Concrete Pour Checklist — Pre-Pour to the 6 AM Go/No-Go

Why a checklist isn’t enough on its own

A pre-pour checklist keeps a single pour from going sideways. But a concrete sub runs many pours across many jobs, and the checklist items — yards confirmed, pump booked, weather checked, crew assigned — all live on your schedule. This is the checklist, plus where each item actually lives.

Download the Pre-Pour Checklist (PDF) →
US Letter, one page per pour: the three phases as check boxes, a fill-in job row, and a notes area for the next pour. Free, no email.

The day before

Confirm yards & mix with ready-mix (plant + dispatch contact on the pour)
Confirm pump (company, boom size, arrival time)
Confirm crew/foreman — and check nobody’s double-booked on another pour
Check the 14-day weather for the job’s ZIP, not the metro
Confirm start time with everyone (subs lose money on fuzzy start times)
Site access & sequencing notes to the crew

Pour morning (the 4–6 AM go/no-go)

Re-check the forecast — has anything flipped overnight?
Go/no-go call made early enough to stop trucks and the pump
If no-go: one notification to PM, super, ready-mix, pump, GC, owner’s rep, crew — with the reason and, ideally, the new date
Reschedule while you’re at it, so the lookahead stays honest

During & after

Status to “in progress,” then “complete” so anyone asking “where are we” sees it
Log actual yards for the weekly rollup
Note anything that affects the next pour (access, finish issues, crew performance)

Where the checklist lives

Nearly every box above is a field on a real pour schedule. On a spreadsheet you chase them across tabs, texts, and email. On a live pour board they’re on one card: contacts to notify, weather on the cell, conflict badge if the crew’s double-booked, yards that roll up on their own — and the no-go notification is one click. See how it works in Place & Finish.

Run your next pour on a live board → 14-day free trial.

Questions concrete subs ask

What should a concrete pour checklist include?

Three phases. The day before: yards and mix confirmed with the plant, the pump confirmed, the crew confirmed and not double-booked, the site forecast checked, the start time confirmed with everyone, and access notes to the crew. Pour morning: re-check the forecast and make the go/no-go call early enough to stop trucks. During and after: keep the status current, log actual yards, and note anything that affects the next pour. The checklist on this page is that list.

When should the pre-pour checklist start?

The day before — not pour morning. Every confirmation on the list is a phone call that takes time to make and longer to fix, and 5 AM is too late to find out the pump was never booked. The morning items are deliberately short: re-check the forecast, make the call.

Who makes the go/no-go call, and by when?

Whoever owns the pour schedule — usually the ops manager or the super running the job. The deadline isn’t a clock time, it’s a physics time: early enough to stop the trucks from loading and the pump from rolling. For a morning pour that means the call happens between 4 and 6 AM.

What weather should you check before a pour?

The jobsite’s forecast, not the metro’s — a job 40 miles inland pours in different weather than your office. Check the 14-day when the pour is scheduled, again the day before, and re-check at 4–6 AM for what flipped overnight. In shoulder season, watch the overnight lows through the days after the pour, not just pour day itself.

Is there a printable version of this checklist?

Yes — a one-page PDF made for the truck, with a fill-in job row, the three phases as check boxes, and a notes area for the next pour. The download link on this page is the file: free, no email, no watermark.

The concrete pre-pour checklist (and the schedule behind it)