Missing a hold point delays the project. Managing dozens of witness loops across classification, equipment makers, and paint inspectors is one of the hardest coordination challenges in newbuilding. Here is how to do it well.
During newbuilding ship construction, certain inspection stages require the physical presence of a third-party witness — typically a classification society surveyor, an equipment maker's representative, or a specialised inspector (paint, NDT). These are called witness points or hold points, and they are non-negotiable: construction cannot proceed past a hold point until the designated witness has attended and approved the work.
On a large vessel, there can be hundreds of witness points spread across hull, machinery, piping, and outfitting departments. Coordinating them — requesting surveys, scheduling dates, confirming attendance, recording results, and tracking approvals — is one of the most logistically complex tasks in shipyard supervision.
The witness loop lifecycle
- Request — the supervision team or shipyard identifies that a witness point is approaching and formally requests a survey from the classification society or maker.
- Schedule — a date and time are agreed, accounting for the surveyor's availability and the shipyard's construction schedule.
- Witness — the survey takes place. The witness inspects the work and records findings.
- Approve or reject — the witness approves the work, requests remedial action, or rejects it. If rejected, the loop returns to an earlier stage.
- Close — once approved, the witness point is formally closed and documented for the project record.
Why spreadsheets fail at this
Most teams start with a spreadsheet to track witness points. It works for the first few weeks, then breaks. The spreadsheet cannot send reminders, cannot link to inspection records or photos, offers no visibility into which loops are overdue, and becomes unreliable as multiple people edit it simultaneously. By mid-project, the spreadsheet is a liability — it gives false confidence that everything is on track.
What a purpose-built system does differently
ShipInspect Pro manages the full witness loop lifecycle digitally. Each witness point is linked to the relevant ITP activity, department, and construction stage. The system tracks the current stage (Requested → Scheduled → Witnessed → Approved), flags overdue items, and maintains a complete audit trail. Surveyors can be notified, and the supervision team has a real-time dashboard showing all open witness loops across the project.
This is not a feature you can bolt onto a generic inspection app — it requires an understanding of how newbuilding witness coordination actually works. That is why we built it into the core of the platform.
Getting started
If you are currently managing witness loops in spreadsheets or email, request a free 7-day trial of ShipInspect Pro to see the difference a purpose-built system makes. Setup takes less than 48 hours.
See ShipInspect Pro in action
Request a free 7-day trial with sample data and see how it fits your newbuilding project.