General Contractor Punch List Template

What is a general contractor punch list?

Honest version: it's the list of leftover stuff. Items that aren't done. Items that are done but done wrong. The cabinet door someone hung 1/8" proud of its neighbor. Anything an owner could reasonably push back on at the final walk, plus the things you spotted yourself and haven't had time to fix yet.

Most residential jobs end up with about 40 items on the formal list. Could be 10 on a small remodel, 200 on a big custom. The count isn't really the point. What matters is that until every item closes, the owner doesn't sign off, the lender doesn't release retainage, and your working capital is parked in somebody else's account.

Who writes the initial list depends on the contract. AIA work, the architect leads the substantial-completion walk and you follow with a clipboard. Residential without an architect, the owner walks with you (and an owner with a clipboard is a different animal than an architect with one, different things bother them). Either version, every item still closes on the GC.

The dollar reason this matters. Retainage on most contracts is 5 to 10% of every progress draw, held until punch list completion. On a $400K residential job that's roughly $25K parked. AIA paperwork attaches the punch list to G704 (the Certificate of Substantial Completion) and the architect's signature on G704 unlocks the held money. Non-AIA residential is fuzzier on the mechanism, but the bank or title company is going to ask for the closed list before final funds release anyway. There is no version of this where you skip the list and just send a final invoice.

The template on this page is 40 items across six phases, ordered roughly the way you'd walk a building. Foundation out: envelope, MEP, finishes, fixtures, then the phase nobody puts on the schedule, which is paperwork. Use it as a starting point. There is no universal punch list, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling something.

What goes on a GC's punch list

When to create the punch list

Substantial completion is the formal trigger. That's when, contractually, the punch list begins.

Reality: you've been keeping a punch list since the project hit 90% complete and you started seeing the finish line. You just weren't calling it that yet.

Whatever you call it (people use "internal punch", "QC list", "the bullshit list", same thing), walk the building once a week as the trades clear out. By the time the architect or owner shows up for the formal substantial-completion walk, the obvious stuff should already be gone. What's left for the formal walk are the judgement calls. That's exactly what you want.

Rule of thumb: a real pre-walk takes a half day. The formal walk should take an hour, two on a big house. If your formal walk runs all day, your pre-walk was theater.

A few things that take a couple of jobs to learn:

• Walk every job in the same order. Doesn't matter what order, just that it's yours. By punch ten you'll have a mental loop and you'll stop missing the same kinds of things over and over. Every house has repeat offenders, exterior caulk at siding penetrations and attic access weatherstrip are the usual suspects.
• Photograph every item as you write it down. Phone camera is fine. It doesn't have to be pretty, it has to be defensible six weeks later when a sub is telling you, with a straight face, that he never did the work. Timestamp plus a recognizable wall behind it ends that conversation.
• "Yeah I'll get to it" is not a tracked item. If a correction isn't on a list with a name and a date next to it, it does not exist. Subs aren't malicious, they're just busy, and they forget. Your job is to make forgetting impossible.

Who is responsible for each item

Roles, who's actually on the hook:

• The list belongs to the GC. Period. You're the single throat to choke on every item, even items a sub caused. Not fair. Read your contract, that's how it reads. The homeowner with a problem at 9am the day after closing is calling you, not the painter.
• Subs own their trade items. Electrical issues are the electrician's. Plumbing is the plumber's. Cross-trade damage is the grey zone, the appliance install that scratched the cabinet, the trim sub that gouged a freshly painted wall. Settle that kind of thing before the final walk, because nobody pays graciously after.
• On AIA jobs the architect calls aesthetics and spec. Whether a finish reads as visible from four feet. Whether a substitution flies. Whether that paint touch-up is good enough or needs a full coat. Architect's call, not yours, not the owner's.
• The owner accepts. They sign the final list, retainage releases, warranty clock starts. Owners are not, in general, patient about a second back-check walk when items from the first walk weren't closed.

One name per item. Always. If a punch line reads "subs" or "GC" generically, it isn't actually tracked, it's a wish. Eight times out of ten the item that gets stuck at closeout is the one nobody specifically owns.

Punch list vs snag list vs deficiency list

Same document, different names depending on where you work:

• Punch list. US, universal. Sometimes written "punchlist" with no space. Story you'll hear: the name comes from old paper lists where each closed item got a hole punched through it. Probably true. Probably also a little apocryphal. Doesn't matter.
• Snag list. UK, Ireland, Australia. Same document, different word. On a Commonwealth job site you'll see "snag list" on every closeout doc.
• Deficiency list. Architect-speak. Shows up in spec books and AIA paperwork, often alongside "punch list", referring to the same items. Some contracts use the two interchangeably, others reserve "deficiency list" for a narrower set of contract-level nonconformances. Read your contract before you assume.

Whichever name your market uses, the work doesn't change. Walk the building. Write down what isn't done or isn't right. Put a name and a date on every line. Close them. Sign off.

Frequently asked questions

What should be on a GC punch list?

Anything incomplete or out of spec at substantial completion. Our template groups them into six buckets: site/exterior, structure and envelope, MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing), interior finishes, fixtures and hardware, closeout paperwork. The 40 items here are one fully built example, residential to light-commercial. Your real list will be shorter or longer depending on what you actually built. 40 isn't magic, it's just roughly what tends to clear on a typical job.

Who creates the punch list?

Depends on the contract. AIA work, the architect leads the substantial-completion walk and writes the initial list. Residential without an architect, you and the owner do it together. After that initial list is set, it's the GC's job: assign each item, track status, walk back through with whoever signed off the original list to close it. The owner doesn't track the list. The architect doesn't track the list. You do.

How is a punch list tied to final payment and retainage?

Most contracts hold back 5 to 10% of every progress draw, called retainage. That money releases when the punch list closes, not before. Every open item is your money in someone else's account. Closing the list quickly is mostly a cashflow play, which is also why a mobile list with a photo per item closes meaningfully faster than paper. Less back-and-forth on 'did you actually do that', fewer rounds of dispute, faster signoff.

Is a punch list required for substantial completion?

On AIA, yes. G704 explicitly requires a punch list attachment to the Certificate of Substantial Completion. Non-AIA residential is contract-by-contract, but the lender or title company will almost always ask for the closed list before releasing final funds. There isn't a shortcut here, expect to produce a closed punch list before final money moves.

Punch list vs snag list: what is the difference?

'Punch list' is the US term. 'Snag list' is what they call it in the UK, Ireland, and Australia. Same document either way. 'Deficiency list' shows up in architect-written specs and means roughly the same thing, with some contracts using it for a narrower subset of contract-level nonconformances. In real-world usage they're interchangeable.

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 (photo per item, sub assignments, offline sync on a job site with no signal), download Punch List for iOS or Android. The app is free.