When the contractor considers himself to be 99% done, we schedule a formal “final walk-through”. Jon, Marisa, the contractor, the interior designer, and myself spent over an hour this morning walking through the entire house to create an official list of remaining work that needs to be done. Marisa found a piece of trim under the wall oven that was sharp which the contractor will file down. There’s a seam in the island countertop that is missing grout. The window screens need to be installed and there’s a window with a stuck latch, etc.
The purpose of the final punchlist is to create a list that everyone agrees will constitute final completion. It is reasonable for Jon & Marisa to withhold a final payment up to 5% of the overall cost of the project until the final punchlist is completed by the contractor. They should withhold at least enough to cover the cost of hiring someone else to complete those items if for some reason the contractor doesn’t.
The contractor will spend the next two weeks working to complete the punchlist items and then Jon & Marisa and their family will move back in!
The total length of construction was 7 ½ months. The project finished right on schedule and also on budget! When was the last time you heard of that happening?!? It’s a direct result of several things. First, the clients were disciplined enough to create a thorough set of documents that represented exactly what they wanted (with help from the architect and interior designer of course). And second, they hired a contractor who was skilled at creating a realistic budget and schedule and then stuck to them.
We’ll post official “after” photos and pictures of the open house soon, so stay tuned!
