Is Your Punch List Process Up-To-Date?

Is there a really good way to do a Punch List nowadays? 

Making a punch list of needed construction corrections started out as hand written lists. The list was shared. The architect showed his agreement with the completion of an item by punching a hole in the paper with his unique punch. You see where the process got its name. 

The criteria for a modern version of the process would seem to need:

• Capture the what, where and who
  
• Filter out completed items
  
• Sort by trade and location for ease of use
  
• Paperless (as much as possible)
  
• Allow comments/questions
  
• Allow photos
  
• Support authoring 
  
• Familiar
  

Several possible tools come to mind - Excel, Word, Evernote, Nozbe, Basecamp, FileMaker, apps like Punchlist.
All of these can manage a list. The challenge is finding a tool that doesn't require a purchase or a learning curve for the contractors or for you. Those criteria eliminate most of the tools above as well as the possibility of interactivity and the need for authoring. 

If you already use Basecamp for project management, Basecamp would work pretty well as an all-electronic punch list. Otherwise, I think the old standbys, Excel and Word, or their equivalents, are the solution. Of these two, the spreadsheet offers better filtering and sorting. Our Punch List system needs updating with some of the thoughts here. But if you set up a spreadsheet like this example, you can write items on printouts by hand on a walk-through or by typing them in on a tablet (I can't manage that when I have ’company’). The columns of the spreadsheet let you cover the 'what', 'where' and 'who'. 

Take letter sized floor plans along on the walk-through for  documenting the correct room number as you go. You can also have a 'Comments' column to store remarks or links to photos where a photo would help understanding. Dropbox, Evernote and Google Drive all support links to photos stored in them. 

When an item is complete, place a 'Y' in the checkmark column and then filter for 'not Y' to see what is left to do. Distribution is old school, just send the completed list as a PDF by email.

Do you have a Punch List system you would like to share

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