Topics
Getting started
How do I create a punch list on my iPhone?
Open a project, tap +, photograph the defect. Punch List AI drafts the item, title, description, trade, severity, recommendation, in about two seconds; you check it and tap Save. Repeat with Save and Take Next Photo, then generate the PDF from the project menu.
What is the best punch list app?
It depends on who you are. Solo inspectors have used one-device tools like Site Audit Pro for a decade; teams use platforms like Fieldwire; Punch List AI is the AI-first capture tool that drafts the item from the photo. What matters on site is the same for all of them: how many taps to record a defect, how many photos per item, whether export is free, and whether your iPhone and iPad see the same projects.
Which devices does it run on?
iPhone and iPad on iOS 17 or later. One app, one subscription, synced through iCloud.
Is there an Android version?
Not yet. iOS first; we will say when Android is in testing rather than leave you checking back.
Is there a sample project to try?
Yes. The app opens on Sample — Lakeside Villa with items, a checklist and a report to explore. Delete it when you like.
AI
Can AI write my punch list from photos?
It can draft it. From one photo, Punch List AI returns a title, a description, the trade, a severity from low to critical, a recommended fix and a confidence rating in about two seconds. You still read it, correct it and decide, the saved item and the report are what you approved.
What is an AI site inspection, and can I trust it?
It is a vision model reading your defect photo and drafting what you would have typed: a title, a description, the trade, a severity and a recommendation, with a confidence figure. It is good at common visible defects and at the writing itself; it cannot see behind a wall, know the specification, or carry your liability. Used as a draft you review, it removes the typing; used as a verdict, it is a risk.
Does it work offline?
Everything except the AI draft: capture, checklists, closure, PDF, CSV all work without a connection.
Is there a limit on AI analyses?
A fair-use daily limit that a full day of inspecting does not reach. Pro has a higher one.
Defects and how to report them
How do I report a cracked tile?
Photograph the tile with a wider shot for location and a close-up of the crack, note the room and position, and grade it: low if it is a single cosmetic crack on a dry wall, medium in a shower, wet room or floor where water can get behind it, high if the tile is loose or hollow. The action is almost always the same, replace the tile and re-grout, so say that.
Is efflorescence on new brickwork a defect?
Usually not. The white deposit is soluble salt carried to the surface as new masonry dries; it weathers off within a year and the builder is not obliged to remove it. Record it as an observation, low severity, with a photo and the date, and re-inspect after a wet season. It becomes a defect when it keeps returning, sits at the wall base, or comes with damp staining inside, crumbling brick faces or a bridged damp-proof course.
How serious is a diagonal crack above a door frame?
Usually cosmetic. A hairline diagonal crack running from the corner of an opening in new plaster is the frame and the plaster drying at different rates; grade it low, fill and redecorate at the end of the defects period. It becomes high when it is wider than about 3 mm, stepped through brickwork on the outside, displaced (one side proud of the other) or growing between visits, then refer it to an engineer rather than diagnose it.
How do I rate the severity of a defect?
Grade by consequence, not by size. Low: cosmetic, no effect on use, paint, a scuff, a hairline crack. Medium: a finish or a function is wrong, a door that catches, missing sealant on a dry wall. High: water, durability or use is affected, sealant failure in a shower, a window that will not lock. Critical: a safety hazard or damage happening now, exposed wiring, a missing fire door closer, an active leak.
How do I report exposed wiring on an inspection?
Treat it as critical. Do not touch it. Photograph it from a safe distance with the whole location in frame, note exactly where it is, and write the action as 'isolate the circuit and make safe before any other work continues'. Assign it to the electrician with a due date of today and tell the site manager in person, not only in the report.
How many snags is normal on a new build?
Snagging firms commonly report between 100 and 150 items on an average new-build house, and 50–80 on a flat, most of them cosmetic: paint, sealant, alignment. A buyer walking alone typically finds 20–30. The number depends on how systematically you walk, so use a room-by-room checklist and count what it produces rather than aiming for a figure.
How do I photograph a construction defect so it holds up?
Take two photos: one wide enough to show where the defect is, one close enough to show what it is, with something for scale in the close-up. Shoot straight on, use raking light from the side for surface defects, and never crop the original. Mark it up on a copy, and let the app record the time and location under the photo.
What causes a water stain on the ceiling?
