Punch Walk Guide

Run store inspections by voice. You walk and talk — the agent does the paperwork.

Five Below × Surfaice AI · v6 draft · August 2026

One link for everything: agent.surfaice.pro

How it works

On a punch walk you already know what to look for. The slow part was never the walking — it was the recording: finding the right line, ticking it, typing the issue, doing it again 300 times. That part is now the agent’s job. You describe what you see, out loud, in any order — and the punch is captured while you’re still standing in the store:

Every finding lands on the right checklist line, with the right responsible party, and the live state of the walk stays on a panel beside the chat. If the agent gets something wrong, tell it in plain words — it fixes the record and learns.

The data side is automatic too: the agent pulls everything it needs — contacts, dates, deal type, the store’s checklist — from SiteFolio on its own, and loads the results back into Smartsheet on its own. No copying between systems, no double entry. (For now, while we test: results go to the sandbox copy of Smartsheet, not the live one.)

And the result is the same report you send today. The walk fills the familiar Construction Punch form — same fields, same PDF — so nothing changes for anyone downstream. What changes is your evening: the report is done when the walk is.

Set up once

Three things before your first walk. Two minutes, once per iPad.

This home screen is where every walk begins: a fresh thread (1), your message or dictation (2), the mic (3). That’s the whole surface you need.

Talk to it

One gesture runs everything. Before a walk starts, the mic sits in the message box; once the walk panel is open, the controls move onto the panel — you never reach into the chat.

tap & speak → keep the take → send

Dictate in takes — the text adds up

Keeping a take doesn’t send anything. Your words sit in the message box, editable — and when you tap the mic again, the new take continues after the old text instead of replacing it. So the natural rhythm is: talk, keep, walk a few steps, talk again — and send several batches of findings as one message when you’re ready.

• The panel stays in view the whole time — scroll it, check a line, keep talking.
• Loud site or a fumbled term? Fix the text before you send — you’re the editor.
• While the agent processes one message, you can already dictate the next.

Start a walk

From the home screen, two taps and a sentence.

🗣 🗣“Start a new punch walk for store 3085”

The agent pulls the store from SiteFolio — contacts, key dates, deal type — and opens the walk panel on the right: every section of this store’s prototype, and inside each section its punch items. That’s the whole vocabulary. If the panel ever gets closed, the PUNCH WALK button in the top right corner brings it back.

If the store already has a walk

The agent tells you what it found and asks:

• Continue the active walk — you’re resuming: same visit, or back to close out the outstanding items.
• Start a new walk from scratch — a fresh 100% walk.

Setup questions — one minute

The only form-like part of the walk, right before observations start.

The compliance card. CO status, Monitoring, Fire sprinkler, Fire alarm — one card, four tabs, same answers as the old form. Tap or say them. Not sure? “I don’t know yet” is a real answer — the agent brings it back before the final report, so nothing slips.

Then one dictation covers the rest. The agent lists the twelve inspections and asks for the square footage and the Final Punch date — answer all three in one take:

🗣 🗣“All inspections are required. Only building and mechanical are passed. Everything else is pending. Punch walk square footage is 2700 and final punch walk date is September 12th”

Installer sections — settled right here

Right after setup the agent checks the schedule, and if the fixture install date hasn’t arrived, it asks straight away: “Should I skip all Fixture Installer sections for this walk as not started?” Say yes — all nine are out in one action, and it’s reversible (“bring the installer sections back” works any time). The same phrase works mid-walk too:

🗣 🗣“Skip all the installer sections in one go”

Walk the store

The main part — and the shortest to explain, because you already know how to do a walk.

Don’t walk the checklist — walk the store, and batch what’s in front of you. One message that covers half the front of house beats ten messages that close one line each. Real examples, all fair game:

One section, mixed statuses:

🗣 🗣“Site utilities: everything is complete except the pylon sign is not fully operational yet, and landscaping still needs to be completed”

One take, six sections — jump around, mix statuses, the agent sorts every piece into place:

🗣 🗣“ADA accessible ramp is not ready and the parking lot needs to be paved. Parking lot lights are not working. Other than that, all good for site utilities. Exterior sign is all complete. Interior mall entrance is not applicable. Facade storefront is looking good. Sales entrance GC, items five to ten are incomplete. Everything else is complete”

A clean area is one sentence:

🗣 🗣“Exterior sign is all good, no issues”

After each area the agent confirms what it recorded and offers the next nearby one. Follow it or ignore it — “what’s left?” works any time.

