Handing an area from one trade to the next
The owner's walk of level 2 finds gouges under fresh paint in six corridor walls, and a bulkhead painted with no corner bead on it. The painting foreman says both were there when his crew arrived; the drywall foreman says his crew left the floor finished. Nobody recorded the floor when it changed hands, so the repair is yours.
Walk the area before the next trade starts, with the foreman handing it over and the foreman taking it, and record its condition: dated photos and a list of unfinished work and damage, each item with the trade that fixes it and a date. Both sign to record the condition at the handoff. The list helps establish when damage appeared; responsibility still depends on evidence and the subcontract. Without the record, the general contractor may be left arranging disputed repairs. Specifications raise the stakes: one university's painting section says that application of coating indicates acceptance of surfaces and conditions. Shift changes within one crew are a different handover: crew-to-crew handover.
- Plan each handoff with the sequence: which areas change hands, on which day, and who walks them.
- Have the outgoing trade finish, clean and check its own work first, so the walk records a handover, not work in progress.
- Walk it room by room with a plan in hand: number each item on the plan, photograph it wide and close, and keep unfinished work apart from damage.
- Assign every item before you leave the area: who fixes it, by when. If no trade claims an item, decide it there with the evidence in front of you.
- Sign, date and send the list the same day to both trades' offices, and file it with the daily report.
- Check each fix before the next layer covers it, releasing rooms as their items close. The trade's other prerequisites belong in the readiness check.
Common mistakes
- Handing over by phone: "level 3 is yours".
- Walking with only the incoming foreman, so the outgoing trade disputes the list.
- Photos with no numbers on a plan, which nobody can match to a wall later.
Checklist
At every handoff
- Both foremen at the walk
- Outgoing trade finished and cleaned up
- Every item numbered on a plan and photographed
- Unfinished work apart from damage
- One trade and one date per item
- Signed, dated and sent the same day
Check your understanding
The incoming ceiling installer wants to skip the walk because the area looks fine and his crew is waiting. What do you tell him?
