How to Create a Construction Punch List in Excel

Step-by-step instructions on how to create a construction punch list with a free template in Excel

If you need a quick and easy way to create a punch list for your construction project, starting with a free template in Microsoft Excel is a great option.

If you don’t have Excel on your computer, you can still access the online version for free with a Microsoft account. If you would prefer to use Google Sheets instead, check out our other guide on how to create a construction punch list in Google Sheets. 

While the Excel template library doesn’t offer a punch list template specifically created for construction, they do offer a project tracking template that will give a great place to start from.  

If you want to start with a punch list template that was built specifically for construction, download the free construction punch template we've created.  

Lastly, if you’d like to learn more about what a construction punch list is, what you should include, who should have access, and much more, check out our article covering everything you need to know about Construction Punch Lists. 

To get started creating your construction punch list from an existing template in Excel online, just follow the step-by-step instructions and images below:

Creating your construction punch list template in Excel

1. Click here to open Excel online. You’ll need to log in or create a free Microsoft account to get started.
    
2. Begin by clicking the “More templates” link on the right side of the page.
   

3. Scroll down until you find the “Project tracker” template. Click on the template image to open the file and get started.  

4. Once the file opens, click on the black “SETUP” button in row 2 or black “Setup” tab at the bottom of the sheet to start customizing your punch list.

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5. You’ll now want to begin adding categories and your team to the respective lists (see image below). If you plan to reuse this template for other projects, you may want to consider listing all potential categories now to save time in the future. ‍

6. Optional: You may also want to add a “Room” list while you’re in this setup sheet. To do this, highlight the “Employee Name” column from cells B4 to B12 and copy the cells with whichever copy method you prefer. Next, click on cell C4 and paste. 
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7. Rename cell C4 as “Rooms” and create a list of rooms like the image below.
   
   

8. Once that’s complete, navigate back to the “Projects” tab to begin customizing your punch list.
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9. We’re now going to eliminate the unnecessary columns and add the necessary modifications we need for our punch list.
   

• Begin by clicking on column E and dragging your mouse to column M to highlight these columns. Right-click on your mouse and choose, “Delete Columns”.

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• Next, click and rename the following cells: A1 = Punch List, A4 = Room, D4 = Completion Date, E4 = Issue/Description.
  
  
• Highlight and delete row 2.
  
  
• Resize any column width to your preference.
  
  

The end result should look similar to the image below. 

10. In order to utilize our room list in column A, we need to add data validation to the cells.
    
    To do this, click on cell A4. Now click “Data” from the top navigation menu and “Data Validation” on the far right side of the edit menu. 
    

11.  From the “Allow” drop-down menu choose “List”. Next click on the “Source” input box and navigate to the “Setup” tab while the Data Validation window is still open. Highlight cells C5 through C12 and click “Ok”. 
    

12. Back in the Project tracker sheet, grab the bottom right corner of cell A4 and drag it down to cell A9.
    
    

13. Your punch list is now ready to be filled in and used for your project. Once you have your items in place, be sure to save your new punch list so it can be reused for all future projects.
    
    

Hopefully you found this tutorial helpful and easy to follow. If you’d prefer to skip the steps above and create a punch list with a template that is already complete and loaded with over 50 categories and rooms, simply download our free construction punch list template. 

Better yet, sign up for a free 10-day trial of BuildBook and use one of our construction project templates that already has all of your tasks and items in place. You can customize the punch list to fit your project in less time than it takes to open up Excel.

P.S. We've also created the #1 construction estimate template for Google Sheets that is 100% free to download and use as your own. Check out the video below to learn more and then download it for free.