Delivery Check Sheet

Count it on the ground

Not off the delivery note. The note says what was supposed to be loaded; only counting says what actually arrived. Pallets get split, items get left on the previous drop, and the driver has no more idea than you do what is under the shrink wrap.

It takes two minutes and it is the only moment you have any leverage.

Lot numbers matter more than counts

For tile, flooring, wallpaper, shingles and anything else with a color to it, every box needs the same lot or dye-lot number. Different lots of the same product are genuinely different shades — not much, but enough to see across a finished floor in daylight.

Two boxes from a different lot is not a small problem. It is either a visible line across the room or a second delivery, and the time to catch it is while the truck is still there.

Damage is always on the bottom sheet

Sheet goods take their damage on the corners and edges, and the damaged ones are at the bottom of the stack where you will not see them until you are halfway through the job. Lift a few. Bagged material has the same problem in a different form: split bags, and bags that have taken water and set hard in the middle.

Write it on the note before you sign

Anything wrong goes on the delivery note in writing, before your signature, and gets photographed. Signing "unexamined" protects you far less than people assume — most suppliers' terms give you a short window to report shortages, and a signed clean note makes that conversation much harder.

Check it against what you worked out

The counts on your order came from somewhere — a calculator, a quote, or a takeoff. Bring that number to the delivery rather than trusting that the order was placed correctly. Mistakes happen at the ordering stage at least as often as at the loading stage.