Water lands at a point, spreads through the board and dries at the edge, so the rim is the map: a single ring is one drip from directly above (a trap, a joint, a bath edge, a roof penetration); concentric rings are the same leak repeating; a streak is water tracking along a joist from further away; a corner stain points at the roof or the wall. Whether it is active decides the severity: medium if dry, historic and the source is fixed; high if wet, growing or of unknown source; critical if the board is sagging or the stain reaches a light fitting.
Why does the sealant keep failing at the shower tray?
Because the cause is under the sealant, not in it. Three things account for nearly all of it: the tray moves (bedded on blobs or unlevelled legs, so every shower stretches the bead), the bead was applied badly (onto dust, unloaded, or too thin), or there is no upstand or seal strip behind the bottom course of tiles. A second bead over the first does not bond and traps the water already there. Grade it medium if dry, high if there is any staining below.
Why does grout crack at internal corners?
Because cement grout barely stretches and the two planes that meet at a corner move differently, a stud wall against blockwork, a timber floor that deflects against a wall that does not, two walls drying at different rates in the first year. Internal corners should be a flexible silicone joint, not grout. It is a snag on a dry wall and a potential leak at a shower or bath, where the crack is a path for water.
How do I inspect fire stopping around service penetrations?
Ask six questions at every hole through a rated element: is this element fire-rated (check the compartment plan, not the wall); what passes through and how big is the opening; what is the seal and can you name the product; is it complete on both faces; does it match a tested system for that service and opening size; and who installed it, with what certificate. Missing or defective stopping on a compartment line is high as a floor and critical in an occupied building on an escape route, stair or sleeping accommodation.
What are the most common construction defects?
By volume, finishes: paint defects, plaster cracks, nail pops, skirting and joinery gaps. By consequence, wet rooms: sealant and grout failure, trays that move, missing upstands. Then doors and windows out of adjustment, ceiling stains, external ground levels bridging the damp-proof course, blocked or missing drainage, electrical accessories and, the one that matters most and is found least, missing fire stopping. Our field guide lists forty of them by trade with a severity band each.
Checklists and templates
Is there an app with a new build snagging checklist?
Yes. Punch List AI's built-in New-build handover walk has 57 checks in 9 areas. Tap Pass, Fail or N/A on each; a Fail creates a snag with the room and trade filled in, ready for a photo. The walk prints as an appendix to the report, and the same checklist is on this site to print.
Is there an app for move-in and move-out inspection checklists?
Yes. The built-in Rental move-in / move-out walk has 27 checks in 7 areas. Photograph each room's condition, mark Pass or Fail, and generate a dated PDF with the photos, time stamps and your signature for both parties. Duplicate the project for the next unit.
What should be on a site inspection checklist?
Seven groups, walked in the same order every time: structure and substrate, the envelope (roof, walls, windows, drainage), MEP, internal finishes, doors, windows and ironmongery, safety and compliance, and external works. The route is the point: an inspector who walks the same way every time forgets nothing, and a checklist that follows the route is what makes two inspections comparable.
Is there a free punch list template I can use?
Yes, two kinds. The punch list template gives the twelve fields a spreadsheet needs and the numbering that survives a project; the template library has fourteen room-by-room checklists to print or to import into Punch List AI, where a Fail becomes a numbered item with a photo. The app itself is free for one project, five items and a watermarked PDF and CSV.
Which checklists are built in?
New-build handover (57 checks), Rental move-in/move-out (27), Commercial fit-out (28), Fire safety walk (13). All on the template library with more to print or import.
Can I import a checklist someone sends me?
Yes. A .punchlist-template.json file opens in the template picker; from this site, download any template and open it on your phone.
Reports and export
How do I make a snagging report as a PDF?
From the project's menu tap Generate Report. The PDF has a cover (reference, dates, client, inspector, signature), a summary table, one page per snag with photos and the recommendation, and a checklist appendix. Preview it full screen, then email it pre-addressed.
How do I export a punch list to Excel?
Open the project, tap ⋯ → Generate Report, then CSV. The file opens in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets with every field, reference, title, status, severity, trade, assignee, location, due date, GPS. CSV + Photos adds the photos in a zip, named after their rows.
How do I add my signature to an inspection report?
