Construction punch lists and field quality observations

The punch list is the oldest quality tool on a construction site: walk the job, write down what is wrong, give each line to somebody, and do not let go until it is fixed. Field quality observations are the same idea used all the way through the work rather than only at the end. This guide covers what each record needs, a workflow that gets items from raised to closed without getting lost, when an observation should become a formal non-conformance, and the few numbers that tell you whether the process is working.

Punch list, snag list, observation, NCR: the words

Different sites, contracts and countries use different names, and the names matter, because each one implies who raises it, when, and who has to sign it off.

The rest of this guide is about observations and punch lists, which are the same record at different points in the job; about quality surveillance, which is where many of them come from; and about the line between an observation and an NCR.

What a good observation record contains

• A photo, with something in it for scale and the problem ringed. One photo of the defect and one of where it is beats five close-ups.
• An exact location. “By the gate” is three different places to three people. A pin on a map, a gridline or a station and offset is one.
• What is wrong, against what. The drawing, the specification clause or the tolerance it misses. “Kerb out of line” invites an argument; “kerb 40 mm out of line over 3 m, spec allows 10 mm” does not.
• Who raised it and when.
• Who is fixing it, and by when. One name, not a company. A line with no name on it is not on anybody’s list.
• Where it is now: the step it is at, who holds it and since when.
• How it was closed: what was done, an after photo taken from the same spot, and who accepted it.

A workflow from raised to closed

Most quality teams already run some version of the same five steps, on paper or in a spreadsheet. Drawn as a workflow:

1. Raised. The person who saw it records it. Before it goes anywhere they can cancel it, with a reason, if it turns out to be a duplicate or not a defect at all.
2. Sent for correction to the person responsible for the work. If the description is not enough to act on, they send it back for clarification rather than guessing.
3. Submitted for review once fixed, with a note of what was done and an after photo.
4. Reviewed by the person who raised it, or by quality control. Either it is accepted and closed, or it is sent back for rework with a reason.
5. Closed, with the record of every step kept. If the problem comes back, it is reopened rather than raised again, so the history stays in one place.

Three rules make the difference between a workflow that works and one that is filled in afterwards:

• One person holds it at each step. Shared ownership means nobody’s.
• Every send-back says why. A rejection with no reason comes back unchanged.
• The fixer does not accept their own fix. Somebody who did not do the work checks it.

Larger projects add steps: a superintendent review before the client’s inspector sees it, or a designer’s check on anything structural. Add them where a real decision is made, not where a signature has always been collected. Every extra step is a place for an item to wait.

When an observation becomes a non-conformance

Most observations are fixed in the ordinary course of the work and closed. Some need the formal route. Raise an NCR, or whatever your quality plan calls it, when:

• the work fails a specified requirement and cannot simply be put right as part of the normal job;
• putting it right needs a decision from the engineer or the client, such as accepting it as it is;
• it affects permanent or structural works, or something that will be covered up;
• the same failure keeps coming back, which points to a cause rather than a one-off;
• or the contract says so.

An NCR records a disposition: rework to the specification, repair to an agreed alternative, use as it is with the client’s agreement, or reject and replace. It usually asks for the cause and for what will stop it happening again. Keep the observation and the NCR linked, so the photo and the location are not retyped.

Quality surveillance: where many observations come from

On larger jobs much of the quality record comes from surveillance rather than from chance: a planned check that work in progress, a subcontractor or a supplier is doing what the quality plan and the specification say. In an inspection and test plan it sits beside the stricter points: a hold point stops the work until it is inspected, a witness point gives notice so someone can attend, and surveillance looks in on the work without stopping it.

• Plan it by risk. Activities that are new to the crew, hard to put right later, or that drew findings last time get looked at more often.
• Write down what was checked, not only what was wrong: the activity, the location, the date, who looked, and what it was checked against. A surveillance with no findings is still evidence.
• Every finding is an observation. It gets a photo, a place, a person and a due date, and it is followed to closure through the same workflow as anything else on site. One that fails a specified requirement becomes an NCR.
• Feed the results back into the plan. Findings per area and per subcontractor say where the next surveillance should go.

Why put observations on the drone survey

A punch list is usually kept against drawings, which show what should be there, or against nothing at all. A recent drone survey shows what is there, last week, true to scale. Pinning observations to it has four effects:

• The location stops being a description. The pin is where the photo was taken, and anyone opening it sees the surroundings.
• Patterns show. Six observations along one kerb line, or around one crew’s work area, is a process problem, and on a map it is obvious in a way a list never makes it.
• The next flight is a check. A regraded swale or a cleared laydown area shows on the next survey, and the difference between the two flights measures it.
• The walk and the flight live in one place, which is what the monthly progress report is built from.

What to measure

A handful of numbers tell you whether the process is working. Read them weekly, by area or by trade, not just for the whole job.

A punch list template that holds up

If the list ends up in a spreadsheet, and it usually does for the weekly meeting, these are the columns that carry their weight. Keep the working columns first so a printed page is readable.

Doing it in Clarity

Clarity pins field quality observations to the drone survey where they were seen, from a phone photo, a right-click on the map or a point you measured. Each one can carry corrective actions with a name and a due date, and moves through a workflow your administrator draws: steps, who holds it at each, the buttons that move it, and which ones need a comment. The person it moves to is emailed with the step and the comment, every move is kept in its history, and the whole list exports to Excel with the workflow step on each row. (Field quality observations in Clarity.)

Surveillances are planned in Clarity too. Each is scheduled for a day and an inspector, once or repeating, against a checklist your organisation keeps; the inspector answers it line by line, it moves through a surveillance workflow of its own, and any Unsatisfactory line is raised as an observation with one button, linked back to the surveillance that found it. (Quality surveillance in Clarity.)