Project Information Handover Between Trades Checklist

Write down the order the trades are expected to work in as it was described to you, and ask who confirms that the previous one has genuinely finished before the next arrives.

Half-finished handovers are common, and knowing who checks them tells you where to direct a question.

Sequencing work and confirming that a trade has finished are matters for whoever is coordinating the project, not for the owner to determine.

Note which handovers happen between two separate firms rather than between two people in the same firm, because information travels far less easily across that boundary.

Within one firm the handover often happens informally; between firms it usually happens only if somebody arranges it.

Ask whether any trade is expected to work around another rather than after them, and record what that means for who is responsible for what in the shared area.

Overlapping trades in one space produce the most disputes about damage and about who left what unfinished.

List every point where a trade you engaged directly meets one engaged by somebody else, and ask who coordinates that particular join.

Directly engaged trades sit outside the main coordination arrangements and are frequently forgotten at handover.

Engaging a trade directly can change where responsibility sits at that join; ask the appointed professional or your own adviser to set out what it means before the two trades meet.

Record which trades are returning for a second visit later on, and ask what has to be protected or left accessible in the meantime.

Second visits are routinely forgotten when an area is finished, and reopening it is disruptive.

Ask what happens to the sequence if one trade cannot attend as expected, and who tells you when the order changes.

A changed sequence has knock-on effects on decisions you may need to make sooner than planned.

Ask to be told before any area is closed up, and put that request in writing rather than relying on someone remembering a conversation.

A written request is far more likely to be honoured, and it establishes that you asked if it is missed.

Photograph the positions of pipework, cabling and fixings before a surface goes over them, working room by room rather than gathering images at random.

A room-by-room set is usable later; a random collection of close-ups usually is not.

Note where anything runs behind a wall or under a floor in a position where a later fixing might land, and keep that note with the drawing for that room.

Concealed runs are struck long afterwards by somebody hanging a shelf, and the record is the only thing that prevents it.

Whether it is acceptable to fix into any particular position is a question for a suitably qualified trade; keep the record and ask before anything is drilled or cut.

Record which trade closed up which area, so a later question about what sits behind it has a starting point rather than a guess.

Knowing who covered an area usually leads straight to the person who knows what is behind it.

Ask whether the trade following on needs to see the concealed work before it is covered, and whether they actually have.

A following trade that never saw the first fix will work from assumptions instead of from what is there.

Keep the concealed-work record somewhere clearly separate from your general progress photographs, since it is the hardest information to recover.

This is the part of the record most likely to be needed by someone who was never involved in the project.

Ask each trade which version of the drawings or written descriptions they are holding, and note the revision marking they read out to you.

Asking them to read the marking aloud catches superseded sheets that everyone assumed had been replaced.

Record who is responsible for issuing updated information to the trades, and whether that responsibility covers trades you engaged directly.

Directly engaged trades often sit outside the distribution arrangement without anyone noticing.

Issuing revised information is a coordination role held by others; ask who holds it rather than distributing revised documents yourself.

Note any change agreed in conversation that has not yet reached the drawings, since a later trade will work from the drawing rather than from what was said.

Undrawn changes are the classic reason a later element arrives in the position that was superseded.

Ask whether anyone is working from a printed sheet that predates a change, and record what you are told rather than assuming everyone works on screen.

A pinned-up printout can stay in use long after the file it came from was replaced.

List which documents each trade actually needs, since sending everything to everybody often means nothing gets read closely.

A short relevant set is read; a large general set is filed and ignored.

Keep your own copy of each revision as it is issued rather than replacing the previous file, so you can see what changed and when.

Overwriting revisions destroys the ability to establish what was current at the moment something was built.

Ask which marks on walls and floors are setting-out references and which are casual working notes, and record the answer before anything is cleaned off.

A reference mark removed by well-meaning cleaning has to be re-established, and the second attempt may not match the first.

Note where the level or datum reference is marked, and ask what happens to it if that surface is removed, covered or re-plastered.

Later trades often work from a reference nobody told them was about to disappear.

