Working notes from the trailer
Working notes from the trailer.
A weekly post about the paperwork a working foreman actually fills out at 6:30 in the morning — the clauses small contractors skip, the rows a working super actually reads, the language a lead tech writes on a clipboard before they pack the van. Published Wednesdays, between jobs.
Most posts start as a real field request — a clause a working sub signed they shouldn’t have, a change-order pile that got deeper than the scope-of-work stack, a daily log a PM asks for on Monday that the crew never wrote down. The posts are short, named for what they actually solve, and link back into the Gridpin catalog when there’s a kit that holds the answer.
- Cadence
- Weekly
- Voice
- Working foreman
- Posts so far
- 7
Latest posts
What the trailer’s been talking about.
How GCs and supers write, track, and close change orders so the final pay app does not blow up
Three things the GC's super has to get right on a CO before it moves through the pay app at closeout — the written request the PM will approve, the log that survives a billing audit, and the authorization sequence that keeps retainage off the dispute list. Field-tested from a clipboard with five subs billing the same project.
The lien-notice and retainage paperwork that locks in a sub's right to final payment
Three documents a sub files before retainage releases — the preliminary notice, the conditional lien waiver, and the unconditional final waiver — and the sequence they ride in so the GC's PM can't pull the trigger on closeout before the sub has been paid. Field-tested paperwork that survives a GC bankruptcy and a slow-pay counsel.
The invoicing paperwork subcontractors collect when GCs are slow to pay
Three documents a sub files before a draw goes out — the lien-waiver stack, the invoiced change-order, the payment-application trail. The paperwork a working sub keeps in the binder when the GC has gone quiet and the next draw is two weeks late.
The equipment PM log paperwork facility coordinators and fleet managers skip — and what a passing inspection reads
A hospital chiller and a fleet excavator both failed their last inspection for the same paperwork reason: a PM log that was half-kept. What an EC.02.05.01 survey reads, what a DOT/CVIP inspector flags, and the one-page-per-asset log that closes the gap.
The safety paperwork every sub needs on file before the first hammer drops
Four documents a working sub keeps in the binder before mobilization day — the daily log, the OSHA-style incident record, the toolbox-talk sign-off sheet, and the subcontractor safety plan. Field-tested paperwork that keeps crews compliant and protects pay.
The change-order paperwork every subcontractor forgets
Three documents a sub should collect on every out-of-scope request — and almost never does. The verbal ask from the GC, the signed authorization before the crew starts, and the keyed invoice that ties payment to a CO number instead of a note at the bottom of a base-contract bill.
Writing your first construction contract: the five clauses small contractors skip
The five clauses a small GC skips because they "trust the homeowner" — and the three sentences that fix each one. Field-tested language from CC-01, not a lawyer boilerplate.
Posts link into the catalog
If a post solves a paperwork problem, the kit solves it on the clipboard.
Most posts end with a card linking into a Gridpin flagship kit — the construction contract, the daily job site log, the pre-trip equipment check, the fiber splice record. Read the post, open the kit, drop in your company header, deploy the same afternoon.
US Letter + A4 · 1 commercial-use license per kit.