Tracking to close-out

A defect list is only useful while it is being worked down. These are the tools that keep it moving.

Fixed and disputed

Two states beyond open:

Fixed — the work has been done. Cross Fixed Items marks them; Hide Fixed Items takes them out of the view.

Disputed — you do not accept it is a defect. Dispute and Cross Disputed Items mark them; Hide Disputed Items takes them out of the view.

Working the list down

With Hide Fixed Items on, the list is what is left. That is the view to work from — a 90-item list that is 70% complete is dispiriting to read in full and perfectly manageable as 27 remaining items.

Turn the fixed items back on when you need the whole record.

Disputing

Some items on a client’s or inspector’s list are not defects. Normal timber movement, something within tolerance, wear from the client’s own use, or something that was never in the contract.

Dispute records that position rather than leaving the item open forever.

Write the reason in the note, plainly and without argument:

Hairline shrinkage crack to cornice, 0.4mm. Within normal tolerance for the first 12 months. Will be reviewed at the end of the maintenance period.

A disputed item still needs a conversation

Marking something disputed records your position; it does not resolve it. Tell the client why, at the time, and in the same plain language. A dispute they find out about by reading a report is a dispute that escalates.

Verify before marking fixed

Do not mark a defect fixed because a trade said they had done it.

Check it, or have the supervisor check it. A defect marked fixed and not fixed reappears at the client’s final inspection, which is the worst possible moment — it costs you credibility on every other item you marked fixed.

Chasing trades

Produce one list per supplier and send it. Hide Suppliers Column controls whether the supplier is shown, which matters for the client’s copy.

A useful cadence in the defects period:

When	Do
Inspection day	Log everything, with photographs
Same day	Send each trade their list
Weekly	Chase what is outstanding
Before the client’s re-inspection	Verify everything marked fixed

When the same defect keeps appearing

A trade producing the same defect across several rooms, or across several jobs, is a pattern rather than a series of accidents.

Worth raising with them directly, and worth noting on their supplier record. It is exactly the kind of thing you want to remember at the next tender.

The maintenance period

Most residential contracts carry a defects liability or maintenance period after handover, during which the client can report further defects.

Keep the list open through it. Items reported during the period are logged the same way, and having them in the same place as the handover list means the whole history of the job’s defects is in one document.