Step 10 of 15 · Handover
Close the job out
Snagging and handover software keeps the end of a job in one place, so Estimark holds the snags, the completion certificate, the handover pack and the defects liability period against the same job. A snag is raised with its own reference, a location, a trade, a priority and an owner, and it can be pinned to a spot on a drawing sheet. Practical completion is certified on a record carrying the contract value, the retention held and the length of the defects period, and the client signs it from a link that works once. The pack goes out as a contents sheet with the files behind it. After that the defects liability period runs on a clock of its own with the days left showing, so the last slice of retention is asked for on a date rather than remembered.
- 01
How does a snag get recorded, and how does it get closed?
As its own numbered record against the job, carrying a title, a description, where on site it is, the room and the floor, the trade it belongs to, a priority, a due date, a photo and either somebody on your team or the name of a subcontractor’s operative. It can be pinned to a spot on a drawing sheet, stored as a position rather than as pixels so the pin lands in the same place at any zoom, and held against the drawing rather than one revision so a superseded sheet keeps its snags. Status runs open, in progress, rectified and signed off. Signing off asks who signed it and stamps the date, and a signed-off snag can no longer be edited, so the closed record stays closed. The list filters by job, trade, priority, status and down to the ones assigned to you.
- 02
Can the client raise their own snags without an account?
Yes, from a link tied to one job. The page asks who they are, what is wrong, where it is and how urgent they think it is, and takes one photo. Each report files itself as a snag on that job with the name of the person who sent it and a note saying it came in through the portal, so it joins the list your own site staff are already working from instead of sitting in somebody’s inbox. There is no login and nothing to install. Wherever a snag came from, it can be grouped with others into a punch list under a title, which carries a count of how many are on it and how many are still open, and stamps the date somebody closed it.
- 03
What certifies practical completion, and who signs it?
A certificate of its own, holding the reference, the completion date, the contract value, the retention held, the date retention falls due for release and the length of the defects period in months. It downloads as a PDF. The client gets a link that opens the certificate, shows them those figures and takes their signature, and that link works once: the moment it is signed it stops working, so it cannot be replayed out of an old email months later. The signature and the date it was given stay on the certificate.
- 04
What goes in a handover pack, and how does it reach the client?
The documents the job has already produced, each filed under a category: O&M manual, warranty, test certificate, as-built drawing, compliance certificate, datasheet or other. Compiling the pack produces a contents sheet listing every item by category, and where items have files attached the result is a ZIP of that sheet plus the files, because a folder of PDFs, Word documents and photographed certificates cannot be merged into one file reliably. An item whose file cannot be read is still listed and flagged as missing, so the client sees the gap rather than receiving a short pack quietly. Sending recompiles first and emails the pack out with the file attached.
- 05
Who is counting the defects liability period afterwards?
Estimark, from a start date and a length in months set against the job, one period per job. Periods are ordered by the date they end and show the days left, so one about to run out is visible before it does. Defects reported inside it are their own list, each with a severity of minor, moderate or major, a status running open, acknowledged, in progress, resolved or rejected, a target date and a name against it, and resolving one stamps the time. The period will also print as a certificate. A retention release is typed as practical completion, defects period end or your own reason, and raising one creates the invoice for it against the job, so the balance held after handover is claimed on a date instead of being written off.
- Snags
- Numbered, pinned on a drawing, signed off by name
- Completion
- Certificate signed online from a single-use link
- Retention
- Release typed by stage, invoice raised with it
What this step does not do
- The client snag link is minted through the API. No button on the job screen generates it yet, so getting the link to a client takes a call rather than a click.
- Signing a practical completion certificate does not open the defects liability period for you. The certificate records how many months that period runs for, and the period itself is created against the job with its own start date.
- A certificate reference is typed rather than generated, so numbering completion certificates in sequence is down to whoever raises them.
- Sending the signing link is a copy and paste. Estimark shows you the link and does not email the certificate to the client.
- A client can report a defect during the period from their own portal link, and that route needs the Client Portal module switched on. Without it the portal answers that the project view is not enabled.
- A defects liability period does not close itself. Estimark counts the days and shows what is left, and the status is set by a person.
- Signing off a snag is one person’s action. There is no second signature on it the way there is on a safety action, where one person marks it done and a second verifies it.
Questions
Handover, frequently asked
Does signing the practical completion certificate release the retention?
No. Signing records the date the client accepted practical completion, alongside the contract value, the retention held and the length of the defects period. A retention release is a separate record, typed as practical completion, defects period end or your own reason, and raising one creates the invoice for it against the job.
Can a client report a snag without an Estimark login?
Yes. The snag portal is a link tied to one job. It asks who they are, what is wrong, where it is and how urgent they think it is, takes one photo, and files the report as a snag on that job with the name of the person who sent it.
An application for payment is an interim claim for the value of work done to date, and Estimark builds one from the cumulative gross valuation, less what has already been certified, less retention.
Build on a solid foundation.
Run the whole business without an implementation project and without legacy baggage. Every plan starts with 14 days free.
Estimating · Jobs · Invoicing · CIS · H&S · Reactive maintenance