In today’s construction world, there is more emphasis than ever before on documentation and administration for every project. No matter what is your role, be it an estimator, project manager, contracts administrator, or site manager, everyone has an administration focus that is crucial for the project’s success.
For site managers, the daily site diary is one of the most important administrative tools. It acts as a solid record of the project’s progression and can be used as supporting documentation for many different aspects of a construction contract such as:
- Inclement weather – Being able to claim an extension of time with supporting diary entry reports of weather conditions and photo evidence.
- Design delays – Works being held up due to design delays can be recorded and issued with extension of time claims.
- Negative Variations – Ensuring that any damage caused by a contractor is accounted for and backcharged accordingly.
- Progress Claims – Keeping a record of works performed and labour on site for each contractor that can assist with payment claim approvals.
- Recording Safety – Logging all accidents/incidents on site into the diary and ensure that the safety management process has been followed.
- Delivery of goods – Tracking what has been delivered from all purchase orders sent out for a project.
- Workers on site – Keep a record of the number of people on the site so managers can organise adequate amenities that are required by law, e.g. bathrooms, lunch sheds, etc.
What should you include in your daily site diary?
The more data that your site team can capture consistently on a day-to-day basis, the better your team’s ability to understand any certain trends with labour, progress and unforeseen costs. The main data points that you should be recording each day are:
- The weather, ideally over 3 periods throughout the day
- Accident or incidents
- Complaints
- Supply deliveries
- Instructions
- Variation work
- Plant on or off hire
- Sub-contractor companies (workers & hours)
- Visitors to the site.
Moving from a paper process to online
There are many software providers that either solely focus on construction site diary software, or have it included in their suite of project management features. It’s worth having a look around to see if they can meet your requirements along with any other administration processes that you’re looking to streamline with software.
However, if you not ready to make the move to a software just yet, it doesn’t mean you can’t make your site diary process digital. You can still be more efficient by having a soft copy of your diary loaded up on a low-cost cloud server such as Dropbox that can then be accessed from any smart device and completed daily.
By having a digital-based site diary, not only do you eliminate the risk of losing paper entries, but you will have an easily searchable document when you need to find information as supporting contract evidence.
If you need a helping hand with a template for your construction site diary, then feel free to download our free template that can be fully edited to meet your needs.
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Download our free template (CSV format) to give you a head start with your digital site diaries.
Webuild
Webuild is an Australian company that employs the latest technology to help contractors improve their construction project management practices without incurring a large capital outlay. It offers a package of construction management software, file storage and service in a cloud-based platform for a competitive subscription fee.
The platform is secure, fully integrated, easy to use and accessible anytime, anywhere and on all smart devices. It covers the construction project management process from tender/bidding to project completion, automating construction management daily tasks and allowing all project stakeholders to work together simultaneously and collaboratively.
