Free construction daily report template

Why keep a daily report

A construction daily report, or daily log, is the record of one day on one project: who was on site, what got done, what was delivered, what held up the work, who visited and what was said. Written the same day and signed, it is the record everyone goes back to when memories differ.

It pays for itself in four ways:

• Disputes. When an owner or general contractor argues about what happened, notes made at the time usually carry far more weight than memories pieced together months later.
• Change orders and getting paid. The log shows who asked for what, and when. That backs up a change order, and it catches the small extras you would otherwise forget to bill.
• Delays and time extensions. Hours lost to weather, late answers to RFIs, other trades or access problems, written down on the day, are what a request for more time is built on.
• Safety. Toolbox talks, near misses and incidents recorded on the day show you were running a safe site, and help if anything is ever investigated.

It also helps you run the business. A few weeks of logs show where the hours really went, which is worth knowing when you bid the next job.

What to record, section by section

Use one report per project per day. Keep entries short and specific: numbers, times and locations beat adjectives.

Project details and report number

The project name, owner or client, address and job number, the date, and the day of the week (circle it). Number the reports in order, 1, 2, 3 and so on, so a missing day stands out.

Weather

Morning and afternoon conditions, the low and high temperature, wind and rain or snow. Then the ground and site conditions, such as “mud, no access for the excavator” or “frost until 10:00.” Weather only matters to a claim when it stops or slows the work, so say when it did.

Crew on site

Every trade and company on site, including other subs, not just your own crew: how many workers and how many hours each. Multiply them for the total hours. If a trade that was scheduled didn’t show, write that down too.

Equipment

What was on site, how many, the hours used, and whether it was working or standing idle. Idle rented equipment costs money, and you will want proof of it if the delay wasn’t your fault.

Work performed

What, where and how far. “Framed second-floor exterior walls, grid lines A to D” beats “framing.” Note anything finished, tested, inspected or covered up.

Deliveries

The material, the supplier and the delivery ticket or PO number. Note anything short, damaged, late or rejected.

Delays and hours lost

The cause, what happened, when it started and stopped, the hours lost and how many workers it affected. Typical causes are the weather, the owner, missing design information or unanswered RFIs, other trades, materials, access and equipment.

Instructions and extra work

Who asked for what, and when, including anything said in passing on site. If it changes the scope, price or schedule, write it up on a change order form and get it signed before you do the work.

Visitors and inspections

The time, name, company and why they came: the owner, the architect or engineer, the building inspector, the general contractor’s superintendent, suppliers. Note what each inspection found.

Photos taken

Number each photo, note the time and say what it shows and where. Make sure the photos themselves show the date and time.

Safety

Incidents, injuries and near misses (or check “none”), the day’s toolbox talk and who gave it, and any safety problems and what was done about them.

Notes and sign-off

Calls, emails and anything to follow up go in the notes. Then sign and date the report at the end of the day. If the owner or the general contractor will sign it as received, even better.

Good practice

• Write it the same day, on site. A week written up on Friday night is easy to pick apart. If you have to fill out a day afterwards, say so and date it.
• Stick to facts. “Concrete truck arrived 10:40, scheduled 8:00, 4 finishers waited 2.5 hours” is evidence. “Supplier late again” isn’t.
• Use pen, and don’t erase. Cross out with a single line so the original can still be read, and initial it. Add anything you forgot as a dated note.
• Sign every report. A signed record is harder to argue with than loose notes.
• Take photos with the date and time on them, and list them in the report so each one can be found again.
• Keep copies. Photograph or scan each page that day, and keep the paper somewhere dry. The one report that gets lost is usually the one that mattered.
• Keep them for years. Claims about defects or payment can come long after a project ends, and the deadlines vary by state and province. Keep the logs with the contract, drawings and change orders.

Common mistakes

• Gaps. No report for slow days, rained-out days or days you weren’t there. “Rained out, no one on site” is a record too.
• Vague entries such as “general work” or “usual crew.”
• Leaving out short delays. They add up, and you can’t prove them later.
• Not writing down verbal instructions. “Just move that outlet while you’re at it” is how unpaid extra work starts.
• Only counting your own crew. Other trades on site, and the ones who didn’t show, often explain a delay.
• Writing reports up later as if they were written on the day.
• No copies. Paper gets wet, lost or thrown out with the trash at the end of the job.

Notes for the US and Canada

Most construction contracts say how and when you must give notice of delays, claims and changes, and those deadlines matter more than any template. Read the notice clauses before you start.

• United StatesMany projects use AIA or ConsensusDocs contracts. Under the AIA’s A201 general conditions (2017 edition), a claim must be started within 21 days after the event that caused it, or within 21 days after you first recognize the condition, whichever is later, so the facts need to be written down as they happen. On safety, OSHA requires employers to instruct each employee in recognizing and avoiding unsafe conditions (29 CFR 1926.21(b)(2)), and a report that records each toolbox talk helps show it was done.
• CanadaCCDC 2, the standard stipulated price contract, handles changes by change order or by change directive. When the owner has you go ahead with a change before the price is agreed, the adjustment is based on your costs plus overhead and profit, so log the crew, equipment and materials that went into that work every day. Workplace safety is regulated mostly by each province and territory.

General guidance, not legal advice. Check your contract.