What do inspectors flag most at an electrical final?

The boring stuff, not the wiring. Missing panel directory or one that says "plugs" five times. Open knockouts. Missing GFCI protection at one forgotten location, usually the garage fridge receptacle or the laundry sink. Smoke alarms not interconnected. And working clearance: someone set a water heater or shelving in front of the panel after rough. This template front-loads those items because they are cheap to fix Tuesday and expensive to fix at the final.

Who closes electrical punch items, the GC or the electrician?

The electrician closes them, the GC tracks them. On most jobs the GC or superintendent writes the master punch list at the walk, and every item tagged electrical lands back on the EC to correct. Where it gets contentious is cross-trade damage: the painter who sprayed over your devices, the trim carpenter who buried a box. Settle whose labor fixes those before the walk, because after the walk everyone's memory gets conveniently short.

What is the difference between rough-in inspection items and punch list items?

Rough-in items are code corrections caught before cover: box fill, nail plates, staple spacing, AFCI/GFCI circuiting. Those get fixed or the drywall doesn't hang. Punch list items are what's left at trim-out and final: devices, plates, fixtures, labeling, testing, cleanup. This template is the trim and final side. If you're still finding rough-in problems at punch, you have a bigger process issue than a checklist can solve.

Do I really need to torque-mark panel terminations?

If the AHJ enforces NEC 110.14(D), yes, and more of them do every cycle. Manufacturer torque values are printed on the panel label, the tool is a $60 torque screwdriver, and a witness mark takes two seconds per lug. Even where it isn't enforced, a torqued and marked panel is the cheapest credibility you can buy at a final, and loose lugs are a real fire cause, not a theoretical one.

Can I use this template on my phone?

Yes. The PDF works on any phone for read-only reference. The Google Sheets version is editable in the mobile Sheets app. If you want what the app was actually built for (a photo per item, assignment to your apprentice or the GC, offline sync in a building with no signal), download Punch List for iOS or Android. The app is free.

Electrician Punch List Template (Free PDF + App)

What is an electrician punch list?

The list of everything electrical that isn't done or isn't right at the end of the job. Some of it is yours: the crooked plate in the hallway, the dimmer that flickers at 20%, the panel directory that still says "lights" six times. Some of it is what other trades did to your work after you left: the painted-over devices, the buried junction box behind the pantry shelving.

Electrical punch is different from most trades in one important way. Half of it isn't visible. An owner can see a wavy paint line; they can't see an untorqued lug, a missing AFCI, or a bootleg neutral in a subpanel. Which means the electrical punch list has to carry its own verification steps (trip every GFCI, test every receptacle, flip every three-way from both ends), because nobody downstream is going to catch what you skip. The inspector catches some of it. The rest waits for a service call with your company's name on the original permit.

The template on this page is 33 items in five groups, ordered roughly the way an electrical final actually runs: panel first, then devices, lighting, life safety, and the labeling-and-paperwork pass at the end. It leans residential to light-commercial. Prune what doesn't apply, add what your jurisdiction is picky about, and keep the structure.

What goes on an electrician's punch list

Service, Panels & Breakers

Panel directory typed or printed, every breaker identified by load. No "lights" times six. Each circuit named by room and load per NEC 408.4; handwritten pencil on the door sticker fails most commercial finals.
Lugs and breaker terminations torqued to spec and marked. Torque to manufacturer label values with a torque screwdriver, witness mark each lug. Inspectors are asking for this since NEC 110.14(D).
Open knockouts plugged, unused breaker spaces filled with blanks. KO seals in every open knockout, filler plates in every unused space. No openings into the enclosure, dead front closes flush.
Working clearance at panels maintained, nothing stored in front. 30" wide, 36" deep, 6'6" headroom per NEC 110.26. Shelving, water lines, and duct in the clearance zone are a fail; flag it now, not at final.
Grounding electrode system complete; bonding jumpers at water and gas. GEC landed and accessible, intersystem bonding termination installed, water pipe and CSST bonding jumpers sized and clamped per NEC 250.
Neutrals and grounds separated in subpanels; one neutral per terminal. Bonding screw removed in subpanels, isolated neutral bar, no doubled neutrals under one lug. The most common panel correction on resale inspections.
Panel, disconnect, and meter labeled with voltage, source, and arc-flash where required. Available fault current and date marked at service equipment per NEC 110.24; multi-panel jobs get "fed from" labels on every can.

