What I learned about site visits after losing a client

It was an apartment renovation downtown. Third month of construction. The client calls me furious because the kitchen water line position was wrong. Six inches off. The marble countertop had already arrived. It didn’t fit.

I had visited the site three times during the MEP phase. I didn’t write down anything.

“But did you discuss this?”, the client asked. “We did, yes. With the plumber.” “And he confirmed?” ”…”

I couldn’t prove it. No photo. No record of who was present. Word against word.

Lost the client. And the referral he was going to make to his brother who was buying an apartment.

The problem isn’t forgetting to check. It’s not being able to prove it.

Every architect knows what to check on a site. Plumb, level, outlet positions, finish quality. We learn that in school. What nobody teaches is that poor documentation is expensive.

Not just money. It costs credibility. It costs sleepless nights. It costs that horrible feeling of knowing you were right but not being able to demonstrate it.

What I changed after that

I started treating every visit as if it would become evidence in court. (Dramatic? Maybe. But it works.)

Before leaving the office:

I look at notes from the last visit. Not the drawings, the notes. What was left pending? Did the foreman have questions about something? Did the client request any changes?

I compare with the schedule. If framing should be done and it’s not, I arrive already knowing I need to understand the delay. It’s not a surprise.

In the car, before entering the site:

I note the date, time, and look at the sky. Sunny? Cloudy? Did it rain this morning? Seems silly until the day the paint peels and you need to know if it was applied in humidity.

First thing when I walk in:

I record who’s present. Foreman’s name, which tradespeople, if there’s an electrician or plumber, if the client is there. This has saved me three times from arguments of “I wasn’t at that meeting.”

The photo trick nobody tells you

Everyone takes photos on site. Almost nobody takes photos that are actually useful.

The classic mistake: too close. You photograph the problem up close, perfect, sharp. Three months later you have no idea if that wall was in the bedroom or living room.

My rule: two photos always. One wide shot showing where you are in the space. Another of the detail. In that order. Always.

And right then. Not later. “I’ll write it up when I get back to the office” is the same as “I’ll forget half of it.”

What to check depends on the phase

On foundation, I obsess over rebar. Anchor positions, correct sizes, proper cover. Once it’s poured, it’s done. No way to fix without demolition.

On framing, square corners. Corners out of 90 degrees become a nightmare when installing cabinets. Laser level helps, but a simple check with a framing square catches 80% of problems.

On MEP is where most problems happen. I check every outlet against the drawings. Not “more or less in the right place.” Exactly in the right place. An outlet that ends up behind furniture is a useless outlet.

On finishes, slope. Wet areas without proper slope become pools. I pour water on the floor before approving. Always.

About materials: one minute that saves weeks

A quick look at where they’re storing materials. Protected from rain? Using the specified brand?

I once caught a job using different tile than specified. “It’s equivalent,” said the foreman. It wasn’t. The thickness was different, the layout didn’t match the drawings.

They replaced it. But if I hadn’t looked, it would have become my problem.

The mistakes I still see everyone making

Not comparing with the previous visit. If you flagged a problem on Tuesday and on Friday it’s still there, something is wrong. Either the responsible party didn’t understand the urgency, or you didn’t make clear who should fix it. Either way, it needs to escalate.

Trusting verbal agreements. “We agreed it would be this way” means nothing without documentation. Doesn’t need to be formal. A text message with a photo already helps. But it needs to exist.

Not documenting safety conditions. I’m not a safety inspector, but if I see a site without stair protection or crew without hard hats, I note it. If an accident happens later, at least I have a record that I flagged it.

The real deal

A well-done site visit isn’t about having a nice checklist. It’s about creating a history that protects you and the client.

When a dispute arises (and it will), whoever has documentation wins. Not because they’re right, but because they can prove it.

After that downtown renovation, I never lost an argument for lack of documentation again. Lost for other reasons, sure. (We’re not always right.) But never again for not being able to show what happened.

---

Planno was born from this pain. Visit timeline with automatic weather tracking, photos organized by room, issue tracking. All on your phone, during the visit. Try it free.