Draw it once. Settings → Reports → Signature, with a finger or Apple Pencil. It prints on the cover of every PDF under your name and licence number, with the inspection date. Change or remove it any time; it is free.
What should an inspection report include?
Six things: a cover that says who inspected what, for whom, and when; a summary table the reader can scan; one entry per item with photo, location, description, severity, action, responsible party and due date; closure evidence for items already fixed; the method (what was and was not inspected); and the inspector's signature. Anything else is decoration.
What should a snagging report contain?
Numbered snags, each with the room, a photo, a one-sentence description, the trade and a severity; the date and the inspector's name and signature on the cover; and a note of what was inspected. Developers act on lists that are specific ('Bedroom 2, window reveal, sealant gap 30 mm') and push back on lists that are vague ('poor finish throughout').
How do I write a construction defect report?
Write each defect in four parts: observation (what you saw, where, measured), evidence (the photos), cause only when you are sure of it, and recommendation (what should happen next, by whom). Keep opinion out of the observation and keep the severity consistent across the report. The AI draft follows that shape; your job is to check it against what you saw.
How do I email a punch list to a contractor?
Open the project, tap ⋯ → Generate Report, generate the PDF and tap Email Client: a message opens pre-addressed to the project's contact with the PDF attached. For a contractor's own system send the CSV, or CSV + Photos if they need the pictures. Assign every item to a trade first, so the electrician finds the electrical rows in the summary table without reading the rest.
How should I number punch list items?
Use the project reference plus a running sequence, VILLA-2026-A-001, -002, assigned once and never reused, even when an item is deleted or closed. The contractor quotes the number, the re-inspection ticks it, the photo export carries it. Punch List AI numbers each item automatically from the project reference.
How do I put my company logo on the inspection report?
Settings → Branding → Add Logo, then type the company name. Both print on the cover of every PDF under the project reference, beside your signature and licence number. It is a Pro feature; the free plan prints a discreet watermark instead.
How do I give each contractor only their items?
Assign each item to a trade or a named contractor when you save it, the project's previous assignees are offered as chips. Filter by assignee to review what the electrician is getting, then send the full PDF: the summary table names the assignee on every row, and the CSV sorts by it. The list stays whole so the numbers everyone quotes stay the same.
Can I choose which sections are in the PDF?
Yes. Photos, photo size, time and location, recommendations, inspector notes, cover photo, checklist appendix, page numbers. Classic or Minimal look.
Can I email the report to the client directly?
Yes. Email Client opens a pre-addressed message with the PDF attached.
How many report themes are there?
Two today (Classic, Minimal). More are on the list; the report content (summary table, Before/After, appendix) is where the app is ahead.
Photos and evidence
Which punch list app lets me add photos to every item?
Punch List AI starts every item from a photo, keeps up to 100 per item on Pro (3 free), lets you mark it up without touching the original, prints the capture time and GPS under it on the report, and shows Before and After side by side once the item is closed.
Can I put the time and GPS location on inspection photos?
Yes. Photos taken in the app record the time and, if you allow it, the GPS position; imported photos keep their EXIF data. The line prints under each photo on the PDF and the coordinates go in the CSV. It is one toggle in Settings and one in Report options.
Can I annotate photos?
Yes. Pen, circle, arrow, on a separate layer; the original is kept.
Re-inspection and closure
How do I close out a punch list with proof?
Re-inspect each open item, take an after photo, confirm who verified it. The item becomes Closed with the resolution date; the PDF shows the original and the after photo side by side with the closure line. An optional AI check reads the two photos and says fixed, partial, not fixed or unclear.
Does the report show closed items?
Yes. As Closed in the summary with the resolution date, and Before/After on the item page.
Vocabulary and method
How do I write a snag list?
A snag list records, for each defect: where it is, what is wrong, a photo, the trade responsible, how serious it is and what should be done. Walk the property room by room, photograph each snag, and write the six fields as you go, or let the app draft them from the photo.
Punch list, snag list or deficiency list, what is the difference?
They are the same document: the list of outstanding defects a builder must fix before a project is accepted. Punch list is American, snag list or snagging is British, Irish and Australian, deficiency list is Canadian; architects say observations. The app lets you pick the word and the report follows.
What is practical completion, and where does the snag list fit?