Devices & Trim

Devices plumb, tight to the wall, plates flush with no drywall gaps. No cocked receptacles, no proud plates riding on texture, no paint on devices. Oversize gaps get box extenders, not caulk.
Every receptacle tested for polarity, ground, and tension. Plug tester in every opening: hot/neutral correct, ground present. Replace any device with a worn contact grip while the ladder is out.
Three-way and four-way switching verified from every location. Walk the stairs and hallways, flip every combination. A dead traveler found by the homeowner is a warranty truck roll.
Device and plate color, style, and orientation consistent per spec. No mixed ivory and white on the same wall, Decora vs toggle per finish schedule, all switches oriented the same way.
Range, dryer, and appliance receptacles correct NEMA config and secured. Verify 14-50/14-30 as specified, cord strain reliefs tight, disposal and dishwasher connections boxed and clamped, not wire-nutted in the cabinet air.
Exterior receptacles in-use covers installed and gasketed. Extra-duty while-in-use covers on all wet-location receptacles, WR-rated devices, gaskets seated, box sealed to the siding.
Low-voltage trim complete: data, TV, doorbell terminated and tested. Jacks toned and labeled, wall plates on, doorbell transformer landed and chime verified. Abandoned stubs coiled and blanked, not hanging.

Lighting Fixtures & Controls

Fixtures installed per lighting schedule, correct model and finish. Check the schedule against what actually got hung. Substitutions signed off in writing before the final walk, not argued during it.
Lamps consistent color temperature per room, all burning. No 2700K next to 5000K in the same ceiling. Every lamp energized at the walk; replace any DOA before the owner finds it.
Recessed trims seated tight to ceiling, aligned in rows. No light leaks at the trim ring, no crooked gimbals, wafer springs fully engaged. Sight down the row; misalignment reads instantly.
Dimmers verified compatible with LED loads, no flicker or drop-out. Run every dimmer full range. Flicker at the bottom end means a compatibility or minimum-load issue; fix it now, this is the number one lighting callback.
Ceiling fans balanced, no wobble, controls function on all speeds. Fan-rated boxes confirmed at rough are trimmed with blades level, canopy tight, remote or wall control paired and labeled.
Exterior lighting aimed and photocells, timers, motion sensors set. Floods aimed at grade targets not neighbor windows, photocell tested with the cover trick, timer set to actual time and season.
Under-cabinet and closet lighting complete, drivers concealed and accessible. Tape light ends capped, channels clipped in, drivers reachable without demo, closet fixtures meeting clearance to shelf per NEC 410.16.

GFCI, AFCI & Life Safety

GFCI protection at all required locations, tested with trip button. Kitchens, baths, garage, exterior, laundry, unfinished basement per NEC 210.8. Trip and reset every device; verify downstream loads actually drop.
AFCI protection on required branch circuits, no nuisance tripping. Bedroom and living-area circuits per NEC 210.12. Run vacuum and treadmill-type loads before the walk; chase shared-neutral trips now.
GFCI-protected and AFCI-protected labels on downstream receptacles. "GFCI Protected" and "No Equipment Ground" stickers where required; label the protected receptacles fed from an upstream device.
Smoke and CO alarms installed, interconnected, battery backup verified. One in each bedroom, outside sleeping areas, every level. Press-test one and confirm all sound; pull the breaker and confirm battery carry-over.
Tamper-resistant receptacles in all dwelling locations per code. TR devices throughout the dwelling per NEC 406.12. Any legacy stock installed by mistake gets swapped before final.
Exit signs and emergency lighting tested on battery (commercial). 90-second test button hold on every unit, heads aimed at the egress path, charge indicator lit. AHJ will test these first.

