Pre-drywall inspection checklist: what to check before the walls close
Once the drywall is up, everything behind it is expensive to see and expensive to fix. A pre-drywall walk checks the framing and the rough-ins against the plans while they are still open, and the photos you take become a map of what is inside every wall.
Printable pre-drywall inspection checklist: PDFWordExcel
The checklist
Seven sections, in the order most people walk a house at this stage. Mark each point OK, Fix or N/A, and photograph anything marked Fix.
Before you start: plans, electrical layout and selections on hand · rough inspections passed (framing, electrical, plumbing, mechanical) · insulation not yet installed
Framing: studs straight and plumb, nothing split or cracked · headers over every window and door · window and door openings sized for the units ordered · notches and holes within limits, or repaired · hangers, straps and hold-downs fully nailed · blocking for cabinets, grab bars, TV, handrails and towel bars · fireblocking where required · no water stains on sheathing or roof deck
Electrical: every box where the plans put it, at the planned height · boxes set out for the finished wall (thicker for tile) · cables stapled, not crushed, nail plates where needed · dedicated circuits for appliances · outlets for counters, island and exterior walls · low voltage: data, TV, doorbell, cameras, speakers · smoke and CO detector locations
Plumbing and gas: supply and drains placed for the fixtures ordered · toilet distance from the wall · shower valve and head heights · tub and shower set, level and protected · pressure test passed, no drips or stains · nail plates where pipes are close to the stud face · gas lines capped and tested · washer box, ice maker line and hose bibs
Heating, cooling and ventilation: ducts connected, sealed and supported · no crushed or kinked flex duct · registers and returns where planned · bath fans, range hood and dryer vented outside
Photos: every wall of every room, floor to ceiling · tape measure in the frame at a known height · corners and ceilings · photos labeled by room
Sign-off: fix items on a punch list with who and when · fix items re-checked · cleared for insulation and drywall
When to do it
After the framing, electrical, plumbing and mechanical rough-ins are in, and before insulation goes in, because insulation hides most of what you need to see. Many builders schedule it right after the rough inspections the building department requires. Those inspections check the code; this walk checks that what was built matches what was planned and agreed: the outlet by the bed, the blocking for the TV, the shower valve at the right height.
Bring the plans
Have the plans, the electrical layout and the selections with you, on paper or on your phone. Most pre-drywall findings aren't code problems; they are a box in the wrong place, a missing data line or a vanity drain set for a different cabinet. You can only catch those by comparing the walls to the plans, room by room.
Framing and structure
- Straight, plumb and undamaged. Look along walls for bowed or twisted studs and for split or cracked members, especially around nails and at bearing points.
- Headers and openings. A header over every window and door, and openings sized for the units that were ordered.
- Notches and holes. Where plumbers and electricians have cut studs and joists, check the cuts are within what your code allows or have been repaired as the engineer or the code requires.
- Connectors. Joist hangers, straps and hold-downs present and fully nailed where the plans call for them.
- Blocking. For upper cabinets, grab bars, a wall-mounted TV, handrails, towel bars and anything else that will hang on the wall. It costs a few minutes now and a wall repair later.
- Fireblocking where your code requires it, and water stains on the sheathing or roof deck that point to a leak.
Electrical and low voltage
- Every box where the plans put it, at the planned height, and set out for the finished wall thickness (thicker for tile).
- Cables secured and protected. Stapled, not crushed, with nail plates where a cable runs close to the face of a stud.
- Dedicated circuits for the appliances that need them, and outlets where the counters, the island and the outside walls will need them.
- Low voltage before it's too late: data, TV, doorbell, cameras, speakers and security.
- Smoke and carbon monoxide detector locations.
Plumbing and gas
- Supply and drain lines placed for the fixtures that were ordered: the vanity, the toilet's distance from the wall, the shower valve and head heights.
- Tub and shower set, level and protected from damage during drywall.
- Tested. Ask for the pressure test results, and look for drips and stains at the joints.
- Nail plates where pipes run close to the face of a stud.
- Gas lines capped and tested, and the washer box, ice maker line and hose bibs where they belong.
Heating, cooling and ventilation
- Ducts connected, sealed and supported, with no crushed or kinked flex runs.
- Registers and returns where the plans put them, not blocked by framing.
- Bath fans, the range hood and the dryer vented to the outside, not into the attic or a wall cavity.
Photograph every wall
This is the part that pays off for years. Before insulation, stand in each room and photograph every wall, floor to ceiling, with a tape measure in the frame at a known height. Take the corners and the ceiling too. When someone later wants to hang a shelf, find a leak or add an outlet, the photos show where every pipe, wire and stud is. Label them by room, or they are useless.
What to do with the findings
Turn each Fix into a line on a punch list: where, what is wrong, what done looks like, who and by when, with the photo. The punch list template has that format. Walk the list again before insulation, and don't let the drywall crew start until every item is closed or agreed in writing.
Doing it in FieldPix
FieldPix doesn't have a pre-drywall checklist built in, but you can build this one once as your own checklist, on the phone or in the web portal, and load it on every job. Any question can ask for photos, and every photo carries the date, time and location. Tag the wall photos by room so they are easy to find later, turn each finding into a task for the person fixing it, and one tap makes the PDF report. How inspections work in FieldPix.
A general checklist, not a code inspection. Your building department's inspections, your plans and your local code have the final say.
