4-Step Hotel Punch Out

Punch lists on a hotel project pose a unique set of challenges primarily because the floor plans are repeated on every floor, the rooms all look the same as you walk through them, and, more often than not, there’s no operational elevator.

All this can lead to a lot of unnecessary running around.

After going through the closeout process for a 10-story hotel, I realized several best practices that would help me avoid inefficiencies and minimize the amount of time spent coordinating. I’ve narrowed the process down to these four fool-proof steps.

1. Plan — with checklists of common deficiencies

Due to the identical designs the rooms and floors share, many deficiencies you find in one area are going to be present in multiple areas, as well. Create a checklist of common deficiencies to look for in each room. Then, before the planned punch walk with your client and design team, duplicate the checklist for each room on the floor plan to ensure you’re checking each room for the same issues.

2. Record - deficiencies with all relevant details

During the punch walk, go through your checklists with your design team and client. If there are any deficiencies outside of the checklist, record those, too!

Make sure to document the deficiencies’ locations, note which subcontractors are responsible for addressing, and take lots of photos. Be as specific as possible — all rooms will start to look the same after a while. The goal of recording punch items is to communicate issues to subcontractors -- to minimize the confusion of what needs to be fixed and to maximize the efficiency of your sub when they’re on site.

3. Share - open punch items or observations with subs and client

Now that you’ve wrapped up your punch walk, head back to the office and generate a report of all the open punch items.

Because you added details to each issue when you were creating the punch items, you’ll have everything you need to send a list to the appropriate parties. Create individual reports with open tasks for each specialty contractor.

In addition to sending reports to your subs, send your clients a list of open items so they have a clear understanding of progress and remaining issues.

4. Track - progress and completion of open items

The last and hardest step of punch is tracking open items. This step is easier if you’ve been diligent during the first three steps!

Have subs take photos and notify your team of completed items. Of course, with a project site as large as a hotel, it can be hard to find all your subcontractors to verify a completed task in person, so implement a two-step verification process: once a sub reports that they've resolved a deficiency, have your internal project team confirm its completion in order to close it out.

Fieldwire makes the punch process a snap — even for hotels. Check out the Fieldwire app or request a demo today!