A Preconstruction Risk Checklist

Unresolved scope, approvals and site conditions can disrupt construction. Use this editorial starting checklist to name an owner, due date, status and consequence for each item, then add project-specific requirements.

If you first need to know what the phase includes and how design, estimates and procurement feed back on each other, read what preconstruction covers and who decides.

Read or download the existing printable checklist (PDF, 2 pages). It is for owners and project teams planning building or renovation work; it does not grant approval to start.

Define: fix the owner’s requirements, decision rights, and open decisions.
Investigate: confirm site conditions, approvals, and constraints.
Price and procure: reconcile the estimate with the design and secure long-lead items.
Schedule and control quality: link decisions, approvals, and inspections to the programme.
Prepare handover: plan commissioning, records, and closeout before work starts.

Blank preconstruction checklist preview with item, owner, due date, status and consequence fields

A phased preconstruction planning framework

Five preconstruction modules in order: define, investigate, price and procure, schedule and control quality, prepare handover; each item needs an owner, due date and consequence. — The five planning modules used in this checklist.

Work through the modules roughly in order, because later modules depend on decisions recorded in earlier ones. Pricing is only as reliable as the scope it prices, and a programme is only as reliable as the approvals and lead times it assumes.

The sections and worksheet below follow these same five modules.

Define: scope and information

Confirm the owner’s requirements and success criteria
Record inclusions, exclusions, allowances, and unresolved decisions
Coordinate drawings, specifications, surveys, and consultant information
Establish who can approve scope, cost, and programme changes

Investigate: site and approvals

Verify existing conditions and access constraints
Confirm planning, permit, utility, and inspection requirements
Identify hazardous materials, temporary works, and protection needs
Record neighbour, occupancy, noise, and working-hour constraints

Price and procure: cost and procurement

Reconcile the current estimate with the current design; use the early budget alignment guide to track scope, allowances, and estimate changes
Test long-lead materials and specialist trade availability
Define substitution, sample, and submittal approval procedures
Separate contingency from known but unpriced scope

Schedule and control quality

Link design decisions and approvals to the construction programme
Define hold points, inspections, testing, and quality records

Prepare handover

Plan commissioning, training, warranties, and closeout documents
Agree how defects and incomplete work will be tracked

Planning documents that support the checklist

A checklist works best when each item points to a record that someone maintains. These document types are common across delivery methods; a spreadsheet or any project management tool can hold them.

Scroll horizontally to see all columns.

Document	What it answers	Typical owner
Responsibility matrix	Who decides, advises, prices, and accepts each item	Owner or project manager
Decision log	Which design and material choices are open, and when they must close	Owner with the design lead
Risk register	Which uncertainties remain, their consequence, and the response	Project manager
Permit and approval tracker	Which approvals are needed, submitted, and granted	Design lead or contractor
Procurement schedule	Which items have long lead times and when they must be ordered	Contractor
Submittal register	Which samples, shop drawings, and data need approval	Contractor with the design lead
Baseline programme	How approvals, procurement, and hold points drive the sequence	Contractor

The “typical owner” column is a starting point; your contract decides who actually holds each record.

Printable pre-construction checklist template

The PDF linked above has space for an owner, due date, status and consequence for each item. Print at A4 or fit to US Letter, and add project-specific items on a separate sheet.

You can also copy the table below into a document or spreadsheet. Use one row per item and add rows for project-specific risks.

Scroll horizontally to see all columns.

Module	Item	Owner	Due date	Status	Consequence if unresolved
Define	Owner’s requirements confirmed
Define	Change approval authority named
Investigate	Existing conditions verified
Investigate	Permits and inspections listed
Price and procure	Estimate reconciled with current design
Price and procure	Long-lead items identified
Schedule and control quality	Hold points and inspections in programme
Prepare handover	Commissioning and closeout documents agreed

A hypothetical example of one checklist item

This example is hypothetical and illustrates the method only; it does not describe a real project.

An owner plans an interior renovation of an older office floor. The drawings assume the ceiling void is clear, but no one has opened it. On the checklist, “Existing conditions verified” is marked open. The team names someone to coordinate the investigation and any qualified specialists needed, sets a date before the estimate is reconciled, and records the consequence: if services or hazardous materials are found, ceiling heights, the electrical scope, and the programme may change. The budget records the uncertainty as contingency; known investigation work is priced separately.

The point is not the scenario but the pattern: a named owner, a date tied to a dependent decision, and a stated consequence.

What should I expect at a preconstruction meeting?

Confirm who maintains the open-item list, responsibility matrix, decision log, permit tracker and submittal register. Agree change approval routes and review dates. Revisit an item when design, site information or procurement changes; close it against a recorded decision or evidence, rather than leaving the old status in place.

As an editorial escalation rule, raise unresolved approvals, hazardous-material questions, safety constraints or assumptions affecting the next work package with the responsible professional or authority before releasing that work. Other open items need an agreed response and a date tied to the dependent decision. A ticked checklist does not replace permits, inspections or contract approvals.

For how delivery arrangements affect responsibilities, use the design-build vs design-bid-build comparison.

Method and sources

The five modules and blank worksheet are SEI’s editorial organisation of planning tasks, not an official approval checklist. Adapt approvals and hazardous-material investigation to local requirements and professional responsibilities. EPA’s asbestos guidance explains inspection and notification requirements for covered demolition and renovation; do not treat every project as having identical obligations.

CMAA, Owner’s Guide to Project Delivery Methods, August 2012, section 2.1, printed pp. 5–6: budget, schedule, risk and owner resources.
US EPA, overview of asbestos NESHAP, “Renovation and Demolition of Buildings.” Sources checked October 8, 2026.