A mid-job superintendent change is one of the fastest ways to lose a record. The new person inherits a truck full of paper, a phone full of photos, and an inbox they were not copied on. Unless the job file is official, current, and somewhere they can open on day one, the project quietly resets to whatever they can find.

You do not need a long closeout-style binder to prevent that. You need a current set, honest logs, a list of what is still open, and access that does not depend on the departing person’s personal account.

Make the official file the official file before anyone leaves

Do this while the outgoing superintendent is still available, even if only for a day.

  • Confirm 02_Drawings_Current is actually current, and that superseded sheets are in 03_Drawings_Superseded.
  • Confirm the RFI and submittal logs are updated through today, with open items obvious: who has the ball, what is late, and whether the field received answers that changed the work.
  • File stray PDFs out of email, the Downloads folder, and the truck. If a bulletin only lives in the outgoing super’s inbox, it does not exist for the incoming one.
  • Put photos and dailies into their folders, at least for the last few weeks and for any area still open. A file the new person can trust going forward matters more than a perfect historical cleanup.
  • Check that the README still states the current-set rule, the naming convention, and who may replace drawings.

If the job folder still lives in the outgoing person’s My Drive or personal Dropbox, move it into a company shared drive or team folder before they lose access.

Turn over access, not just a password

Add the incoming superintendent to the shared drive or team folder with the right role: usually view and download on the current set, and whatever upload rights they need for photos and dailies, without making them one more person who can overwrite official drawings, unless that is truly their job.

Remove the outgoing person’s access the same week they leave, just as you would collect keys. If they used a personal Google or Dropbox login, confirm the company still owns the files after that login is gone.

Have the new person open 02_Drawings_Current on their phone, make it offline if needed, and find the RFI log, before their first morning on site. If they cannot do that in the office, they will not do it in the sun. See “Making the Current Set Obvious on a Phone.”

Walk the open work, not the whole history

A good turnover is short and specific. Sit down, in person or on a call, with the folder open, and walk:

  1. What is current, and where the binding RFIs and recent ASIs sit next to the drawings.
  2. Every open RFI and submittal, especially anything that affects upcoming pours, cover-up, inspections, or long-lead materials.
  3. Handshake changes that are not yet in writing. If there are any, write them down now, even as a draft in 08_Change_Orders.
  4. Known issues in the closeout folder: missing warranties, O&Ms, or as-builts you are already chasing.
  5. Who the official contacts are, and who has the ball with the design team and the owner.

You do not need to narrate every closed RFI from month one. You need the new superintendent to know what can still hurt the job this week, and where the record lives. If the outgoing person will not be available, write that same list into a one-page turnover note in the root of the job file. A note in a text thread is not a turnover.

If the file is already a mess when the new person arrives

Start with the current set and the open items, not with a historical refile of the entire job. Get today’s drawings into one folder, get the open RFIs and submittals onto a sheet, get the new person access on their phone, and go forward correctly. Then backfill only what the next pour, the next pay app, or a live dispute actually needs.

I can help with a mid-job turnover: cleaning the current set, standing up the logs, transferring access, and, if you want, running the file on a retainer so the record does not depend on one person again. Closeout support is available if the job is far enough along that the scramble has already started.

If you want me to take a look, bring the current folder and a list of what is still open. I will give you a straight answer on what has to happen before the new superintendent’s first pour. 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