Stop Creating Punch Lists in Excel: Here’s Why

Are you still creating punch lists in Excel spreadsheets? Have you ever wondered if there's a better way?

Punch lists have been a common tool in construction projects for years. Traditionally, they were created manually on paper, but with the rise of technology, many construction project managers have turned to Excel spreadsheet templates to create and manage their punch lists. However, relying on Excel can lead to inefficiencies and errors.

In this article, we will explore why you should stop using Excel templates for punch lists and consider alternative solutions. From the limitations of Excel to the benefits of specialized punch list software, we'll cover everything you need to know to streamline your punch list process and improve your project management workflow.

Microsoft Word and Excel are fantastic tools. They are straightforward to use, inexpensive, and can be helpful for many tasks. The online versions of Google Docs and Sheets have also transformed the way we work collectively and store documents.

This being said, there is a big difference between writing an article or organizing your monthly finances in an online spreadsheet and managing field reports or punch lists on a building project, where very specific elements come to play, such as:

• Documenting different punch list items while walking around on site.
• The need to include photos or images (often with annotations and sketches) in the report.
• Adding quick access to contacts' information.
• Prominently and clearly displaying project information, such as the building address, clients, report date, report number, and observation numbers.
• Keeping track of numerous documents for multiple projects.
• Editing plans or reports, making amendments or annotations on the drawings and floor plans
• Organizing observations with pictures and other related information into a well-structured, easy-to-understand report
• Sharing the punch list report with assignees and other contacts

For this particular process, Word and Excel are old-school and outdated. In the next section, we explain why.

Imagine you are doing a site visit, and you notice something that needs to get fixed. For example, some of the tiles in the bathroom have not been laid correctly. You might take these actions:

• Snap a photo with your phone or tablet
• Take some notes in your notepad

The photo is saved on your camera roll, perhaps with hundreds of other photos you took this week. You repeat this for the other issues that you spot during the site visit. Then you leave the construction site and move on to your next meeting or site visit.

Later that day, you get back to the office and sit down to write your field report. It might go something like this:

• First, you need to find the cable to transfer the image files from your phone to your computer.
• You open your Word doc.
• Hopefully, you do not start each report from scratch and have some sort of standard report template. But if you don't, have a field report template then you are going to have to create and format the preamble. For example, the property address, the necessary contacts, your firm's logo, and so on.
• You grab your notebook and flip it open to today's walkthrough. You wrote in short-hand, and as a result, not all of the notes make complete sense. For example, you've written “bathroom = fix tiles” But what exactly was the issue with the tiles? Was one chipped? Were they the wrong color? Was there a problem with the way they were laid?
• Then comes the task of sorting the image files out. Deleting the duplicates and unfocused photos and making sure they are clear and the issue easy to identify. You make a pile of the photos you want to include and drop them on your desktop.
• Then you start marking the photos up. You need to open an image markup tool and add annotations, then download the edited photos onto your desktop and delete the originals to make sure things don't get confusing.
• You do the same for adding location-specific info on the floor plans by using the Adobe annotation functionality
• Then you need to write out the notes into the document and add the photos and images.

Finally, you are nearly done. You've got your document formatted exactly right: titles are properly bolded and the proper headings have been used, tables have been added and the cell block sizes are correct, your bulleted list sits in a perfect line, the logo is beautifully situated in the top left corner, and you are almost ready to export it as a PDF and send it to the construction team and clients.

Then, at the last minute, you add in just one more photo. For some reason, this causes the document's formatting to scrabble left and right. There is no rhyme or reason, but you are going to have to spend another 5 minutes readjusting and resizing.

You save your report to your computer and write an email, select the contacts from your address list, and press send.

Number of steps: TOO MANY.

If you're like most architects or contractors, this process causes a huge loss of valuable time. It might even cause you to procrastinate on drafting and distributing your field reports and punch lists.

But delaying this communication comes with risks. Not only do your field reports get outdated if you don't send them within a few days, but it undercuts your credibility, and you might leave yourself in a vulnerable position if ever there is ever a legal dispute. In a courtroom, the only thing that matters is the written communication.

Imagine if immediately after your site visit, your field report was already 90% ready to send.

What if before leaving the site, the report has:

• The report date/number, project information and project status
• Your observations numbered and written in the report, together with photos and images with annotations, location pointers, and issue descriptions.
• Your logo, header, footer and standard layout set

Imagine if all you needed to do is give it a review, make any necessary edits, and press send.

And that's it.

No more struggling with layouts. No more transferring and sorting photos. No more re-typing out notes. No more excuses to procrastinate getting it done.

The innovative process for generating field reports and punch lists with Archisnapper

Architects and contractors that still make field reports in Word and Excel can save themselves a lot of time by switching over to Archisnapper to create digital punch lists.

With the Archisnapper app, you can add the photos that you take with your smartphone or tablet directly to the report, with markups, location pointers, assignees, text and more …as you are doing your walkthrough.

ArchiSnapper automatically generates a professional PDF field report with your company's logo and layout settings, that you can review and email to anyone with one click from the App or from your desktop.

ArchiSnapper helps architects engineers and contractors to automate the process of drafting field reports and punch lists. And since we're constantly checking in with our clients, and finding different ways to improve the tool based on their needs, we've been able to create a tool that really delivers.

Today ArchiSnapper is the no.1 tool worldwide for field reports, with more than 10,000 happy clients.

Here is what one of our clients says about ArchiSnapper:

“Our firm provides green building certification for single and multifamily housing throughout the eastern US. We use Archisnapper for all our field reporting.

The tablet-based app simplifies the process of creating field reports, often allowing us to send out reports before we leave the jobsite. We save an hour or more from the old method of taking notes, typing them into word, scaling photos, and saving to PDF before sending them out.

