Switched to a digital punch list app for my Boston project and cut closeout time by 40%

I used to do all my punch lists on paper, walking around with a clipboard and a pen. For a 12-story condo build in Boston, that meant 3 weeks of chasing down subs and rewriting notes. Two months ago I switched to a simple app where I snap a photo, tag the trade, and assign it right there. The closeout process took 10 days instead of 3 weeks. Has anyone else seen a big time savings from going digital on punch lists?

3 comments

3 Comments

dianaanderson20d ago

I read a piece in Fine Homebuilding a few months back about a crew in Chicago that cut their punch list time in half just by using a simple tablet on site... they said the biggest thing was not having to walk back to the truck to find the right form or squint at handwritten notes that smeared in the rain. For us, the photo thing is huge too - I had a sub try to argue a fix was done, but I pulled up the picture with the timestamp and the crack still showing. That alone saved a whole day of back and forth, easy.

sarah81819d ago

We started doing the same thing on our jobs about a year ago and it was a game changer. The photo timestamp thing saved my butt more than once with subs who tried to claim they fixed something that was clearly still jacked up. I also started using a simple checklist app on my phone instead of paper forms because I got tired of losing them or having them get wet. Now when we walk a job, I can mark stuff done right there and it updates on the crew's end instantly. It cuts down on all those stupid arguments about what was said or written.

parker18319d ago

Dang, @sarah818, you nailed it with the checklist app thing. I started doing that too and it's wild how much time it saves not having to chase down paper forms that got wet or lost in the truck. The instant update part is key too, my crew used to act like they never got the memo about a fix, now it's right there on their phones and they can't dodge it. That instant feedback loop really cuts down on the back and forth, makes everyone way more accountable.