July 11, 2026

Concrete & Masonry Intake Forms: How to Document the Job Scope Before You Pour

Concrete and masonry work has a problem that most other trades do not: once you pour, you cannot undo it. A plumber can reroute a pipe. An electrician can rewire a circuit. But a driveway that is the wrong width, a patio that slopes toward the house instead of away from it, or a retaining wall that fails because nobody checked the soil grade — those are mistakes that cost thousands to fix and destroy client relationships.

That is why intake matters more in concrete and masonry than in almost any other trade. A proper concrete and masonry intake form forces the conversation about scope, dimensions, finish, drainage, and access before the mixer truck arrives. It turns a vague "I want a new patio" into a documented project with measurements, material specifications, and clear expectations. Here is what yours should include.

Project type and scope: defining what you are actually building

Concrete and masonry covers a huge range of work. Your intake form needs to identify the project type up front because the quoting, scheduling, equipment, and crew requirements are completely different for each one.

Common project types you should list as checkboxes:

• Driveways — new pour, replacement, extension, or repair (crack sealing, resurfacing, mudjacking).
• Patios and walkways — new construction or replacement. These overlap with deck and patio contractors who may subcontract the concrete work or do it themselves.
• Foundations — new residential or commercial foundation, foundation repair (crack injection, underpinning, piering), or slab-on-grade work.
• Retaining walls — segmental block, poured concrete, natural stone, or gabion. Height matters enormously here because walls over 4 feet typically require engineering and a permit.
• Steps and stoops — front entry, back porch, garage, basement access.
• Flatwork — garage floors, basement floors, utility pads (HVAC, generator), sidewalks.
• Masonry — brick or block walls, veneer, fireplace construction, chimney repair, tuckpointing, stone cladding.
• Decorative concrete — stamped, stained, polished, exposed aggregate, colored.

For each project type, your intake form should ask whether this is new construction, replacement of existing work, or repair. Replacement and repair jobs have demo and haul-away costs that new work does not. A driveway replacement means sawcutting, breaking out, and hauling 15 to 20 tons of old concrete before any new work begins.

Site conditions and measurements

Concrete is priced by the square foot or cubic yard. You cannot quote without measurements, and you cannot measure accurately from a phone call. But you can get close enough to provide a ballpark estimate that decides whether the project moves forward to a site visit.

Your intake form should capture approximate dimensions (length, width, desired thickness), slope or grade information (does the area slope, and in which direction?), and current surface condition. For repair work, ask the customer to describe the damage: cracking pattern (single crack, spider web, heaving), width of the widest crack, whether sections have settled or shifted, and whether water pools on the surface.

Soil conditions matter for any structural concrete work. Ask whether the customer knows the soil type (clay, sandy, rocky, fill). If they have had previous foundation work done, request any engineering reports. Clay soil expands and contracts with moisture, which is the leading cause of foundation and slab cracking in most of the country. Rocky soil needs different excavation equipment. Fill soil may need compaction testing before you can pour on it.

Access to the work area is a logistical question that affects your quote. Can a concrete truck back up to the pour site, or will you need to pump? Is the area accessible through a gate, or does the truck need to reach the backyard through a narrow side yard? Is there an HOA that restricts construction vehicle access, work hours, or requires a deposit for common-area damage? All of this goes on the intake form because all of it affects your price.

Finish selection and material preferences

A basic broom-finish driveway and a stamped, colored patio with an exposed-aggregate border are both "concrete work," but they are not the same price, the same crew, or the same timeline. The intake form is where you establish what the customer wants the finished product to look like.

For concrete, capture the desired finish: broom, smooth trowel, stamped (and which pattern — have a list or show photos at the site visit), exposed aggregate, polished, stained, or colored. If the customer wants integral color (pigment mixed into the concrete), record the color choice. If they want a stamped pattern, note whether they want a contrasting release color on the stamps.

For masonry, capture the material: brick (which type — standard modular, king size, thin brick veneer), concrete block (standard, split-face, ground-face), natural stone (flagstone, fieldstone, bluestone, limestone), or manufactured stone veneer. Mortar joint profile matters too: concave, raked, flush, or struck. These are design decisions that the customer should make at intake, not on the day the mason shows up.

If the project involves matching existing work — adding a patio extension to match the original pour, or tuckpointing a section of brickwork to match the rest of the wall — note that at intake. Color matching aged concrete or weathered brick is difficult and sometimes impossible. The intake form is where you document that expectation and have a realistic conversation about it.

Permits, codes, and engineering

Many concrete and masonry projects require permits, and the customer often does not know that. Your intake form should ask whether the customer has obtained a permit (or knows whether one is needed), and your form should have a note that your company will advise on permit requirements during the site visit.

Retaining walls over a certain height (typically 4 feet, but this varies by municipality) require engineering drawings, a building permit, and sometimes a site inspection by a geotechnical engineer. Foundation work almost always requires a permit. Even a simple driveway may require a curb-cut permit if it involves modifying the public sidewalk or street apron.

If your company handles permit applications as part of the service, your intake form should note that and capture the property address (which may differ from the billing address for landlords and property managers) for the permit application. If the customer handles their own permits, note that responsibility on the form so there is no confusion later about who was supposed to pull the permit.

Timeline, scheduling, and weather considerations

Concrete work is weather-dependent. You cannot pour in rain, and you should not pour when temperatures are below 40 degrees or above 90 degrees without special precautions (hot-weather or cold-weather mix additives, blankets, wind screens). Your intake form should capture the customer's desired timeline (when they want the project completed) and any hard deadlines (a party, a home sale, a season).

Be realistic about scheduling at intake. If a customer calls in March for a driveway in a northern climate, they may be looking at a May or June start date. If they call in October, they may be looking at spring. Setting that expectation at intake — rather than booking the job and then pushing the start date — builds trust and reduces cancellations.

Cure time is another detail to address at intake. Concrete reaches functional strength in about seven days but continues curing for 28 days. A customer who pours a driveway and parks a truck on it three days later is going to crack the slab. Your intake form should note the expected cure time and the usage restrictions during that period so the customer understands why they cannot use the driveway for a week.

Existing utilities and underground hazards

Any concrete work that involves excavation — and most of it does — requires a utility locate. Your intake form should ask whether the customer has called 811 (the national utility locate number) or whether your company will handle that. Document known underground features: septic tanks, well lines, irrigation systems, buried propane tanks, dog fences, landscape lighting wiring, and drainage pipes.

Hitting a gas line or cutting through a fiber optic cable during excavation is an expensive, dangerous mistake. A general contractor working on a larger project would have this information on a site plan. A concrete contractor working a residential job needs to ask these questions explicitly because the homeowner is not going to volunteer the information unless prompted.