Getting started
How to inspect work a subcontractor turns over
When a sub says they're done, that's a claim, not a fact — and the moment you accept it, their defects quietly become your problem. The turnover inspection is where you test the claim: does the completed work meet the contract scope and the spec, or are there items to correct before you sign anything. Do it well and the sub fixes their own work on their dime; skip it and you inherit the punch list and the liability.
For a general contractor's super or PM taking over completed work from a subcontractor, before releasing them, their crew, or their payment.
Step by step
Inspect against the sub's actual scope
Pull the subcontract scope, the spec sections, and the approved submittals, and inspect against what they were obligated to deliver — not a vague sense of "done." A turnover dispute is almost always about what was in scope, so start from the document.
Confirm required tests and prior inspections are closed
Before accepting the work, verify any tests, AHJ sign-offs, or hold-point releases that the scope required actually happened and are documented. Accepting untested concealed work makes its failure yours to chase.
Walk it with the sub present
Do the inspection with the sub's foreman there so findings are agreed in the moment, not argued by email later. A defect the sub saw and acknowledged on the walk gets fixed; one they hear about after they've demobilized becomes a fight.
Document every deficiency with location and photo
Log each item with a clear description, its exact location, and a photo. This is the punch list you'll hold their release against — vague entries let corrections slide and reopen the argument.
Make acceptance conditional on the corrections
Don't sign a clean acceptance with open items. Accept conditionally, tied to the punch list, so the sub's final payment or release depends on closing every logged deficiency.
Re-inspect and verify each fix
Walk the corrected items and confirm each with a follow-up photo before you close them. An item marked "fixed" by the sub isn't closed until you've verified it against the same criterion that failed it.
Capture the accepted condition for turnover
Once the work is genuinely accepted, record the final condition — photos, closed punch items, test results — into the turnover package. That record is what protects you if the work is questioned after the sub is long gone.
What gets missed
- Accepting "we're done" without walking it against the actual subcontract scope and specs.
- Inspecting after the sub has demobilized, so every correction becomes a callback fight instead of a same-day fix.
- Signing a clean acceptance with open punch items, which surrenders the leverage of their final payment.
- Logging deficiencies without locations, so corrections can't be verified and quietly don't happen.
- Taking the sub's word that a defect was fixed instead of re-inspecting it against what failed.
Questions people ask
- When should I inspect a sub's work — as they go or at turnover?
- Both. In-progress inspections at rough-in and pre-cover catch concealed defects while they're cheap, and the turnover inspection verifies the finished scope before acceptance. Waiting only for turnover means finding buried problems you can no longer see.
- What if the sub disputes a deficiency I logged?
- Go back to the contract scope and the spec — the acceptance criterion, not opinion, settles it. That's why walking with the sub present and logging each item with a photo and location matters: the record makes the call defensible.
Checklists that make this a one-tap job
Free, field-ready checklists, each with the photo every item needs before it can be submitted.
Related guides
- How to run a construction inspectionRun a construction inspection end to end: know what you're inspecting against, walk the work in order, document what you see, and disposition every finding.
- How to run a punch listWalk the work, write clear location-based punch items with photos, assign them by trade, and back-check every one to closed before turnover.
- How to assemble a turnover packageCollect the records the owner needs to run and warrant the building — O&M manuals, as-builts, warranties, permits, and inspection proof — organized so they can actually find them.
Reading the steps is one thing. Proving you walked them is the job.
RTI holds the submit button until every mandatory item is answered and the photos are attached, then chains the record so it can be proven untouched later.