What plumbing items fail final inspection most often?

T&P discharge piping is the perennial number one: wrong size, uphill runs, threaded end, or terminating somewhere illegal. After that it's missing expansion tanks on closed systems, unstrapped water heaters in seismic country, missing air gaps or high loops at dishwashers, and dry or missing traps at floor drains. None of these are hard fixes. All of them are embarrassing to fix twice, which is why they each get their own line in this template.

When should the plumber run their own punch walk?

After trim-out is complete and water is on, before the GC's formal walk. Run every fixture, flush every toilet, dump every drain, then get eyes below the work while it's all flowing. Finding your own leak on Wednesday costs a fitting. The GC finding it at the owner walk costs a fitting plus your reputation on the next bid list. Most service departments will tell you the week-one callback list is just the punch walk nobody did.

Who is responsible for fixture damage found at punch?

Whoever the evidence says, which is why you photograph everything at set and again at trim. A chipped sink discovered at punch turns into a three-way argument between the plumber, the counter guys, and the painters. Timestamped photos of an undamaged fixture at rough-set end that argument in one text message. If you set fixtures without photographing them, you are volunteering to split the cost of other people's accidents.

What pressure and temperature should I record at closeout?

Static water pressure at a hose bibb (code wants 80 psi max into the house; note the PRV setting if there is one), water heater setpoint (120F is the standard handoff unless spec says otherwise), and hot-water arrival time at the furthest fixture. Writing these three numbers on the closeout sheet takes two minutes and settles most 'the water pressure seems low' and 'the shower takes forever to get hot' warranty conversations before they start.

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 basement mechanical room with no signal), download Punch List for iOS or Android. The app is free.

Plumber Punch List Template (Free PDF + App)

What is a plumbing punch list?

Everything wet that isn't finished or isn't right at the end of the job. The lav faucet that drips at the handle when you shut it off hard. The toilet that rocks a quarter inch. The floor drain trap that's been dry since rough-in and is about to introduce the owner to sewer gas on move-in weekend.

Plumbing punch has a nasty property the other trades don't deal with: your failures involve water, and water travels. A missed paint spot stays a missed paint spot. A weeping trap connection above a finished ceiling becomes a drywall repair, a paint repair, sometimes a flooring repair, plus your fitting. That's why a real plumbing punch walk isn't a visual inspection, it's a functional test. Everything gets run, filled, flushed, and drained while somebody looks underneath.

The template on this page is 32 items in five groups, ordered the way you'd actually trim and test a house: fixtures first, then supply, DWV, the water heater, and a final trim-and-paperwork pass. It's written residential to light-commercial. Cut what doesn't apply, add your local inspector's pet items, keep the test steps.

What goes on a plumber's punch list

Fixtures

Fixtures match the approved schedule, correct model and finish. Check what got set against the fixture cut sheets. A chrome trim kit in a brushed-nickel bathroom is a pull-and-replace, catch it before the owner does.
Toilets set solid, caulked, no rock, tank bolts snug. No movement when you sit-test the bowl, caulk bead at the base per local practice, supply stop accessible, tank not weeping at the bolts.
Every toilet flush-tested: full flapper seal, fill valve shuts off clean. Run three flushes each. Ghost-filling ten minutes later means a leaking flapper; that is a callback in week one if you skip it.
Faucets operate smoothly, no drips at spout or handles under pressure. Cycle hot and cold full range, check the base and handle stems dry, verify cartridge orientation so hot is actually on the left.
Sink baskets and lav drains sealed, pop-ups adjusted and holding water. Fill and hold every bowl, then drain and check the trap and tailpiece connections dry with a paper towel, not a flashlight glance.
Tub and shower valves within temperature limit stop range, trim tight. Anti-scald limit stops set (120F max at the tub spout is the usual target), escutcheons caulked, diverters sending full flow to the head.
Shower pans and tub overflows flood-tested with no weeping. Stopper the drain, fill above the strainer, hold 15 minutes. Check the overflow gasket with the tub full; a dry ceiling below is the pass.
Dishwasher, ice maker, and disposal connected, run one full cycle. High loop or air gap on the DW drain per local code, ice maker line flushed before connection, disposal free of the knockout plug rattle.

