In 2001 my Atlanta remodeling company, SawHorse, launched a “zero punch” program, which sought to eliminate the final punch list on all jobs. Since we had five or six project managers on the payroll at any given time, as well as working relationships with a couple of dozen subcontractors, the effort posed a real management challenge. We were always looking for tools our project managers could use to help subs reach the zero-punch goal. We developed one such tool ourselves: a series of one-page checklists containing the items that each trade needs to complete on all jobs. These lists —