Close out the job — punch, package, retention, done

November. Punch, as-builts, retention. A job doesn't end when the last sheet is hung; it ends when the GC's closeout file has everything in it and the retention check clears. Most shops lose weeks right here, hunting a shared drive for the warranty letter while the release clock runs. In STrOp the project's Closeout tab holds the whole ending in five tabs, and the retention application is one click off the last of them.

Clear the punch list

1. Open the project → Closeout. The Punch List tab opens first, with the count of what's open and what's done at the top.
2. + Add Item for each item off the walk: describe it, set Originated by (Sub, GC, Owner, Inspector), the Location, who it's Assigned to, and the Due date. Save.
3. When the item clears, Mark Done on its row. Open, owner, cleared — that's the record the GC's walk reads from, and nobody is texting the foreman to ask.

File the package so it assembles itself

1. Package → Initialize Package. STrOp lays out the standard closeout list: As-Built Drawings, O&M Manual, Warranty Letter, and Equipment Cut Sheets required; attic stock receipt and the rest optional.
2. Upload on each row. The file lands in the project's Documents tab typed by what it is, and the row flips to ✓ Uploaded. Status moves from Assembling to Ready to Submit on its own — the package is the documents, not a second copy of them.
3. Substantial Completion → SC Date, notes for the conditions of acceptance and any carve-outs → Issue Substantial Completion. That locks the project into the closeout stage and starts the retention clock.

Bill retention on the contract's clock

1. Retainage shows four numbers: Retainage Held, SC Date, Notice of Completion, and Release Eligible. Two clocks feed the last one. Until the notice records, STrOp runs the fallback — thirty-five days from SC, labeled as such — so the tab always has a working date. When the GC records the notice of completion, enter the recording date from the recorded copy in the Notice of Completion field (Enter or click away to save). Release Eligible moves to thirty-five days from that date — Civ. Code §8812, the clock Kestrel's Article 5 actually runs on — and the label says which clock it's on. Clear the field and it drops back to SC.
2. When the date arrives, Create retention application → opens Billing with a new pay app prefilled as a full release. Tick Final application (closes out billing on this contract).
3. When that application is paid, its waiver defaults to Unconditional Final (§8138). The option stays greyed out until the payment is recorded, on purpose. Print it, sign it, send it, and the GC's closeout file has everything on day one.

Common mistakes

• Treating the retention clock as "whenever." Enter the notice of completion the day it records — the fallback runs from SC, which is usually weeks before the notice, so the tab can read eligible before the contract does — and put the request in the day it's eligible. Retention doesn't pay itself, and the lien window is running behind it.
• Uploading closeout docs somewhere else. A warranty letter in an email is not in the package. Upload from the Package row; it files to Documents typed, and the status flips.
• Signing the unconditional final before the check clears. §8138 waives everything. STrOp blocks the option until the pay app is marked paid; don't work around it on paper.

See also

• E17 · Where the job stands
• E19 · The callback
• Retainage release — when, how much, and what to chase
• California lien deadlines