Water Supply & Distribution

Static pressure verified 40 to 80 psi; PRV set and recorded. Gauge it at a hose bibb. Over 80 psi needs a pressure-reducing valve per code; note the reading on the closeout sheet, the warranty guys will want it.
Angle stops at every fixture: accessible, operable, not seeping. Turn every stop through a full cycle. A frozen or weeping stop is exactly what the owner grabs during their first 2am leak.
Hose bibbs frost-free where required, secured, vacuum breakers on. Anchored to blocking, sloped to drain, backflow protection installed. Cycle each one; a bibb that hammers when closed needs attention now.
No water hammer at quick-closing valves; arrestors installed where needed. Slam-test the washer box and dishwasher. Banging pipes get arrestors or strapping before closeout, not a "they all do that."
Main shutoff accessible, operable, and labeled for the owner. Full-port valve turns without a wrench, tagged, and the owner is shown where it is at walkthrough. Put it in the closeout photos.
PEX manifold runs labeled; hot/cold not crossed anywhere. Run hot at every fixture and confirm it arrives on the correct side. One crossed connection at a lav shows up as lukewarm water half the house away.

Drain, Waste & Vent

Every drain flow-tested full-bore, no gurgle, no slow swirl. Fill and dump every fixture. Gurgling is a venting problem, slow swirl is a slope or blockage problem; both are cheaper to chase before the owner moves in.
All traps holding water including floor drains and remote fixtures. Prime every floor drain and rarely used fixture. A dry trap is the number one "sewer smell" service call and it costs you a truck roll to pour a bucket of water.
Cleanouts accessible with caps on, not buried behind finishes. Every cleanout reachable, plugs threaded in with thread sealant, cover plates on interior cleanouts. Note locations for the closeout package.
DWV joints dry at pan check: run all fixtures, inspect below. With everything draining at once, flashlight every accessible joint in the crawl or basement. Water stains on the subfloor now beat a ceiling repair in 90 days.
Vent terminations clear, flashed, and legal height above roof. Boots sealed, no sags trapping condensate, terminations the code distance from windows and intakes. Confirm nobody capped a vent during roofing.
Sump and sewage ejector pumps cycle-tested, check valves holding, lids sealed. Fill the pit, watch a full pump-down, listen for check-valve slam, confirm the gasketed lid and vent on sewage ejectors are tight.

Water Heater & Equipment

T&P relief valve piped to approved termination, right size, no threads on end. Full-size discharge, gravity fall, terminates within 6" of the floor or to the exterior per local code. The most-flagged water heater item in most jurisdictions.
Seismic straps and drain pan installed where required, pan piped to drain. Two straps in seismic zones, upper and lower thirds. Pan under any heater above living space with the drain actually routed somewhere legal.
Expansion tank installed on closed systems, precharged to line pressure. Required with a PRV or check-metered service. Thumb-check the charge with a gauge, not by tapping it; set to static pressure before water is on.
Water heater fired, temperature set, hot water confirmed at furthest fixture. Set to 120F unless spec says otherwise, time the hot-water arrival at the far bathroom and note it; recirc pump aligned and running if installed.
Gas heater venting sloped and sealed; combustion air openings clear. Proper rise on B-vent, connectors screwed, no flue spillage at the draft hood after 5 minutes of burn. PVC on power vents glued and supported.
Gas connections leak-tested at every appliance, drip legs installed. Bubble-test or manometer every union, valve, and flex connector you touched. Sediment traps at the heater, range, and dryer per code.