Getting the details right

• GC vs Installer: some areas exist twice. Say which one you mean (“Restroom GC”), or the agent will ask.
• Single lines too: “line 4 in electrical backboard is N/A” touches one line, nothing else. Completing a section never closes the items you flagged.

Beyond the checklist

Something the prototype list doesn’t cover? Add your own punch item — it lands in the section and the report:

🗣 🗣“Add one new punch item — the entrance threshold plate is loose and needs to be secured”

When “incomplete” isn’t the whole story, pin a note to the exact item. It shows on the item and travels into the report:

🗣 🗣“Add a note to the pylon sign punch: electrician is scheduled for Friday to finish the hookup”

Finish the walk

Two taps on the panel before you leave: Pending — anything you missed; Issues — every flag, its vendor, your notes. Then:

🗣 🗣“I’m done — generate the report”

The agent asks for anything still required — an unanswered compliance field, a missing date — then builds the report and drops the PDF right in the chat. Open it, download it, send it on. Smartsheet is updated automatically at the same time — nothing to re-enter.

Know your screen

The reference chapter: everything the panel shows, in one place. Skim it once — and come back whenever an icon or a number puzzles you mid-walk.

Once a walk starts, the screen splits. The chat on the left is the conversation: your voice notes, the agent’s confirmations and questions, the final report. The Punch Walk panel on the right is the live state of the walk. It updates after every message — it’s how you verify the agent caught you right, without asking.

The panel, top to bottom

Store header and Store Info. Which store you’re in, plus reference tabs — Contacts, Design Attrs, Schedule — so phone numbers, specs and dates are one tap away mid-walk.

Progress. Zones inspected, report status, and how many items are still outstanding.

Filters. Pending is “what’s left”, Issues is every flag with its vendor and notes, All and Inspected round it out.

Sections. Every section of this store’s prototype, grouped by area. Each row: status, a counter like 11/11 (lines recorded / total), and whose scope it is.

⏳ not started · ✅ inspected · ⚠️ has open issues · — N/A · skipped · 5B_GC / LL_GC — responsible party

Punch items. Tap a section to expand its checklist lines — the actual punch items. Recorded lines get a green check; a flagged line shows ⚠️ and a one-tap Complete button to close it later; untouched lines carry Flag. Voice does all of this in bulk; the buttons are for quick single fixes.

If something goes wrong

• The app froze or a message hangs. Your walk lives outside the chat: open a new thread and say “continue the punch walk for store 1234” — every section and punch is there.
• It misheard you. Fix the text before sending, or say the correction after — plain words, no special commands.
• It filed something wrong. Tell it where the item belongs — it moves it and learns.
• The panel is gone. PUNCH WALK, top right corner of the screen.
• A section says “skipped” and shouldn’t. “Bring the restrooms section back into the walk” — one sentence recovers it.
• Anything else. Email us the same day it happens — fixes usually land within the week. Every walk and every correction trains the agent on your stores, your terms, your way of working.

Phrases that work

Not scripts — patterns. Say it your way; these are the shapes the agent hears every day.

Start & resume

“Start a new punch walk for store 1234” · “Continue the punch walk for store 1234”

Statuses

“…is complete” · “…is incomplete / not ready / not working” · “…is not applicable” · “items five to ten are incomplete”

Sections

“Skip all the installer sections in one go” · “Bring the restrooms section back” · “What’s left?”

Your own items & notes

“Add a punch item — …” · “Add a note to the … punch: …”

Wrap up

“I’m done — generate the report”

---

Five Below × Surfaice AI · Punch Walk Guide v6 draft · questions: dev@surfaice.pro