It is the point at which the works are complete enough to be used, with only minor defects outstanding, and those defects are the snag list (UK, Australia) or punch list (US, Canada, where the milestone is called substantial completion). The certificate starts the defects liability period, releases part of the retention and passes the risk to the client, so the list attached to it is the document everyone argues from later.
What is a punch list?
A punch list is the list of items that do not yet conform to the contract, incomplete, damaged or wrong, compiled near the end of a project so the contractor can fix them before final acceptance and final payment. The owner's representative or architect usually writes it, the contractor works it, and the same list is called a snag list in the UK and a deficiency list in Canada. Each item needs a number, a location, a photo, a description, a responsible party and a due date.
The business of inspecting
How much should I charge for a snagging inspection?
In 2026 the market sits at roughly £249–£350 for a one- or two-bedroom flat, £299–£450 for a two- or three-bedroom house and £349–£500 for four or five bedrooms, with London and RICS-regulated firms above that and re-inspections at £100–£370. Price by bedroom count, publish the price, and make the report, photos, numbers, severities, signature, the thing the buyer is paying for.
How do I start a snagging business?
You need a trade or surveying background that lets you defend a finding, professional indemnity and public liability insurance, a published price by bedroom count, a method (a room-by-room checklist) and a report clients show their developer with confidence. The first jobs come from a Google Business profile, the local new-build estates and the reports themselves: every buyer shows theirs to a neighbour.
How long should an inspection report take to write?
It should reach the client the same day, and the way to do that is to write it on the walk. Photograph each defect, check the draft, save, next, by the last room the report is complete and the PDF takes a minute. Evenings spent typing up notes are the sign the method, not the inspector, is slow.
What do contractors actually do with a punch list?
They split it by trade, hand each trade its rows, and walk the building in location order. What they need per item is a number to quote, a photo to find it, and one line saying what to do; what they ignore is prose. Write the list with an assignee on every row, a precise location, and a due date, and it gets closed instead of discussed.
What app do snagging inspectors use?
For ten years the default has been Site Audit Pro: one-off price, GPS on photos, a signature, eight report designs. Site Report Pro and SnagBricks are the other established one-device choices; Fieldwire is where teams go. Punch List AI is the newcomer with the one thing none of them has, the item drafted from the photo, plus free iCloud sync, checklists and closure evidence, and four months of ratings to catch up on.
Can I use Punch List AI for home inspections?
Yes for walkthroughs, punch lists, pre-drywall and defect follow-ups: photograph, draft, checklist, PDF with severities, Before/After and your signature. No if you need a full narrative home inspection report organised by standards-of-practice sections with boilerplate: that is a different product, and we would rather say so than sell you the wrong one.
How do I keep track of defects across several sites?
Put projects in folders by client or development, and open Insights each morning: it counts open, critical and overdue items across every project, lists the ones to chase under Needs attention, shows each project's progress, and names the trade and the location that keep coming up. Tap an item and you are on it.
For your role
GC superintendents
How do I finish a punch walk faster?
Stop typing on the walk. Photograph the item, glance at the draft, tap Save and Take Next Photo. The location and the sub you used last are offered again, so a floor of forty items is forty photos and a few taps. The list exists when you leave the last room, and the PDF takes a minute in the truck.
How do I track punch list items by subcontractor?
Assign each item to a sub as you record it. The project remembers the names, so the second time it is one tap. Filter by assignee to see what the electrician still owes you, select the items he says are done and change the status together, then verify on your next walk. Overdue items turn red on the summary table and show up in Insights.
How do I hand a punch list to the owner without a fight?
Give them a record, not a list. Every item numbered, the original photo beside the after photo, the name of the person who verified the fix and the date. That report answers the question the owner's rep is going to ask about every line, before they ask it. The trick is to build it as you go: close each item with a photo on the day it is fixed.
Snagging inspectors
How do I snag several plots on the same development?
Make a folder for the developer, a template for each house type and duplicate the project for every plot. The header comes across filled in, the walk is identical from plot to plot, and the snag count per plot becomes a fair comparison instead of a mood. The re-inspection reuses the same numbers.
How do I get a developer to accept my snag list?
Be specific and be boring. Every snag with a room, an element, a photo and a number. Quote the warranty tolerance where you know it, describe what you saw where you do not, and keep opinion out of it. A site manager who can walk to each item without you and see what you saw will fix most of them without a conversation.
