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Construction Daily Report

A construction daily report form for superintendents and foremen, with weather, crews, work done, equipment, deliveries, inspections, delays and safety.

Updated
  • construction
  • daily log
  • superintendent
  • field report
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About this document

A construction daily report is a dated record, written on site at the end of each workday, of the weather, the crews and equipment on site, the work done, and anything that slowed the job. Superintendents and foremen usually write it, and the reports become the job's record of what happened.

Fill in a construction daily report every workday, including days when work stopped. When you need an answer from the architect or engineer, send a construction RFI. When work changes the price or the schedule, write a construction change order. A daily report is usually not the written notice a contract requires for a delay or extra cost. AIA A201-2017, for example, gives 21 days to start a claim, so check the notice deadline in your contract.

How to fill it in

  1. Fill in the project header. Enter the project name and number, the next report number, the date and day of the week, and your crew's start and end times. Numbering reports in order makes a missing day obvious.
  2. Count crews and equipment. List every company on site with its foreman, head count, hours and work area. Record each machine's working and idle hours, because idle hours back up a standby or delay cost later.
  3. Record directions and problems. Write down who gave any verbal instruction, any extra work done on a time and materials basis, and each delay with its cause and who you told. Add photo numbers with captions.
  4. Sign and send it today. Sign the report before you leave and send it to the project manager. If a delay or extra cost may become a claim, also send the separate written notice your contract requires by its deadline.
Construction Daily Report

Construction Daily Report

Who was on site, what got done, and what affected the work today

Project

[Project name and address]

Project number

[Number]

Report number

[Number]

Date

[Day of the week, date]

Contractor

[Company]

Written by

[Name, title]

Work hours

[Start time to end time]

Fill this in before you leave the site each day, while the facts are fresh. Write what you saw and who said what, not opinions. Months later, when a delay, claim or question comes up, these reports may be the only record of what happened.

Weather

Conditions

Morning

Afternoon

Sky and rain or snow

[Clear / rain / snow]

[Clear / rain / snow]

Temperature

[°F]

[°F]

Wind

[Calm / mph]

[Calm / mph]

Ground

[Dry / wet / muddy / frozen]

[Dry / wet / muddy / frozen]

Work lost to weather

[None / hours lost, which crews and which work]

Workforce on site

Company or trade

Foreman

Workers

Hours

Work performed and area

[Company, trade]

[Name]

[#]

[#]

[Wall framing, level 2 east]

Total

[#]

[#]

Work completed today

  • [Area or activity: what was done and how far along. For example: Level 2 east wall framing, about 80% complete]

  • [Work that started, finished or stopped today, and why it stopped]

Schedule status

[On schedule / ahead / behind by __ days]

Equipment on site

Equipment

Owned or rented

Hours working

Hours idle

Notes

[Scissor lift]

[Rented]

[6]

[2]

[Idle waiting on inspection]

Materials delivered

Material and quantity

Supplier

Delivery ticket

Received by

Condition

[Drywall, 120 sheets]

[Supplier]

[Ticket number]

[Name]

[Good / damaged: describe]

Visitors, inspections and tests

Name

Company or agency

Purpose and result

Time in and out

[Name]

[City building department]

[Rough electrical inspection: passed]

[9:15 to 9:50 am]

Directions, extra work and open questions

Record any instruction that changes the work, any extra work done on a time and materials basis, and any question still waiting on the design team.

Type

Given by

What was said or done

Reference

[Verbal direction / extra work / question]

[Name, company]

[Owner asked to move the kitchen outlet 12 inches left]

[RFI or change order number, or none yet]

Safety

Safety talk topic and attendance

[Ladder use, 14 attended]

Injuries, incidents or near misses

[None / describe and give the incident report number]

Hazards found and corrected

[None / describe]

Delays and problems

Problem

Cause

Effect on schedule or cost

Who was told and when

[Waiting on door hardware]

[Late supplier delivery]

[Level 1 doors pushed back 1 day]

[Emailed project manager, 2:30 pm]

A daily report is usually not the written notice a contract requires for a delay or extra cost. Send that notice separately, by the deadline in your contract.

Photos

Photo number or link

What it shows

[Photo 1]

[Water in the level 1 elevator pit, north wall, 8:10 am]

Plan for tomorrow

  • [Trade: planned work and area]

  • [Inspections, deliveries or crane lifts scheduled]

  • [Materials, answers or approvals still needed to keep working]

Sign-off

Role

Name

Signature

Date

Written by

[Name]

[Signature]

[Date]

Reviewed by

[Project manager's name]

[Signature]

[Date]

Page 1 of 2486 words

Frequently asked questions

What should be in a construction daily report?

A construction daily report covers the date, weather, crews and head counts, hours, work done and where, equipment, deliveries, inspections and visitors, safety talks and incidents, delays, and photos. Also record anything that could matter later, such as a verbal instruction from the owner or a crew sent home early.

Who fills out a construction daily report?

The superintendent or site foreman usually fills it out at the end of each workday. On larger jobs, each subcontractor's foreman may file a report too, and the general contractor's superintendent combines them. The writer should be someone who was on site that day and saw the work firsthand.

Can daily reports be used as evidence in a construction dispute?

Often, yes. Courts may admit daily reports as business records when they were made at or near the time, by someone with knowledge, as a regular practice. That is the federal test in Federal Rule of Evidence 803(6), and state rules vary. Reports filled in days later or rewritten after a dispute carry less weight.

Do you have to report a jobsite injury to OSHA?

Yes, for serious injuries. Federal rules require employers to report a work-related death within 8 hours, and an inpatient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye within 24 hours, under 29 CFR 1904.39. States with their own OSHA plans may set other rules. A daily report entry does not count as that report.

Sources

  1. Cornell Law SchoolRule 803. Exceptions to the Rule Against Hearsay (opens in a new tab)
  2. eCFR29 CFR 1904.39 — Reporting fatalities, hospitalizations, amputations, and losses of an eye as a result of work-related incidents to OSHA (opens in a new tab)

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