Guest Blog: Daily Records and Daily Reports

Daily records, or reports, are important, yet the Project Manager often leaves them for other staff to prepare and submit.

These reports may be referred to in the event of a contractual dispute, therefore they must be accurate and, if possible, signed by the client or their representative. Often it’s a project requirement to submit these reports daily, and even if it isn’t I would recommend every contractor still submits one.

The daily report should record:

1. the date
2. weather conditions such as the amount of rain, temperature, wind speed as well as the hours that couldn’t be worked due to adverse weather
3. the site physical conditions (such as encountering rock)
4. resources available including; staff, personnel, equipment, subcontractor’s resources and site visitors
5. work done
6. delays and disruptions
7. major items of material received
8. potential future delays
9. any safety, environmental or industrial relations incidents
10. any other relevant information

If the client wants the daily report submitted in their format, which doesn’t allow for all of the above, or has insufficient space to record everything, it may be necessary to persuade them to amend their format.

The numbers of people recorded on site, in the diary, may be important when the client is adjudicating any claim for acceleration or delays.

It’s important when work is performed on a cost recovery basis that the number of personnel recorded in the daily report ties-up with the cost recovery records. If they don’t agree, the client may only reimburse the contractor for the lesser number.

Often a contractor experiences a delay, and records it on the daily report, but when the delay continues, they neglect to record its continuation, which can cause a problem later, because the delay has been recorded as if it only affected one day. It’s important to note every delay on every day that it affects progress.

Conclusion

Daily reports can form a vital part of delay and variation claims. Yet, they are often poorly done and neglected by Project Managers who often delegate the task of completing the report to juniors who don’t understand why care needs to be taken when filling in the report.

(Written by Paul Netscher the author of the acclaimed books ‘Successful Construction Project Management: The Practical Guide’ and ‘Building a Successful Construction Company: The Practical Guide’. Both books are available in paperback and e-book from Amazon and other retail outlets. This article is adapted from information included in these books. To read more visit www.pn-projectmanagement.com )

© 2015 This article is not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission from the author