Deficiency list
A deficiency list records the outstanding or defective items identified near the end of a project that must be corrected before the work is accepted as complete.
Also known as: Punch list (US) · Snag list (UK) · Deficiency report
Near the end of a build, the client, the builder and often a consultant walk the project and record what is missing, damaged or incorrectly finished. That record is the deficiency list, and it governs the last stretch of a job.
It is where otherwise profitable projects quietly lose money. The items are small, the trades have moved on, and every return visit costs more than the work is worth. Lists that close quickly are the ones where each item names the responsible trade, carries a photograph, and has a date against it.
It also gates the money. Final payment, and often the holdback release, waits on the list being cleared, so a list that drifts is a receivable that drifts with it.
In Canada vs the United States
Canadian builders generally say deficiency list; American builders say punch list; the British term is snag list. The documents do the same job — only the vocabulary changes, which matters mainly when software written for one market uses the other's word.
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