Can I inspect a new build before legal completion?
Often, yes. Where the developer is registered with the New Homes Quality Board, the code gives the buyer the right to a pre-completion inspection by a suitably qualified inspector, arranged with the developer before legal completion. Other developers allow it at their discretion. The visit is shorter than a full snag: the house is not yet cleaned and commissioned, so you walk the checklist, photograph what is wrong, and give the developer a list they can clear before the keys.
Property & facility managers
How do I separate warranty defects from tenant damage?
Tag it at the moment you record it: warranty, wear, or damage. The move-in walk gives you the dated photo of the room as it was; the periodic and move-out walks add the photo of how it is now. With both on the same item, the question of who pays is mostly answered by the two pictures and the dates under them.
How do I run periodic inspections and keep the record?
Same walk, same template, every visit. One project per unit, in a folder for the building. Each visit adds items for anything new and after photos for anything fixed, and ends with a dated PDF. After a year you have four reports and one continuous record per unit, which is what a deposit dispute or an insurance claim actually needs.
Can contractors and tenants see the report without the app?
Yes. The PDF opens on any phone or laptop, with no app and no account. Email it from the app, share it by AirDrop, Files or Teams, or send the CSV to a contractor who tracks work in a spreadsheet. Your projects stay on your device and in your iCloud; only the files you send leave.
Home inspectors
Can I use my own inspection checklist in the app?
Yes. Build it in the template editor, area by area, with a trade on each check, or copy the Final walkthrough or Pre-drywall template and change what you like. Walk it with Pass, Fail or N/A. A Fail becomes a finding with the room filled in, ready for the photo, and the whole walk prints at the back of the report.
How do I report a finding I am not sure about?
Say what you saw, say what you could not determine, and recommend who should look next. That is not a weak finding; it is the correct one. Photograph it well, grade it by the worst plausible consequence, and write the recommendation as 'evaluation by a licensed electrician' rather than a diagnosis you cannot support.
What does my client see in the report, and what stays private?
They see the cover with your name and signature, the summary table, one page per finding with the photos, the description, the recommendation and the severity, and the checklist appendix if you leave it on. Your inspector notes are a switch in Report options: off for the client copy, on for your own file. The AI's before/after verdict never prints.
Architects & contract administrators
How do I record non-conformance against the drawings?
Put the drawing or clause reference in the item, keep the wording to what you observed, and let the photo carry the rest. Call each item an observation, put the level and grid in the location, and tag it with the drawing number so the schedule sorts by sheet. The contractor gets a numbered list they can take to the drawing without you.
How do I word defect items without prescribing the method?
State what you observed and what the contract requires; leave the remedy to the contractor. The drafted recommendation is a suggestion you can shorten to 'make good in accordance with the specification' or delete. Inspector notes stay out of the issued copy with one switch, so your working remarks never read as instructions.
How do I track defects through the defects liability period?
One project from practical completion to the end of the period. New defects get the next numbers; fixed ones are closed with an after photo and the name of whoever verified them. Each visit ends with a dated PDF, and the final one shows every item Before and After with its dates. That is the making-good certificate's evidence.
Devices and sync
What is the best punch list app for iPad?
The iPad is the desk half of the job: review, close, report. Look for a two-column layout (list beside project), Apple Pencil on photos and the signature, keyboard shortcuts, and sync with the iPhone you capture on. Punch List AI has all four, in one app and one subscription.
How does sync work?
Through your own iCloud, free, automatic. Sign in to iCloud on both devices; a new phone restores everything.
Can two inspectors share a project?
Not today. Share the PDF, CSV + photos, or a checklist template file.
Pricing and plans
Is there a free punch list app that exports a PDF?
Yes. Punch List AI is free to download with no account: one project, five items with three photos each, the AI draft, checklists, closure evidence, signature, and a watermarked PDF and CSV. Pro ($9.99/month or $59.99/year, 7-day trial) removes the limits and the watermark and adds your logo and Insights.
How do I cancel?
Settings → Manage Subscription opens Apple's page. Cancel before the trial ends and nothing is charged; your projects stay.
Is there a one-off price?
No. The AI has a running cost per photo, so Pro is a subscription. The free tier is permanent and exports.
Still stuck?
The user guide walks through the app in order; troubleshooting covers the eight things people write to us about.