Documenting building acceptance: what belongs in the acceptance report.

In short: An acceptance report records when, by whom and with what result construction work was accepted. Essential items are the parties involved, the date, the scope of work, all known defects with description, photo and deadline, your reservations and the signatures of both sides. Anything missing from the report on that day is hard to prove later.

Why the acceptance report matters

With acceptance, the client confirms that the work has essentially been carried out as agreed. Under German law, important consequences follow: payment usually becomes due, the limitation period for defect claims starts, and for defects claimed later the burden of proof usually shifts to the client.

Reservations are particularly important. A client who knows about a defect at acceptance and does not reserve their rights may lose them (Section 640 (3) German Civil Code, BGB). For contracts under the VOB/B, reservations for known defects and contractual penalties must be included in the written record of a formal acceptance (Section 12 (4) VOB/B).

Note: This guide is not legal advice. For disputes or larger projects, consult a lawyer specialising in construction law.

Checklist: what belongs in the acceptance report

• Construction project and address
• Client and contractor, with trade and contact person
• People present on both sides, and any experts
• Place and date of acceptance
• Reference to the contract: offer or construction contract dated …, supplements dated …
• Period of work: start and completion
• Type of acceptance: overall or partial acceptance
• Result: accepted without visible defects, accepted with defects, or acceptance refused (with reason)
• List of defects: location, description and photo for each defect
• Deadline for remedying defects, as a date
• Reservations, for example regarding a contractual penalty
• Start and length of the warranty period
• Comments
• Signatures of both sides

Tip: Both sides should receive the report on the same day.

Documenting defects so they are clear later

• One defect per entry. Catch-all items like “various rework” help no one.
• Exact location: floor, room, component. “Upstairs bathroom, left shower wall” instead of “bathroom”.
• Describe what is wrong: “tile joint with three cracks, approx. 20 cm” instead of “defective”.
• Two photos: one overview, one close-up.
• A deadline with a date instead of “promptly”, and note right away that the rework will be accepted again.

Typical mistakes with paper reports

• No one in the office can read the handwriting.
• Photos sit on a private phone and can no longer be matched to a defect.
• A signature is missing because the form wasn’t on site or it was raining.
• The reservation is forgotten because the form has no field for it.
• The report is retyped in the office – with delays and new errors.
• The client receives their copy days later.

Not only at the end: inspection reports during construction

Many disputes at acceptance can be avoided by documenting properly during construction. Typical checks include:

• Safety inspections
• Reinforcement and concrete reports
• Formwork inspections
• Equipment and machinery checks
• Defect reports and site inspections per trade

For site inspections, Formtastic has the Construction protocol template: address, any number of entries with date, company, trade, description and photo, plus employee and signature. For recurring checks, build your own inspection report from the Checklist. More on the Inspection Reports & Checks page.

How building acceptance works with Formtastic

• Choose a template: Use the “Building inspection” template and adapt it, recreate your existing report, or create it via chat with ChatGPT or Claude.
• Fill it in on site: on a smartphone or tablet, even without a connection. Record defects with photos, and both sides sign directly on the device.
• Finished report: The PDF in your own layout is emailed automatically to the client and the office. The data can also flow to Excel, Google Drive/Sheets, SFTP or a webhook.

The Building inspection template already includes: construction project, contractor and trade, participants and date, overall or partial acceptance, reference to the construction contract and supplements, period of work, acceptance status, list of defects with photos (only shown if there are defects), reservation of the contractual penalty, warranty, deadline for remedying defects, comments and the signatures of client and contractor.

Already have your own acceptance report? Send it to us as a paper, PDF or Word form. We’ll set up your first template for free.

Conclusion

A good acceptance report is complete, unambiguous and in both parties’ hands right away. With a fixed template on the tablet, no required item is missed, every defect has its photo and the report is finished before you leave the site.

Read how a construction company handles its site documentation by app in six languages in the Gala-Tiefbau Umicevic success story.