What to include in a construction daily report
Four months on, the owner's consultant asks why drywall on level 3 started two days late. The daily reports for that week say "Framing L3, deliveries, owner's rep on site". Nobody remembers what was delivered, whether anything was sent back, or who told the framers to stop at the corridor.
A daily report is written for a reader who was not there: a project manager next week, a claims consultant next year. It fails when it records activity without facts — no quantities, no times, no names, no cause. One public owner sets the same bar for its own staff. The Oregon Department of Transportation's construction manual asks for weather, personnel and equipment, the location of the work and estimated quantities, orders given, disagreements, delays and visits — facts only, with no personal remarks.
What to record, section by section
- Record weather and site conditions at start and midday, and whether they stopped any work, with the times.
- List crews and equipment by company, with head count and hours, and any equipment that stood idle and why.
- Describe the work performed by location — level, gridlines, area — with quantities where you can count them.
- Log deliveries and inspections: what arrived, what was rejected, who inspected what, and the result.
- Note instructions and visitors: who asked for what, in person or by phone, and who walked the site.
- Record delays, problems and incidents: what stopped or went wrong, when, what it affected, and who was told.
- Attach photos that show the day's work and anything unusual.
Common mistakes
- Writing it the next morning from memory, when the times and head counts have blurred.
- Copying yesterday's report and changing the date.
- Recording opinions ("the electrician was lazy") instead of facts ("electrical crew of 2 left at 13:00").
- Leaving out verbal instructions because they felt informal at the time.
Checklist
Before you submit today's report
- Weather, with the times it stopped work
- Every company on site, with head count and hours
- Work by location, with quantities
- Deliveries, inspections and their results
- Instructions received and who gave them
- Delays and incidents: cause, time, work affected, who was told
- Photos of the work and of anything unusual
Check your understanding
Your report says "delay due to rain". What three facts would make it useful to someone reading it in six months?
