This typical school district was feeling the common pains of late projects and uncompleted punch lists that drag on well into the school year. The third-party consultant who served as the owner’s representative did not have an incentive to stay with the project after the certificate of occupancy was received. The general contractor was simply looking for release of their retention. The school district’s facility managers and maintenance crew did not have any construction involvement and did not have any contractual relations with any of the construction team. Most of the designer’s fee is received prior to the permit stage and very little is left for the close-out process.

Who should be responsible for proper close-out of a construction project?

Do all of the team members have a built-in incentive for a speedy and sometimes poorly performed close-out phase?

What about involving the school principals – don’t they have the long-term incentive for a properly completed project?

Should the end user on any project be involved from design through construction and marshal a properly closed-out project? But are they qualified?

Are you, as a recent college graduate PE, qualified to take the point on close-out?