Our clients love the detail we provide, including marked-up photos that clearly show any required corrections. Many contractors use our reports for their punch lists, sending them to subcontractors to show them what they need done.”

Carl Seville, SK Collaborative

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If you're already using excel to create punch lists and field reports, you might have a few reservations about trying a new approach. Here are some of the common reasons why people stick with Excel.

1. Adopting a new software takes time

Onboarding a new tool can sometimes take a few days before you iron out the bumps. Moreover, it can be daunting to think about having to learn how to use it.

Sometimes it can seem easier to hobble along with something that works fairly well than risk trying something new, which could take a few hours to learn how it works.

But the investment to learn a better way is worth it.

Let's say it takes you a total of 5 hours to learn all the ins and outs of a new tool. This seems like a substantial time investment. But then, this same tool will end up saving you one hour each week.

Within a few weeks, you will have made up the time it took to learn it, and then will continue to save time indefinitely.

If you save 1 hour of work every week, after a year, you will have saved 52 hours’ worth of work. If you're charging $75/hr that's nearly $4K!

2. Why pay for something when you can get it for free?

A small ArchiSnapper package comes at $24/month, or $288 per year. If you're taking more licences the price per user goes down to $14/user/month.

Saving $3,900 worth of time every year at a cost of $288 is a no-brainer.

You might be thinking: $288 is still a lot more expensive than…free. It's hard to compete with free—but we think the adage “You get what you pay for” rings true in this situation.

Start thinking about Archisnapper as a tool for your process. Like most high-quality tools, they are worth the investment. You will be able to do the job more accurately and faster.

Imagine it like this: Using Word or Excel is like using an empty bottle of wine as a rolling pin. Sure, it might be a good fix in a pinch, but could you imagine going into a professional kitchen and seeing the chef rolling out his dough with one?

It might be free, but that doesn't make it the right tool for the job. Just because functionally it does a similar thing, doesn't automatically make it efficient or professional. Being able to offer a professional field report for a few minutes of work is efficient.

Spending a few hundred dollars a year for a tool that is built specifically for your needs and that will save you hours every month is a good deal.

3. I don't want to seem anti-social being on my device on the worksite

Today using your phone or tablet has been accepted as a professional practice in the construction industry.

This being said, it's not always easy to take the time and write out all the notes in extensive detail on your phone or tablet, especially while 5 people are waiting for you to move on during a punch list walkthrough.

Here are some strategies to overcome this:

• Only write out a couple of keywords while you're on-site. Add the pictures and maybe a location pointer and then move on to the next punch list item. Later, when you're back at the office or in your car, your report will be available and all you need to do is write out the notes in full text.
• Use voice to text. It works great and more and more of our users do this.
• Use a stylus with a handwriting recognition app (like Nebo). You can write with the stylus (just like you would on paper), the text will automatically be transformed into digital format.

4. I am not sure what the reports look like, are they professional?

Check out this sample field report created with ArchiSnapper.

ArchiSnapper reports are very clear and easy to understand. The design takes the simple column formatting from Excel, adding the ability to add images and add clear commenting flawlessly. It is simple to understand, well-designed and took minutes to create.

Try Deltek ArchiSnapper for Free

Join 10,000+ architects, engineers and contractors who use Deltek ArchiSnapper for fast field reports and efficient punch lists.

Start a free 14-day trial

To summarize, here are some of the major issues with using Word and Excel to create field reports.

• It is not automated. This means that you must add project info, layout settings, images, observations, contacts information and item numbering, for every single report. This is a huge time suck.
• The layout formatting in Word or Excel is difficult and time-consuming.
• If you are using the older forms of the tools (ie. not Google Docs or Sheets) sharing can be confusing. Are you working with the latest version of the report? Is your team? What if someone makes essential changes, but fails to notify the team? Being able to share and collaborate in real-time is important.
• It has no central database: all data (observations, pictures, drawings) from you and your colleagues are spread over different folders, word docs, excel files. There is no central database that would allow you to query for example the pending observations that subcontractor X has to do on all your projects.

ArchiSnapper seamlessly automates the process of drafting professional field reports and punch lists:

• Documenting items on site is super simple: add text and snap a photo to record observations or issues on site. Annotate your photos or drawings. Locate your observations on PDF plans and assign them to the contacts (i.e. contractors or team members) responsible for sorting the issue out.
• You can use voice-to-text to make notes quickly and easily as you walk the site.
• Creating the report is automated: your project and contact information is automatically inserted into your report. Your observations are numbered and available in the report, together with pictures, location pointers and descriptions.
• The layout, with your logo, header, font type and size, picture size and more is set automatically. After you initially set up the layout, it will be applied to all your reports.
• Switching between mobile (for when you are in the field) and desktop (for when you are back at the office) is easy—just sync and open up the report on the device you are using.
• You can automate more of the process by pre-setting an email template that you can use to send the reports. Want to edit it before sending? No problem, this is easy to do.
• You're working on a central database: All your contacts are stored in a central list, so you can reuse them with one click in your next projects. Access all the tasks from one place: review a cross-project list of all items assigned to different contractors. You can schedule a weekly email to all contractors and remind them of their with their pending items, with one click. If the project team leader is unavailable or sick? Seamlessly step in without missing a beat by reviewing her latest field report.
• Collaborate easily: be in sync with everyone involved. You can work in or access the same report at the same time with your colleagues, clients, and contractors.

Try Deltek ArchiSnapper for Free

Join 10,000+ architects, engineers and contractors who use Deltek ArchiSnapper for fast field reports and efficient punch lists.

Start a free 14-day trial