Project handover checklist

01Handover and close

• Someone named as the owner on their sideKeyFrom client

  A handover to a company is a handover to nobody. It needs a person with a name.

• Final sign-off recordedKeyFrom client

• Access confirmed working from their sideFrom client

  Tested with them on the call - not "we have sent the details".

• Testimonial or case-study permission, in writing, if they are happyFrom client

  Ask at the moment they are happiest. Written permission, because the sales SOP does not allow publishing client work without it.

• All credentials transferred to the client’s own accountsKeyDev

  Nothing important should remain only in our name. This is the item that decides whether they are a client or a captive.

• Domain, hosting and DNS ownership confirmed as theirsKeyDev

• Billing for any service in our name transferred or cancelledKeyPM

  Hosting, plugins, licences, mail. So nothing stops working the day our card expires.

• Outstanding items and known issues written down honestlyKeyPM

  Everything unfinished, deferred or broken. A handover that hides a known issue is found out, and it is found out by the client.

• Repository access transferred or grantedDev

• Analytics, Search Console and ad account ownership moved to the clientMarketing

• Our access removed or reduced, and the client told what we keptPM

  If we keep a login for support, say so in writing rather than leaving it quietly in place.

• Documentation written for whoever maintains it nextPM

  Written for a person who was not here, which is the only audience that matters.

• Training session delivered and recordedPM

  The recording is the deliverable. The person trained will leave.

• Final files, source files and meeting records stored in the client folderPM

• Final invoice raisedPM

• Project archived here, with files and notes kept in the vaultPM

  Archived, never purged - the knowledge is what makes the next project with them cheap.

• Internal retrospective: what to do differently next timePM

  Fifteen minutes. The PM SOP asks for one practical process improvement, not a document.

• Handover pack with every credential and where it livesDeliverablePM

• Maintenance or support arrangement agreed, or explicitly declinedDeliverablePM

  Explicitly declined is a real outcome, and better than an assumption on either side.

• Recording and notes from the training sessionDeliverablePM

• Written summary of what was built and what was decidedDeliverablePM

  The reasons, not just the result. It is what makes the next change cheap.