Construction sites are chaotic. And even though most of it is controlled chaos, keeping track of it all is a challenge for site managers.
While we have many tools to get an overview of projects and see how they should be progressing, we only have one that shows how they are actually progressing: daily construction logs.
Let's explore the importance of keeping daily construction and maintenance records of all on-site activities.
5 Reasons Why You Need to Keep Accurate Daily Construction Records
Your daily construction log is a living record of your project – it shows the details of each day's progress. Daily reports are how everyone involved in the project tracks progress, performance, and productivity.
Ignoring these records increases the risk of a small problem becoming huge because no one documented it.
Your daily construction and maintenance log is crucial for:
- Protection against disputes
- Monitoring activities on site
- Keep stakeholders informed
- Improving productivity
- Minimizing delays
1. Protect yourself from disputes
When faced with a dispute, you need a foolproof record of documents to protect you and your business. Daily construction records track everything that happens on your site, providing facts and insights into site conditions to refute disputes.
By keeping a daily construction and maintenance log, you can:
- Prove due diligence by recording restrictions and their resolutions
- Show that you have communicated with stakeholders, customers and contractors
- Provide proof of working hours, materials used, etc.
If you ever find recording activities in your daily construction logs too much of a hassle, think about the negative implications on your profit margin and reputation.
2. Track the work done
When it comes to the high complexity of construction projects, it is impossible to track all activities, materials, contractors and crews on site. Construction logs act as a management tool to record all the relevant information you will need in the future.
Daily record keeping can help you track:
- How many workers do you have on site
- Hours spent on different activities
- Potential restrictions and weather forecasts
- Verbal agreements between contractors and clients
- Quality, health, safety and environmental information (QHSE)
Keeping track of all this information in your daily construction and maintenance log gives you everything you need to do your job well.
3. Provide value to your customers
What is the number one thing your clients want to see while the project is under construction? The value you provide them. With tight deadlines and potential restrictions around every corner, your clients want you to keep them informed.
Daily construction logs make it easy to show your clients the progress you're making on their projects, the work you've completed, and the value of their investment.
Plus, your clients probably don't know much about the construction process. Sharing your daily construction and maintenance log along with progress updates can help them understand what's happening on site.
4. Find ways to improve productivity
Efficient daily record keeping involves more than recording on-site activities; You can increase the overall productivity of your projects by analyzing your daily reports. So don't just track your project's progress – use the daily construction log to determine what is and isn't working.
Improve on-site productivity with your construction records:
- Identify the average time it takes teams to complete specific tasks to get an accurate timeline for future planning
- Ensure each team completes work on time without interfering with the activities of other contractors
- Find small, non-obvious changes you can make to increase efficiency and cut costs by restructuring your workforce
5. Identify and reduce delays
Lack of communication and collaboration is a huge problem in the construction industry, causing projects to go over budget and miss deadlines. Without proper documentation and daily construction records, the risk of misunderstandings leading to delays increases and communication becomes strained.
Each contractor and subcontractor working on the project relies on the information contained in daily construction and maintenance records – inaccurate or missing records mean they cannot work efficiently and inefficient work leads to delays.
Your daily construction log shows why, how and when changes occur and decisions are made; This allows everyone on site to remain productive, maintain transparency, and ultimately reduce delays and unnecessary change orders.
Control your daily construction and maintenance log from anywhere
Keeping track of everything in your construction diary isn't always easy, but it can be simple.
Will you be more likely to record on-site activities in your daily log if you constantly have to send information from the office or if you can track and share reports instantly on the job site? If you're like most website managers, you probably chose the latter option.
