Managing construction seems like a series of major activities for people outside the industry- one after another. With complex skyscrapers and high-rise structures that’s been rising everywhere, it is easy to assume that the most vital aspects of a project are the big accomplishments— such as milestones and completion of phases.
However, people inside the industry understand that managing construction was never about hitting the big marks— it’s all about the small daily accomplishments done consistently well that bring success to a construction project. It’s all about the small wins-—the day-to-day happenings on-site that adds up to the bigger picture. One of the most effective ways of tracking this is through the practice of daily reporting.
Read on more below to learn how to make a daily report and know the best practices in the daily reporting that you can apply to your business for better project management for construction.
How to Make a Construction Daily Report?
The creation of a daily construction report is one of the key aspects of a contractor’s responsibility— whether you are a general contractor or a subcontractor. Not only do these documents your up-to-date project progress and potential delays, but they also keep your project’s stakeholders in the know and even protect your company from expensive litigations that may come up down the road.
Even if it looks straightforward, creating a daily report is not easy at all. Recounting the particular delays, teams, incidents, weather fluctuations, and deliveries can be extremely difficult after a long day if you and your team rely only on your scribbled notes and memory. Moreover, if you hold doing your daily report until the end of each workday, you will need at least an hour to retrieve all the necessary information and forward it to the team and the project stakeholders.
Why is Construction Daily Report Very Critical?
Accountability is the foundation of a successful crew, especially on a construction site. However, with several contractors using various methods and tools to perform endless tasks and activities, it is easy to lose balance and fall under the cracks. Managing construction projects are dynamic and not easy to accomplish; plus, in the get-it-done culture in the industry, even the smallest and the most unnoticeable detail can make a break a project.
Daily construction reports, especially on complicated and long-term projects, are tedious at best. Despite that, if delays happen in your projects, the daily report can be your best friend. These daily reports serve as a living story and account of what happened throughout the whole project timeline.
Some of the benefits of incorporating construction reports in your daily operations are the following:
- Providing perspective of the planned versus actual cost incurred to analyze any discrepancies.
- Serving as a documented record of a construction project in the event that a worker or management changes.
- Creating an as-built schedule for projects that don’t have one.
- Allowing contractors to examine daily production rates and adjust construction crew management according to the insights.
- Helping determine early preparations and the overall impact of weather-related events.
- Keeping stakeholders updated with the events on-site so weekly and monthly meetings can be reduced.
- Evaluate ways on how to improve overall construction processes and systems to generate better daily reports.
What Should Be Included in the Construction Daily Report?
Key features the should be included in an excellent daily report are the following:
1. Project Information and Time Stamps
Good daily reporting documentation is organized and consistent. Standardize the project information and date naming conventions to make it easier to find reports when needed.
Construction projects deal with multiple contractors, subcontractors, trade contractors. That’s why it’s essential to consolidate the basic project information such as the project name, location, completion date, and who accomplished the daily report.
Trying to find a daily report from days, weeks, or months ago from different construction projects will be extremely difficult if you don’t have an organized account of past reports. Keeping a consistent and organized naming convention across all your completed and pending projects will save you a lot of time when you have to look for a specific report. Simply including the date on every report is not enough; you also need a searchable index for a particular daily report in an online database.
2. Weather Reporting
Was it good weather to pour concrete? Or bad weather to commence exterior wall painting? Weather can significantly impact the work for that said date or even a week, for that matter. Hence, it is critical to document any weather changes or conditions.
Weather is a critical part of construction operations and should be recorded every day, from day to night, if possible. Changes to the weather like rain, snow, or too much sunlight impact workers’ productivity and heighten the potential for accidents or injuries. If, for instance, heavy rain affects a general contractor’s shoring and trenching schedule, project team members can look back on their daily reports and validate the needed steps to get back on track.
Daily reporting programs and applications capture weather conditions at different times of the day. Having the weather directly reported on your systems lets you and project stakeholders quickly capture the impact weather had on the daily activities. Be sure to provide the weather report with any notes if necessary too.
3. Task or Activity Logs
Have a handful of subcontractors and trade contractors to manage on-site? Make sure to effectively track who was on-site, their work objectives or the day, and their daily accomplishment.
Task or Activity Logs are the core of daily construction reporting. Every day, various teams and workers are on the jobsite, doing their work. A quick run-through and jot down of information such as which teams were present on-site, the count of workers they had, the time they worked, and a breakdown of their work helps you track the total number of hours and manpower dedicated to specific construction projects.
For crucial project stakeholders to understand what progress is being accomplished each day, workers must breakdown all tasks completed, including how long it took them to do each. From these productivity logs, you can automatically produce manpower reports to see your different subcontractors’ weekly and monthly efficiency levels and the project scope they completed.
4. Notes, Concerns, and Issues
Is something behind schedule? Make necessary notes to explain the cause and solution to any project delays.
Uploading pictures to your construction scheduling software is an excellent way to capture the day’s on-site events visually. You can take a snap and upload pictures directly from your mobile phone so that off-site managers can get a better visualization and reference of the project’s progress. Late material delivery or malfunctioning machinery? This is a chance to make a note about it and report it before anything worse happens.
5. Site Safety and Observations
Safety always comes first. Keep a record of any concerns and issues that arise to be improved and addressed as needed.
One of the primary benefits of daily construction reporting is to protect your company from litigation. In instances where disputes arise, having detailed, organized, and time-stamped daily reports give a clear snapshot of everything that happened on a specific date on-site. Daily reporting has the power to save you thousands of dollars in litigation protection.
The site safety observations part of your report should note down any safety problems on the jobsite. Taken daily, these observations also prompt you if you’re continuing to enhance the safety of your worksite month-over-month, and if not, make necessary adjustments.
6. Daily Construction Survey
Last but not least, all daily construction site reports should include a daily survey. This type of survey is best when it’s customized to satisfy your project’s needs directly. Address inquires like “Were there any guests/visitors on the site?” or “Did any timeline delays occur?” Answer all the vital questions for maximum visibility.
Good daily construction surveys only take a few seconds to complete and allow your team to skip irrelevant queries for that day easily.
7. Photos and Other Attachments
In all things, to see is to believe. Did the delivery of the steel rods arrive on time? Snap a photo and upload it to prove it.
Before submitting your daily construction, ensure you have provided enough information — including supporting documents and project photos. This eliminates follow-up questions being asked post-submission.
Who Make the Daily Construction Reports?
Generally, depending on the magnitude of the construction project, a general contractor depends on their subcontractors to accomplish the daily reports for construction sites. With a subcontractor scheduling software like Pro Crew Schedule, it is easy to incorporate the everyday reporting culture to any business since you can update your team with just a press of a button.
Schedule a demo of Pro Crew Schedule today, free trial for 30-days.
