phone, not on the item.
• You find out an item was fixed when you happen to walk past it.
• You are closing out several jobs at once and cannot see which subs are behind on all of them.

At that point the punch list belongs on the job itself, where the field can add items and the office can see them close.

Where WorkHoist helps

WorkHoist keeps punch items on each project as their own records, with location, priority, assignee, due date and photos. Each one moves from open to in progress to ready for review to closed, and closing an item records the date it closed. The punch list shows the closeout percentage as items close, and filters by status and by assignee.

Field supervisors can add punch items on projects they work on, straight from the project page; editing and closing them stays with the project manager. Subcontractors cannot see punch items in WorkHoist, so send each sub their own list, as the template’s Sub Sheet does, and close each item once you have checked the work.

Questions contractors ask

What is a punch list in construction?

A punch list is the list of work still to be finished or corrected when a construction job is substantially complete. Each item names what is wrong, where it is, who fixes it and by when. The job reaches final completion when every item is done and checked.

Who prepares the punch list?

On AIA contracts, the contractor prepares the list of items to be completed or corrected, and the architect verifies and adds to it. The list is attached to the certificate of substantial completion (AIA G704) with the time agreed for finishing it. Other contracts set their own process, so check yours.

What should a punch list include?

One controlled list with an item number, location, the responsible party, a due date, a status and a field for who verified the work, with incomplete work separated from corrections. Add a photo and an estimated cost to complete for each item: the cost is what the owner may hold back against it.

What is the difference between substantial completion and final completion?

Substantial completion is when the work is complete enough for the owner to use it for its intended purpose, apart from the items on the punch list. Final completion is when the punch list is done and the closeout requirements are met. Many warranties may start at substantial completion, and it can affect retainage; at final completion, withheld retainage may become eligible for release, subject to the contract and the law.

Can an owner hold retainage for punch list items?

It depends on the contract and state law. Florida, for example, requires local government construction contracts to list the estimated cost to complete each punch item, and lets the local government hold back 150 percent of that cost from the final payment, which otherwise includes all retainage, within 20 business days of the list being created.

How long does a contractor have to finish a punch list?

Whatever the contract or the certificate of substantial completion says. AIA’s G704 records the time the parties agree for completing the list. Florida’s law for local government work requires the final completion date to be at least 30 days after the list is delivered.

Is there a free punch list template?

Yes. WorkHoist’s construction punch list template is a free Excel file, with no sign-up or email, that also opens in Google Sheets. It keeps one numbered list with location, trade, status and who checked each item, prints a list for each sub, flags overdue items and closed items nobody checked, and works out how much retainage the open items can hold up.