What should be included in a subcontractor's daily log?

A subcontractor's daily log should record, for every day on site: the date and job, the weather, who worked and for how long, what was installed and where, what was delivered, what equipment was there, any delay and who caused it, any instruction received and who gave it, inspections, safety events, and photos. Write it the same day, and stick to facts.

What the log is for

Three things, in order of how often you will need them:

1. Getting paid for changes and delays. A change order or a time extension is only as strong as the record made on the day.
2. Defending yourself. When someone says your crew damaged the floor or was not on site, the log answers.
3. Estimating better. Crew, hours and quantities per day are your real production rates.

The contents, item by item

• Date, job, and who wrote it.
• Weather. Conditions and temperature, and whether they affected the work.
• Crew. Names or headcount, hours, and any other subcontractors working in your area.
• Work performed. What, where, how much. "Installed 240 feet of 2-inch conduit, level 2 east corridor" beats "ran conduit."
• Materials delivered. What arrived, and anything short or damaged.
• Equipment on site. Owned and rented, and anything idle.
• Delays and obstructions. What stopped you, from when to when, and who was responsible. "Area not released by GC until 10:15, crew of four waiting from 7:00."
• Instructions and conversations. Who told you to do what. "Superintendent J. Ruiz directed relocation of two floor drains, 1:30 pm."
• Extra work. Anything outside your scope, with hours and material, even if no change order exists yet.
• Inspections and tests. Who inspected, and the result.
• Safety. Toolbox talk topic, incidents, near misses, hazards reported.
• Visitors. Owner, architect, inspector.
• Photos. Taken that day, attached to that day.

How to write it

The same day. A log written on Friday for Monday is a recollection, and it will be treated as one.

Facts, not opinions. "GC's schedule is a joke" helps nobody. "Drywall not complete in rooms 201 to 208, trim crew could not start" does.

Specific. Names, times, locations, quantities.

Every day. Including days when nothing happened. "No work, site not ready, called superintendent at 7:10" is one of the most valuable entries you can make.

Consistent. The same person or the same format each day. Gaps are what an opposing party looks for.

The entries that win disputes

If you only have the energy to do three things well, do these:

1. Waiting time. Every hour your crew stood around because of someone else, with the reason.
2. Directions from the GC. Every instruction that changed what you were going to do.
3. Conditions that differ from the drawings. With a photo, before you touch anything.

Make it short enough to actually happen

A log that takes thirty minutes will be skipped by the second week. A foreman should be able to finish it in five, from a phone, before leaving the site. Checkboxes and numbers for the routine items, a sentence or two for anything unusual, and photos taken during the day.

Keep it with the job

A log in a notebook in a truck is lost the day the truck is cleaned out. It belongs with the job's other records, where the project manager can read it that evening and the office can find it two years later.

Where ConstructStream fits

In the ConstructStream phone app the crew logs each day of a visit: how many people, the hours, the quantity done on each line of work, and a note. Photos and updates posted from the phone go on the job with the name and the time. The weather for each worked day is recorded for the job's location without anyone typing it, and the planned versus actual report is built from those logged days.