The Checklist Library

The part that takes twenty years, not two weeks.

Anyone can build a form. What makes a firm productive on day one is having the right questions already written — in the order the assembly is built, in the words a reviewer uses on site.

system categories

ways to buy it: standard or custom

AAMA field-test procedures

4×

library updates per year

Coverage

What's in the library today.

The envelope, end to end — from the substrate the waterproofing lands on to the traffic coating walked on afterwards.

Below grade & waterproofing

Substrate preparation
Below-grade waterproofing
Self-adhered membranes
Cold-applied membranes
Hot rubberized asphalt (HRA)
Vapor barriers

Roofing & horizontal

Roofing assemblies
Sheet metal flashing
Traffic coating
Drainage & terminations

Walls & openings

Air & weather barriers
Opening waterproofing
Cladding
Sealants & joints

Mock-up reviews

Window mock-ups
Wall mock-ups
Door mock-ups

The reviews that set the standard for everything built after them.

Field testing

AAMA 501.2 — hose testing
AAMA 502 — installed fenestration
AAMA 503 — storefront & curtain wall

One category, not three lists: the procedures differ in timing and cycling, and the water methods stay in standard order.

Recorded step by step, with a status, a note and a photo at each stage of the procedure.

Preconstruction meetings In progress

Transitions & terminations
Sequencing between trades
Mock-up & testing expectations
Submittals & compatibility

The envelope items that have to be settled before anyone builds — reviewed in the meeting, against a list, rather than remembered afterward.

Evaluation & condition survey

Building envelope, roof, wall
Window and door, cladding

Written for existing buildings: each component rated Good, Fair, Poor or Failed, with an anticipated service life range behind the rating and a Repair Inventory at the end.

Manufacturer context

Common envelope manufacturers are built in, so a report can name the system under review without a reviewer typing it from memory on a windy roof.

Don’t see a system you need? Tell us what you review and we will say honestly whether it is already on the list, already being written, or something we would take on — we add standard systems when more than one firm needs them. Tell us what you’re missing.

Below-grade waterproofing being applied to a foundation wall before backfill. — **A view from our own site visits.** Below-grade, before backfill — one of the twenty systems the library covers.

In the report

What a library item looks like once it is written up.

The wording an observer reads on the device is the wording that prints for the client — the requirement, then what was actually found.

A single checklist item: the system, the requirement, an Action Item status, the location, and the note describing what was found. — **One item, close up.** The requirement on the left, the status and location on the right, and underneath it what the observer actually found.

A field testing checklist printed in a report, listing the procedure steps and their results. — **The field testing list.** Written the same way as the rest of the library, so a test reads like every other section of the report.

How it's written

Questions an observer can read once, on a roof.

The library is maintained by a practicing consultant who has had to defend these observations in a meeting. That is the test every item is written against.

Each item names what it is checking against — the standard, the manufacturer’s published instruction, or the project’s own specification — so a reader can go to the source rather than take the item on trust. The wording is edited for the field: short enough to read in wind, in the order the assembly is actually built.

Systems are built around what the manufacturers publish. If your scope is to review against the manufacturer’s specification, the standard library already does that work.

Ordered by assembly, not alphabetically
Written for the field — short enough to read in wind
Every item names its source, so you can check it
Edited continuously, and reviewed quarterly as practice and products move

What an item looks like

Verify base flashing extends a minimum of 8 in. above the finished roof surface and is mechanically fastened at the top edge.

Confirm termination bar is continuous, fastened at the specified spacing, and sealed along the top edge.

Probe field seams for continuity; document any voids or fishmouths with a photograph and location.

Illustrative of the style. Actual items vary by system.

Four ways to hold the library

From "use ours" to "we'll encode yours."

Most firms start with the library as shipped and never move. The ladder is there because some firms have their own standards and want to hold them.

Tier	What you get	Who it's for
Stock	The library exactly as we ship and maintain it, updated quarterly.	Most firms. Included with every subscription.
Branded	Your terminology, your section names, your report cover — configuration, not rewriting.	Firms with an established house style.
Custom-authored	We encode your firm's own standards into the library as a service engagement.	Firms whose standards are a competitive asset.
Self-maintained	You receive your own editable library workbook and maintain it in-house.	Larger firms with a technical director who wants the pen.

À la carte. You buy into only the libraries you actually need — a roofing specialist shouldn't pay for sheet metal flashing content they'll never open. Each library is a one-time fee to buy in, plus an annual fee that keeps it maintained as standards move, on top of the per-seat subscription. Three libraries make the minimum starting set.

Read the library on a real screen.

Ask us and we’ll show you a working slice of the library, so you can judge the wording yourself rather than take our word for it.

Get in touch Ask about custom authoring