Handover and records
Closing out like a professional, even to yourself
A pro walks the job, lists the defects, hands over as-built drawings, a maintenance manual and warranties. Do the same for yourself and future-you will know where the mainline runs and what that shrub was called.
You end up with
As-built drawings, a maintenance manual and a watering schedule for your own garden.
What you produce in this phase
Defect list
Walk the finished project and list every defect, unfinished item and thing that is not quite right, with a fix and a date. Include the ones you are tempted to pretend you cannot see.
As-built drawings
Mark up your documentation with what was actually built: real dimensions, actual irrigation and cable routes, valve and junction positions, soakwell locations and depths, and any substituted material or plant.
Maintenance manual
Write the manual for your garden: seasonal task calendar, irrigation programmes for each season, plant-by-plant care notes, fertiliser programme, pruning times, and the establishment schedule for the first twelve weeks.
Lessons
- 01
The defect walkthrough and snag list
Not written yetA structured, unsentimental walk of the finished job, listing everything that is not right. Professionals do this before the client does. Doing it to your own work is uncomfortable and extremely valuable.
⏱ 60 minFoundation📐 Makes: Defect list - 02
As-built drawings and why they save you in three years
Not written yetWhat actually got built is never exactly what was drawn. Mark up the changes now, while you still remember where the mainline runs and which cable goes where, and future-you will not dig through a new lawn to find out.
⏱ 90 minIntermediate📐 Makes: As-built drawings - 03
Writing the maintenance manual and watering schedule
Not written yetWhat a professional hands over: what to do, when, to which plant, and how to run the irrigation through the year. Write it for someone who was not there — including yourself next winter.
⏱ 2 hIntermediate📐 Makes: Maintenance manual - 04
Warranties, plant guarantees and record-keeping
Not written yetWhat is warranted, for how long, and what voids it. Where to keep receipts, certificates, licences and compliance paperwork so they exist when you sell the house or something fails.
⏱ 40 minFoundation - 05
Photographing your project properly
Not written yetLight, position, height and timing. Good photographs are how you evaluate your own work honestly, how you build a portfolio, and what an agent will want when the house eventually sells.
⏱ 60 minFoundation