Trim & Closeout

Escutcheons on every penetration, tight to finished surfaces. Supply and drain penetrations at every fixture covered, split rings closed, nothing spinning loose. Bare caulked holes are a finish item you own.
Aerators pulled, lines flushed of debris, aerators reinstalled. Solder beads and PEX shavings end up in aerators and shower cartridges. Flush hot and cold at every faucet, then reinstall and check flow.
Caulk joints at fixtures clean and continuous, color matched. Tub-to-tile, counter-to-backsplash at sinks, toilet bases. Neat tooled beads; the caulk line is what the owner sees, not your pipe work.
Protective film and stickers removed, fixtures cleaned, no tool marks. Film off the stainless sink, sticker residue off the toilet bowls, no channel-lock teeth marks on chrome. Buff and check under raking light.
Shutoffs, recirc timer, and hose bibb stops labeled and demonstrated. Tag the main, the heater cold inlet, irrigation tee, and any zone valves. Walk the owner through them; it saves your winter freeze-call volume.
Final inspection passed; warranties, pressure readings, and fixture docs turned over. AHJ final signed, water heater warranty registered, PRV and static pressure readings recorded, fixture manuals and spare cartridge info in the closeout package.

How to use this template

The core rule: run water through everything before anyone with a clipboard shows up. A plumbing punch list you filled out without opening valves is fiction.

Do your own walk at trim-out complete, water on. Bring a helper. One of you upstairs running fixtures, one below with a flashlight watching joints. Fill every bowl and let it dump, flush every toilet three times, run hot to the furthest fixture and time it. The template is ordered so you can do this in one loop through the house without doubling back.

Then close the GC's list as a separate pass. Whatever the formal walk produces, fold it into the same tracked list, one name and one date per item. Photograph every fix at the moment you close it. In plumbing, the photo that matters most is often the "before": the undamaged sink at set, the dry subfloor under a repaired joint. That's your defense when damage appears later and everyone looks at the trade who touched water.

Three habits worth stealing:

Prime every trap on your way out. Floor drains, basement showers, laundry standpipes on unused floors. Thirty seconds with a bucket kills the most common "the house smells like sewer" callback outright.
Write down three numbers at closeout: static pressure at a hose bibb, water heater setpoint, hot-water arrival time at the far bathroom. They end most pressure and "takes forever to get hot" warranty calls before they start.
Label like the owner is a stranger, because they are. Main shutoff, heater inlet, irrigation tee, washer box. The freeze-night phone call goes a lot better when the answer is "turn the red-tagged valve."

Frequently asked questions

What plumbing items fail final inspection most often?: T&P discharge piping is the perennial number one: wrong size, uphill runs, threaded end, or terminating somewhere illegal. After that it's missing expansion tanks on closed systems, unstrapped water heaters in seismic country, missing air gaps or high loops at dishwashers, and dry or missing traps at floor drains. None of these are hard fixes. All of them are embarrassing to fix twice, which is why they each get their own line in this template.
When should the plumber run their own punch walk?: After trim-out is complete and water is on, before the GC's formal walk. Run every fixture, flush every toilet, dump every drain, then get eyes below the work while it's all flowing. Finding your own leak on Wednesday costs a fitting. The GC finding it at the owner walk costs a fitting plus your reputation on the next bid list. Most service departments will tell you the week-one callback list is just the punch walk nobody did.
Who is responsible for fixture damage found at punch?: Whoever the evidence says, which is why you photograph everything at set and again at trim. A chipped sink discovered at punch turns into a three-way argument between the plumber, the counter guys, and the painters. Timestamped photos of an undamaged fixture at rough-set end that argument in one text message. If you set fixtures without photographing them, you are volunteering to split the cost of other people's accidents.
What pressure and temperature should I record at closeout?: Static water pressure at a hose bibb (code wants 80 psi max into the house; note the PRV setting if there is one), water heater setpoint (120F is the standard handoff unless spec says otherwise), and hot-water arrival time at the furthest fixture. Writing these three numbers on the closeout sheet takes two minutes and settles most 'the water pressure seems low' and 'the shower takes forever to get hot' warranty conversations before they start.
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 basement mechanical room with no signal), download Punch List for iOS or Android. The app is free.