Labeling, Testing & Closeout

Every circuit load-tested and verified against the panel directory. Toner or breaker-flip verification room by room. The directory has to match reality, not the plan set from six revisions ago.
Insulation resistance and voltage-drop checks on feeders where specified. Megger feeders and record readings if the spec calls for it; commercial closeout packages want the numbers, not a verbal "it tested fine."
All junction boxes accessible and covered, no buried splices. Attic, crawl, and above-ceiling j-boxes have covers on and stay reachable. A buried splice found later is a code violation with your name on it.
Fire-rated and exterior penetrations sealed at electrical entries. Firestop putty or sealant at rated assemblies, exterior penetrations caulked and foamed. Photograph before cover; you will be asked.
Wire scrap, KO slugs, and packaging cleaned from panels and site. Vacuum the panel can, pull the cardboard and lamp boxes, sweep the room. Sloppy trash next to a clean panel still reads as a sloppy electrician.
Test reports, as-builts, and fixture O&M turned over; final inspection passed. Green tag or final sign-off from the AHJ, panel schedule copy, breaker and fixture warranties, and any megger/ground-rod readings in the closeout package.

How to use this template

Run it twice. That's the whole method.

First pass: your own trim-out walk, the day trim finishes and before anyone else sees the job. One person, one afternoon, plug tester in one pocket and a roll of blank labels in the other. Work the template top to bottom, panel to plates. Everything you find on this pass costs you a labor hour. Everything you don't find costs you a labor hour plus a scheduling dance with the GC plus your standing on the next bid.

Second pass: closing the GC's list. After the formal walk, the GC hands you the electrical items from the master punch. Merge them into the same list, one owner and one status per item, and photograph each fix as you close it. The photo habit matters more in electrical than anywhere else: "the GFCI in the garage trips fine" is an argument, a timestamped photo of the tester in the receptacle is a closed item.

Three trade-specific habits that pay for themselves:

Do the panel directory last, from the field, not from the plans. Circuits move during a job. A directory typed from the as-designed drawings is wrong the day it's printed. Verify by flipping or toning, then print it.
Never hand back a "fixed" AFCI/GFCI item without a load test. Resetting a tripped breaker isn't a fix. Find what tripped it, run that same load again, and note what you found.
Photograph everything that gets covered. Firestop at penetrations, j-boxes above hard lids, splices in accessible-but-hidden spots. When the question comes up in two years, you want a photo, not a memory.

Frequently asked questions

What do inspectors flag most at an electrical final?: The boring stuff, not the wiring. Missing panel directory or one that says "plugs" five times. Open knockouts. Missing GFCI protection at one forgotten location, usually the garage fridge receptacle or the laundry sink. Smoke alarms not interconnected. And working clearance: someone set a water heater or shelving in front of the panel after rough. This template front-loads those items because they are cheap to fix Tuesday and expensive to fix at the final.
Who closes electrical punch items, the GC or the electrician?: The electrician closes them, the GC tracks them. On most jobs the GC or superintendent writes the master punch list at the walk, and every item tagged electrical lands back on the EC to correct. Where it gets contentious is cross-trade damage: the painter who sprayed over your devices, the trim carpenter who buried a box. Settle whose labor fixes those before the walk, because after the walk everyone's memory gets conveniently short.
What is the difference between rough-in inspection items and punch list items?: Rough-in items are code corrections caught before cover: box fill, nail plates, staple spacing, AFCI/GFCI circuiting. Those get fixed or the drywall doesn't hang. Punch list items are what's left at trim-out and final: devices, plates, fixtures, labeling, testing, cleanup. This template is the trim and final side. If you're still finding rough-in problems at punch, you have a bigger process issue than a checklist can solve.
Do I really need to torque-mark panel terminations?: If the AHJ enforces NEC 110.14(D), yes, and more of them do every cycle. Manufacturer torque values are printed on the panel label, the tool is a $60 torque screwdriver, and a witness mark takes two seconds per lug. Even where it isn't enforced, a torqued and marked panel is the cheapest credibility you can buy at a final, and loose lugs are a real fire cause, not a theoretical one.
Can I use this template on my phone?: Yes. The PDF works on any phone for read-only reference. The Google Sheets version is editable in the mobile Sheets app. If you want what the app was actually built for (a photo per item, assignment to your apprentice or the GC, offline sync in a building with no signal), download Punch List for iOS or Android. The app is free.