Punch List Drafter
Site-walk voice recording plus photos go in. Structured punch list comes out with title, location, trade, priority, target close date, photo evidence per item, and trigram-similarity dedupe against the open list.
What it does
Punch List Drafter takes the raw output of a closeout walk — a voice recording and the photos taken along the way — and produces structured punch items ready to log. Each extracted item gets a title, location, trade assignment, priority, target close date, the photo(s) attached as evidence, and a quote from the walk where it was discussed.
The engine runs trigram-similarity dedupe against existing open items on the project before logging anything new. Walking the same Level 3 East twice in three days no longer creates duplicate punch items — the engine recognizes "loose carpet seam at Room 305" matches the existing item and merges instead of duplicating.
When to use it
- Pre-substantial-completion walk — turn the voice + photos into the formal punch list in one pass.
- Owner walk-through — record the owner's call-outs and turn them into structured items without retyping.
- Architect punch walk — same use case, with the AOR speaking instead.
- Re-walk after rework — capture remaining items and let dedupe merge with the existing list.
Approved draft items push straight into the Punch List Tracker for assignment, aging, and closeout. The dedupe report is preserved as part of the audit trail.
What to upload
Two inputs: the voice recording from the walk (browser capture or upload) and the photos taken on the walk (uploaded with location tags). The engine cross-references the voice timeline with the photo timestamps to attach the right photos to each item.
Optional: a floor plan with room numbers (sharpens location attribution), the existing open punch list (forces dedupe explicitly), and the walking-party attendee list (improves attribution if the engine cites who called out an item).
Step by step
Open the engine
Sidebar → Engines → Punch List Drafter.
Upload the walk audio
Browser-recorded or uploaded file. MP3 / M4A / WAV preferred.
Upload the photos
Drop the photos taken during the walk into project_media if not already there. Location tags + timestamps help the engine align them with the audio timeline.
Run draft
20–40 seconds.
Review the drafted items
Each row shows title, location, trade, priority, target close date, photo evidence, and the quote from the walk.
Check the dedupe report
Engine flags any drafted items that match existing open items. Approve merge or keep as new.
Edit before logging
Tighten titles, override location if the engine guessed wrong, change priority. Engine drafts conservatively — PM polish helps.
File punch items
Click File Punch Items to push drafted items into the Punch List Tracker.
Understanding the results
One row per identified deficiency. Title, location, trade, priority, target close, photo evidence, walk quote.
Engine infers the responsible trade from the item description (e.g., "loose carpet seam" → flooring sub). Override if needed.
Each item links to the photo(s) taken on the walk that depict it. Click to preview.
The verbatim line from the audio where the item was called out. Anchored to the audio moment for verification.
Drafted items that match existing open items, surfaced for explicit merge approval. Reduces duplicate entries.
One-paragraph overview of the walk: who was present, areas covered, total items found, severity breakdown.
Every control, explained
Run draftConsumes one run. 20–40 seconds.
Edit itemIn-place edit on title, location, trade, priority, or target close date before filing.
Approve mergeConfirms a dedupe match — drafted item folds into the existing open item instead of creating a duplicate.
Keep as newOverrides the dedupe match if the engine guessed wrong and the new item is actually distinct.
Delete drafted itemRemoves a false positive before filing.
File Punch ItemsPushes approved drafted items to the Punch List Tracker with audit trail.
Export PDFPre-filing walk-report PDF with all drafted items and photo thumbnails. Useful when the walking party wants a copy before formal filing.