Establishing and transferring level references is work for the responsible trade or the appointed professional, not something to reconstruct yourself.

Record positions that have been set out to suit an item which has not yet arrived, since the item and the mark have to agree when it does.

Setting out against an assumed item is a frequent source of rework once the real one turns up.

Ask who checks that the following trade is measuring from the same reference as the previous one rather than from a different starting point.

Two trades measuring from different points produce a discrepancy that only appears when the two elements meet.

Photograph marked-out positions before work covers them, including anything chalked or pencilled onto a surface that will later be finished.

The marks record intent at a moment in time and are otherwise gone completely.

Write down any position you were asked to confirm yourself, and confirm it in writing rather than by nodding at it during a site visit.

Owner confirmations given verbally on site are the ones most often remembered differently afterwards.

Ask each trade what condition they need a surface to be in when they arrive, and record it in their own words rather than paraphrasing it.

Requirements stated in their words can be passed on accurately, which a summary usually cannot.

Note who is responsible for making good anything a previous trade left behind, and whether that was ever actually agreed with anyone.

Making good is the most commonly assumed and least commonly agreed item at a handover.

Who carries responsibility for preparing or making good a surface is a matter for the coordinating party and the terms agreed with each trade.

Record which finishes become vulnerable once installed, and ask what protection is intended while other trades are still working in that area.

Damage to an early finish by a later trade is both common and awkward to attribute after the fact.

Ask whether any element has to be left reachable for the following trade, and what happens if it has already been closed over.

Reopening a finished area is disruptive and usually falls to whoever can be persuaded rather than whoever should.

Note where two trades meet at a visible junction, since the appearance of that join is often nobody's stated responsibility until it looks wrong.

Junctions between trades are where finish quality is judged, and where neither party assumed ownership.

Ask what happens when two elements do not quite line up where they meet, and who decides how that is resolved.

Knowing the route in advance turns an argument on site into a question with an owner.

Record what surplus material each trade leaves behind and where it is stored, since matching a later repair is far easier with stock from the original supply.

Replacement material bought later frequently differs in shade or texture even when the description matches.

Ask whether material left on site belongs to the trade rather than to you, and note the answer before anything is moved or used.

Assuming leftovers are yours creates an unnecessary and easily avoided dispute.

Note any batch or lot markings printed on packaging while the packaging still exists, and keep that note with your record of the room.

Batch information is the fastest route to a matching replacement and is usually thrown out with the wrapping.

Ask which leftover items the following trade expects to use, so nothing is cleared away between visits by somebody tidying up.

Materials removed as rubbish between trades have to be reordered, which delays the following work.

Record where keys, handsets, spare parts and small fittings have been put, because these go missing between trades far more often than large items.

Small items are handed over informally and end up in a van, a drawer or a skip.

Ask what happens to packaging that contains instructions or documentation, since the paperwork is routinely discarded with the box it came in.

Installation and maintenance information is much harder to obtain later than it is to keep now.

Write down the single point of contact for each trade, and who is expected to pass information between them when something changes.

Without a named route, information passes only when two people happen to be on site together.

Ask what the route is when one trade finds something the previous trade did not expect, and who you would hear about it from.

Unexpected findings are the moments where decisions are needed quickly and information travels worst.

Anything unexpected involving structure, services, damp or unknown materials should go to a suitably qualified professional before anyone works around it.

Note whether you are expected to relay technical information between trades yourself, and say clearly if you are not comfortable doing so.

Owners frequently become the messenger by default, without anyone ever deciding that they should.

Relaying technical information between trades can shift responsibility onto you; ask the appointed professional to confirm who properly carries that role.

Record every message you do pass on, including who gave it to you and when, because a relayed instruction with no record is a common source of dispute.

If you are in the chain, your record is the only evidence of what was actually passed.

Ask to be told when a trade has finished and left, rather than discovering it on your next visit when the area is already closed.

The window for raising something with a trade narrows sharply once they have moved to another job.

Keep one open-questions list per trade instead of a single combined list, so nothing is buried in a mixed thread.

Separate lists make it obvious which trade owes you an answer and which does not.