Field Notes

What actually goes in a turnover package.

Every contractor has handed over a job book and been told it was incomplete. Usually not because a document was missing — because two documents disagreed, and nobody checked them against each other until the client did.

This is the full anatomy of a turnover package, walked through on a worked example. Thirteen sections, what belongs in each, and the specific cross-check that gets each one sent back.

The worked example

Scope6″ CS process tie-in

Governing codeASME B31.3

ServiceNormal fluid

Length340 ft

Field welds47

Welders6

RT (client spec 10%)5 shots

Duration7 weeks

A representative job, not a real client's records — the numbers are here so the document counts mean something. No actual project documents appear on this page.

Sections

Documents

Welds traced

Heat numbers

Punch items

1 – 3 · The frame

What the package is, what it covers, and what it was built against. Skipped more often than you would think, and the first thing a reviewer looks for.

Cover, index, and certificate of completion

3 docs

Project identification, revision, contents with page or tab references, and the signed statement that the work is complete and compliant.

Rejected whenThe index references tabs that don't exist, or lists a document count that doesn't match what's inside. It is the first page anyone reads, and a wrong index sets the tone for the entire review.

Scope, contract, and change orders

4 docs

The scope of work as awarded, plus every approved change order. This is what the rest of the package is measured against.

Rejected whenA change order was executed in the field but never issued formally, so the as-built shows work that no document authorises.

Approved drawings and isometrics

6 docs

Every isometric and general arrangement at the revision actually built, marked Issued for Construction.

Rejected whenA weld appears on Rev C of an iso, but the package contains Rev B. The client cannot tell whether the weld was built to the right configuration — and neither can you.

4 – 6 · Welding

The heart of the package, and where most rejections happen. Three documents have to agree with each other on all 47 welds.

WPS and supporting PQR

4 docs

Each welding procedure used, with the procedure qualification record that supports it, covering the actual material group, thickness, position, and process.

Rejected whenA weld was made on a thickness outside the range the PQR qualifies. The WPS is present and correct-looking, and the weld is still unqualified.

Welder qualifications and continuity

6 docs

A WPQ for every welder who touched the job, covering the process and position they actually welded — with continuity current on the date of each weld.

Rejected whenA welder's continuity lapsed mid-job. Every weld they made after that date is unqualified, and the only way to find it is to compare each weld's date against that welder's continuity record. Nobody does this by hand until the client does it for them.

Weld map and weld log

1 doc, 47 rows

Every field weld, tied to its joint number on the isometric, the welder, the WPS, the heat numbers of both components, the date welded, and its NDE status.

Weld numbers must match the isometrics exactly — not approximately
Every heat number must resolve to an MTR in section 7
Every welder ID must resolve to a qualification in section 5

Rejected whenThe iso shows 47 welds and the log has 46 rows. One weld exists in steel and nowhere on paper, and finding which one means walking the line with a print.

7 – 8 · Material traceability

Proof that what went in the ground is what the spec called for — traceable from the weld log back to the mill.

Material test reports

22 docs

An MTR for every heat of pipe, fitting, flange, and bolting installed, with chemistry and mechanical properties meeting the specified grade.

Rejected whenA heat number on the weld log has no matching MTR. The material may be perfectly good; without the certificate it is untraceable, and untraceable material is non-compliant material.

Consumable certifications

4 docs

Certificates for filler metal and electrodes by lot, plus storage and bake records where the consumable requires controlled handling.

Rejected whenThe WPS calls for one filler classification and the certificate on file is for another. Common when a lot ran out mid-job and the substitute was never documented.

9 – 10 · Examination and testing

Independent verification that the welds are sound and the system holds pressure.

NDE procedures, technician certs, and reports

9 docs

The examination procedure, certifications for every technician who performed or interpreted, the reports themselves with accept/reject calls, and repair plus re-examination records for anything rejected.

Coverage must meet the percentage the governing spec requires
Every repaired weld needs its re-shoot, not just its original

Rejected whenA technician's certification expired before the examination date. The examination is void, and so is every acceptance that relied on it.

Pressure test package

6 docs

Test procedure, marked-up drawing showing test limits and boundaries, calibration certificates for every gauge used, the test record with hold pressure and duration, and the chart if one was run.

Rejected whenThe gauge calibration expired before the test date. The test is unverifiable and has to be repeated — after the system is insulated and painted.

11 – 13 · Closing out

Coating, exceptions, and the record of what was actually built. This is the part assembled last and rushed most.

Coating and surface preparation

6 docs

Surface prep records with ambient and dew point conditions, coating material data sheets and batch numbers, dry film thickness readings, and holiday detection results.

Rejected whenCoating was applied outside the manufacturer's stated temperature or humidity window, recorded honestly, and never dispositioned.

NCRs, RFIs, and the punch list

11 docs

Every nonconformance with its disposition and verification, every request for information with its answer, and the final walkdown punch list with each item signed off.

Rejected whenAn NCR is open. One unclosed nonconformance holds the entire package, no matter how complete everything else is — and an NCR raised in week two is exactly the one nobody remembers in week seven.

As-builts, redlines, and calibration records

11 docs

Marked-up drawings showing what was actually installed where it differs from IFC, plus calibration certificates for every instrument and gauge used to accept the work.

Rejected whenThe as-built contradicts the weld map — a joint was relocated in the field, redlined on the drawing, and never updated in the log.

The part that actually fails

Every section above can be individually complete and the package can still be rejected, because the sections have to agree with each other.

Six cross-checks a reviewer will run

None of these are visible inside any single document. Each one requires holding two sections side by side — which is why they get found by the client rather than by the contractor.

06 → 03Every weld number on the log exists on an isometric, at the revision in the package.

06 → 07Every heat number on the log resolves to an MTR for the specified grade.

06 → 05Every welder was qualified and current on the date of the weld they made — not merely qualified at some point.

09 → 05Every NDE technician's certification was valid on the examination date, and every repair has a re-examination.

10 → 13Every gauge used for acceptance had a current calibration on the day it was used.

12 → allEvery NCR is closed and verified, and every punch item is signed off.

Ninety-three documents, six cross-checks, and seven weeks of memory.

Assembled at the end of a job, out of folders and spreadsheets, that is the three weeks everyone budgets for and nobody enjoys. The documents are rarely the hard part. Reconciling them against each other, months after the welds were made, is.

Hot Pass holds the same records, but they reference each other as you enter them — so a heat number with no MTR, a welder whose continuity lapsed, or an NCR nobody closed surfaces in week two, while it is still a five-minute fix. The job book compiles itself from what is already there.

See how it works →

Or start with the free blank forms — NCR, RFI, weld map, punch list, and pressure test record, no signup.