No job is scheduled until it is production-ready

1. 01

   Write down what ready means

   Use twelve checks: contract signed, deposit collected, financing complete, scope confirmed, measurements confirmed, selections confirmed, special orders identified, permit requirements confirmed, crew type, equipment, access instructions and the homeowner's scheduling limits.

   Put them on one page. If your trade needs a thirteenth, add it. Do not drop one because it is awkward to check.

   • Copy the twelve checks
   • Add any your trade needs
   • Print the list for sales and production
2. 02

   Give every check an owner

   Sales owns what the sale produced: contract, deposit, financing, scope, measurements and selections. Production owns what the build needs: special orders, permit, crew type, equipment and access. The homeowner's scheduling limits are collected by sales and confirmed by production.

   One name per check. If a check has two owners, it has none.

   • Name an owner for each sales check
   • Name an owner for each production check
   • Tell each owner which checks are theirs
3. 03

   Keep one job record

   Everything the sale produced goes into one place: the job record in the system you already use. Not a text, not a note in the truck, not an email thread.

   A check is done when the proof is in the record: the signed contract, the deposit receipt, the colour code, the permit number.

   • Choose where the job record lives
   • Agree what proof each check needs
   • Stop accepting handoffs by text
4. 04

   Close the gate

   From Monday, the scheduler books only jobs with all twelve checks done. No exceptions for busy weeks, because busy weeks are when half-ready jobs do the most damage.

   A job that fails goes back to the owner of the missing check, with a note of what is missing. It does not go on the calendar with a promise to sort it out later.

   • Tell the scheduler the rule
   • Send failed jobs back to the check owner
   • Log what was missing each time
5. 05

   Look at the not-ready list every morning

   Keep one list of sold jobs that are not ready yet, with the missing check and its owner beside each one. Go through it for ten minutes every morning.

   Long-lead items come up here first, so they are ordered weeks ahead instead of the day before the crew needs them.

   • Start the not-ready list
   • Book a ten-minute morning review
   • Flag every long-lead item on day one
6. 06

   Check what slipped on Friday

   Count the crew days this week that went wrong because something was missing, and which check it was. If the same check keeps failing, fix it where it starts, usually in the sale.

   Count the jobs waiting at the gate, too. A long wait means one owner needs help, not that the gate should open.

   • Count crew days lost to missing pieces
   • Find the check that fails most
   • Fix it at the source

of 18 done

The twelve checks, with an owner beside each one. Copy the checklist.

Where the gate fits from first call to final invoice. Read the roofer's story.

A printable version is on its way.