The crew says it is done. The grab bars are up, the ramp is down, and the bathroom door has been rehung to take a wider chair. Someone hands you an invoice, and the question is whether anything on that paper has been checked yet. What the paperwork promises is what you will live with at two in the morning, so the walk through the finished work is where the job is actually accepted.
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Put the written scope in your hand
Before anyone starts, you should already have the quote or agreement that describes the work. Bring that page on the walk, not your memory of what was said at the kitchen table. Go line by line. For each item, find the thing it describes and confirm it is there, in the right place, and finished. If a line says two bars and there is one, that is a missing item, not a detail. If a line says the threshold has been removed and there is still a lip a wheel can catch on, write it down. Anything that was agreed out loud and is not on the page goes on your walk list before you sign for anything.
Make a punch list and keep a copy
Write what is not right in a short list, with the room and the item beside each line. Take a photograph of each open item. Ask the contractor to add the list to the invoice or to a signed punch list, and ask who will return and when, in writing. A list that lives only in your notebook will not be honored by anyone else, and a list that lives only in the contractor's head will be forgotten by the time the truck is back at the yard.
Find the warranty start line
A workmanship warranty is a promise about the installation. It is usually separate from the warranty the manufacturer gives on the product itself. Ask three things and write the answers on the invoice: when the warranty starts (the completion day, the invoice day, or the day the work passed your walk), how long it runs, and what it covers, whether labor, the mounting, or both. Then ask who answers the phone if a bar pulls loose from the wall. Often the installer answers for the anchors and the manufacturer answers for the bar itself. Get that split in writing, because each company may point at the other.
Keep the model numbers and the paper that came with them
Model numbers should appear on the invoice or on a tag left on the product. Copy them down. Keep the manufacturer's warranty card or its registration confirmation in the same folder as the invoice. A warranty you cannot find on the day a part fails is the same as having no warranty at all.
Decide what the final payment is for
Final payment is the one piece of leverage you have after the crew drives away. You may choose to pay the agreed amount once the punch list is closed, and not before. That is a decision, not an accusation, and most contractors expect it. Before you pay in full, ask whether the final invoice comes with a signed release or waiver stating that subcontractors and suppliers have been paid. The usual name for that paper is a lien waiver. What it does depends on where the work was done, so if you are unsure what the document says, read it before you sign and ask the contractor to explain it in plain words. A contractor who will not answer that question has told you something useful.
Check who is allowed to sign
If the person who owns the house, or the patient, cannot sign papers, the signature on the agreement and the release has to come from someone with written authority to sign for them. Ask the contractor what proof of authority they accept, and read your own papers closely to confirm they say what you think they say. Questions about who may sign for another adult are legal questions. The hospice social worker or an attorney can answer them for your situation, and this page cannot.
Write the walk down
Keep one page with the day of the walk, who was there, what was open, what was closed, the warranty start line, the phone number for warranty calls, and who holds the paper. When the grab bar moves a year from now, you will not have to rebuild anything from memory. For a list of local places to ask about home work and equipment questions, see Local Help for Hospice Families.