Recording a delay in the daily report: the five facts the entry needs
Three daily reports say 'waited on inspector'. They do not identify the work, the booked visit or whether the crew waited all day. The office needs a sequence of events, but the entries leave it guessing.
A useful delay entry answers five questions: what work and location were affected, what condition you observed, when the interruption started and ended, which resources were affected and what they did instead, and who was told when. Keep the observation separate from a conclusion about responsibility or the project's completion date.
Use the same five fields
- Work and place. Identify the actual activity and drawing location. Say which work could not proceed and why the crew considered that prerequisite outstanding. 'Mezzanine stair enclosure awaiting the specified review' is more informative than 'inspection delay'.
- Observed condition. Record what you know and how you know it. Link the booking, unanswered request or review note. Do not write that an inspector failed to attend if no visit had been confirmed. Label information supplied by someone else.
- Time and resources. Give the observed start, finish or 'still open at shift end'. Name the affected crew and equipment, their recorded waiting periods and alternative work. A reassignment ends one resource's waiting; it does not necessarily close the original prerequisite.
- Notification and continuation. Record who was contacted, the time, channel, question and reply. Reference required formal notices separately. On the next day, link the same event and update its condition, rather than copying a sentence that implies continuous waiting.
Make the entry while the details are available. If you discover an omission later, add a dated clarification with the records used; keep the original report intact. The office can then compare the event with the schedule, readiness records and other causes. Detailed entries support that analysis but do not automatically establish critical delay or an extension of time.
Common mistakes
- Naming a responsible party before checking the booking and prerequisite.
- Counting reassigned workers as continuously idle.
- Backdating a clarification or treating an event log as the complete schedule analysis.
Checklist
Check the five facts
- Activity and precise location.
- Observed condition with its source.
- Start, finish or open status.
- Affected resources and alternative work.
- Notification, response and next-day reference.
Check your understanding
The crew moved at 10:05. Is the delayed activity now complete?
