A Job Handoff Checklist for Small Trades Crews

A customer asks for options before approving more work. The crew finishes today’s visit, but someone in the office must follow up. Before leaving the site, record enough that the next person can act without piecing together calls and texts.

Job handoff checklist

Copy these fields into the shared job record or form your crew already uses:

• Job: Customer name, site address, job number, and handoff date and time.
• People: Who is handing off the job and who is receiving it.
• Work done: What the crew completed today, in plain language.
• Attachments: Relevant photos, measurements, or documents, with a label explaining each one.
• Open issues: What remains unresolved and what is needed to move forward.
• Customer request and promise: What the customer asked for and exactly what the crew said would happen next, including any promised time.
• Estimate and invoice: Whether each is needed, sent, approved, paid, or still pending, as applicable.
• Next action: Each specific task, with one named owner and a due date and time.

If a task has no owner or due time, finish that part of the handoff before you leave.

Make the note specific

Write “Replaced the leaking supply connector and restored water service” instead of “Worked on leak.” Label a photo “connector before repair” instead of leaving the next person to guess what it shows.

For an open issue, say what blocks the next step: “Customer wants repair and replacement options before authorizing more work.” For a follow-up, use an action someone can complete: “Maria sends both options by Wednesday at 10 a.m.”

Illustrative plumbing handoff

This is a made-up example showing how a completed note could read.

• Job: Jordan Lee; 18 Sample Lane; PL-2048. Handoff logged Tuesday at 3:40 p.m.
• From and to: Technician Sam to office coordinator Maria.
• Work done: Found a leak at the water-heater supply connector. Replaced the connector and restored water service.
• Attachments: Photos labeled “connector before repair” and “connector after repair”; measurement of clearance around the water heater.
• Open issue: Corrosion remains near the water-heater connection. The customer wants repair and replacement options before authorizing further work.
• Customer request and promise: Customer asked for options before noon Wednesday. Sam said, “We’ll send both options by 10 a.m. Wednesday.”
• Estimate: Repair and replacement options needed.
• Invoice: Sent for today’s repair; payment pending.
• Next action: Maria prepares and sends both options to the customer by Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Before the truck leaves

1. Save the note in the shared job record.
2. Send it to the named person who owns the next action.
3. Confirm that person received it and can take the task.
4. Check open handoffs each day for actions with no owner or due time.

For deciding where your crew keeps job and customer records, see Contractor SOPs. For the broader job flow, see The Three Systems You Need Before $1M. Once jobs are complete, How to Turn Job Records Into Better Weekly Decisions covers how to use those records.