Closeout is won in week one, not the last month. This checklist covers the documents that usually have to be collected before you can hand a job over: O&M manuals, warranties, as-builts, extra stock, tests, punch, and training records, plus a few related items that hold up final payment if they are missing.

It is a starting point, not an industry standard, and it does not replace the closeout section of your contract or the owner’s or GC’s required list. If those ask for something this list does not, follow the contract. The copyable checklist is in templates/H7-04-closeout-checklist.md. Put a copy in 14_Closeout on day one and check items off as they appear, not in one long hunt after demobilization.

How to use it from day one

Treat the checklist as a running inventory, not a last-month form.

  • Start it at mobilization, even if almost every row is blank.
  • When a submittal comes back that will later serve as product data or an O&M, mark it and drop a copy into closeout then.
  • Request warranties on a schedule tied to installation and substantial completion, while the sub is still on site.
  • Collect as-built markups while the work is still visible. Reconstructing a consolidated as-built from memory is much harder.
  • Record attic stock, extra materials, keys, and training on the day they are turned over, with a name and a date.
  • Treat punch the same way: a list, a status, and a record of what was closed.

If you start late, use the same list to find the gaps. Check off what you already have, then build a dated missing-items list by sub and by document type. A general email that says “please send closeout” almost never finishes the folder. More on that approach is in “Closeout Prep Before the Scramble.”

What the list covers, and what it does not

The template groups items into:

  • Project closeout requirements (the contract list, the certificate of substantial completion, certificate of occupancy if it applies, final punch)
  • Record drawings and as-builts
  • O&M manuals and product data
  • Warranties and guarantees
  • Tests, inspections, commissioning, and startup
  • Training and demonstration records
  • Extra stock, attic stock, keys, and specialty tools
  • Final pay application, final waivers, and consent of surety if a bond is involved

Arizona payment and waiver paperwork is its own monthly habit; see Arizona Pay App and Lien Waiver Packet Checklist. This closeout list only reminds you that the final package has to be complete too. None of this is legal advice, and none of it guarantees release of retention. Contracts differ. Some owners want a portal, binders, or a USB drive. Package the same documents in the form they asked for, and keep a copy in your own Google Drive or Dropbox job file. Procore can facilitate a closeout checklist and give you a place to upload the package. A dated folder and this checklist reach the same goal, as long as someone actually uses them.

I cannot invent a warranty a sub never issued. What the checklist can do is make the holes visible early, while there is still someone on site to fill them.

If you want help building the package

You can run this list yourself. If the folder is already thin, or you want closeout collected along the way as part of a retainer, I can prepare the package, chase the dated missing-items list, and keep a copy in your file. Job file setup or a retainer is available if the rest of the record needs to catch up.

If you want me to take a look, bring the contract’s closeout section if you have it, and show me the current closeout folder, even if it is empty. The files stay yours.

If you want help, not just a checklist

Some jobs run fine on a clean file and a superintendent who gives the log fifteen minutes twice a week. Others do not: revisions are moving fast, closeout is already behind, or the field simply has no hours left for paperwork.

That is where I come in. I set up the job file, run the logs on a retainer, or prepare closeout before the scramble starts. Your files stay yours, and there is no software contract to sign.

Email travis@builtonrecord.com Get the free Job File Kit