Hello CE studiers! @coachgarricbaker brought up a question about the punch list from a recent CE virtual workshop. It’s a common question and seems simple enough, but there’s a lot to think about - who prepares the punch list?
We see this question often - I think that the confusion stems from the difference between real life practice and “what the books say” about the topic. Let’s discuss what the punch list is and then get into whose responsibility it is to create it.
The Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice (page 730), a reference for the ARE and a book that never leaves my desk, defines the punch list as a list of items that, at the time of substantial completion, are still not complete. Thinking about it another way, the punch list is the contractor’s ‘to-do list’ between substantial and final completion. Since substantial completion means that the owner can use the property for its intended purpose, items on the punch list should be relatively small and inconsequential in nature - touch up paint here, replace that temporary light fixture with the specified fixture there because the specified fixture was back-ordered, etc.
So, who creates this list? The first thing I like to do for topics like this is search for the term in the standard AIA contracts - but if you search for ‘punch list’ in A201, A101, and B101, nothing comes up! Is the topic just not covered in the contracts??
It turns out, punch list is sort of a colloquial term - the concept of the punch list is indeed covered in A201 article 9.8.2, which is also clear about who prepares it:
“When the Contractor considers that the Work…is substantially complete, the Contractor shall prepare and submit to the Architect a comprehensive list of items to be completed or corrected prior to final payment.”
So, A201 is pretty clear that the contractor prepares the punch list, and for the purposes of the ARE, that’s the end of the discussion. If you get a question on the ARE about a punch list, the assumption is that the contractor prepared it.
In real life, sometimes the architect prepares the punch list (hopefully as an additional or supplemental service) because the contractor has a bit of an interest in keeping that list as short as possible, whereas the owner might want a more impartial party to determine what still needs to be completed before the project is totally done (and the contractor is paid in full). Sometimes, a sophisticated owner might also prepare the punch list themselves - I’ve worked for a developer where this was the case. A construction manager acting as the owner’s advisor or agent could also perform the task.
When it comes to architects preparing the punch list, I just don’t love the idea, because I think that actually preparing the punch list could be considered getting involved in the contractor’s means and methods.
As architects, our job is to describe the design intent of the project, and the purpose of our site visits is to determine that the work, when complete, will be in general conformance with the contract documents (AIA A201, Section 4.2.2). So if that’s our job, why start giving the contractor a list of things to do at this late stage of the project? The contractor, hopefully, has been using lists for the entirety of the project to track the tasks they need to complete - the punch list should then just be an extension of these lists. And how can the architect, if we’re the ones preparing the punch list, be sure that we’re including everything that needs to be done - we’re not in charge of the site, right? Perhaps there are tasks that need to be completed that aren’t visible to the naked eye - how would you know about those? In my opinion, preparing the punch list, from scratch, as the architect is a less than ideal scenario that I would tend to avoid. Of course, plenty of architects do perform punch list services for their clients - I am not saying that they’re ‘wrong’ in doing so, just pointing out some things to think about, lines not to cross, and ideas to make sure the entire project team understands before taking on this responsibility.
My preferred solution is to have the contractor create the list, and have a walkthrough with the entire team - owner, architect, and contractor, to review each item on the list, and each space in the project. During this walkthrough, you and the contractor both take notes about how the punch list should be edited - generally, by adding items. I’d still want the contractor to edit the actual punch list after this meeting and issue a final punch list - they need to own the document. You have your list as well that you can use to check that they’ve included everything that you discussed as a team. In my opinion, this creates a more collaborative environment where the whole team walked through the project, agreed on what still needs to be complete, and then the contractor can finish the job.
So, how does it work at your office - do you ever prepare the punch list? If not, how are you involved in project closeout?
Chris Hopstock RA
Architect Education Specialist
Black Spectacles