Getting subcontractors to inspect their own work first
The superintendent spends each afternoon finding the same unfinished drywall details. The trade calls rooms ready as soon as its installers move on. The inspection then becomes the trade's punch list, with the next crew waiting outside.
Make the trade's own documented inspection a condition of requesting your review, with a named checker and a checklist tied to the work. Agree that process before production and verify that it is actually used. Your inspection should test readiness rather than create the trade's finishing list. Self-inspection does not remove the general contractor's or consultant's required checks.
- Agree the readiness checklist with the trade's supervisor before the first area starts. Use the specified requirements and first-installation decisions, not a growing list of personal preferences.
- Ask the trade to nominate the person who checks each area. Explain what the person must record: location, date, outstanding work and evidence needed for items that will be concealed.
- Walk the first area with that checker. Compare what the trade marked complete with what you find, and clarify the meaning of each checklist item before repeating the process.
- Require the completed self-check record when the trade calls an area ready. If its own list still shows unfinished items, agree whether a partial review is useful rather than labelling the whole area complete.
- During your inspection, record the result separately and return recurring misses to the trade's supervisor. Ask how the self-check will catch them next time instead of simply adding more general contractor inspections.
- Review the first-time results by similar areas. Check whether improvement reflects better self-inspection, easier work or a changed inspection definition before praising a percentage.
In the US federal FAR inspection clause, contractor inspection remains a contractor responsibility even where the government inspects. That is a contract example of the principle; your subcontract and quality plan establish the particular trade's obligations.
Common mistakes
- Accepting a signature with every box ticked but no location or checker.
- Adding requirements only after the trade finishes.
- Letting self-inspection become an office form completed from memory.
- Using a lower failure percentage without checking the number and type of inspections.
Checklist
Before the next inspection request
- Readiness checklist agreed
- Trade checker named
- Location and date recorded
- Outstanding items disclosed
- Your result kept separately
- Repeat misses reviewed with the supervisor
Check your understanding
The self-check is signed, but the same defect keeps passing it. What should you change?
