Activity Reports

Activity reports directly impact the firm's profits. This seems like a bold statement for such an innocuous piece of communication, but it is true. Consider this: if a firm does not know what is accomplished on any given day in the field, then how can it monitor the progress of cost and time against the budget? If a firm does not chart a Daily Log, for example (the journal entry for a single day), and project litigation ensued, what evidence would it have to protect itself in court? Perhaps the most important activity that requires tracking is anything that affects labor productivity, that is, how much work is accomplished over a period of time. This ultimately translates to a time sheet for worker pay.

Much of construction documentation is historical in nature, that is, recording the daily history of a project for future reference. While often mundane and the subject of complaint (or perhaps whining) it is very important to maintain good reports, and to convey the importance of logs and reports to the person who prepares them. Simplifying the record-keeping process by using digital tools such as tablets and RFID tags makes the preparation of records easier and more likely to occur.

Accident Reports

Despite everyone’s best efforts, accidents do happen on construction sites and must be reported. Most large construction companies have a process in place for reporting accidents or incidents on construction sites. This process includes written procedures for responding to accidents on construction sites as well as reporting requirements when accidents occur.

While different companies use different formats for reporting construction accidents, most forms require the same basic information:

What happened
When and where it happened
Who was involved

Daily Equipment Use Reports

Record keeping is an integral part of construction project management. A log of daily equipment use is meant to monitor how, where, and when equipment is used on a construction site. Most companies require a log of what equipment was used, the exact date/time when it was used, where the exact site address and specifics, if needed, and how it was used. Daily Equipment Use Logs are important for monitoring project progress, maintaining schedules, and tracking equipment maintenance.

Daily Production Logs

The importance of filling out daily logs cannot be overemphasized. There is no better way to prove your position, resolve disputes and keep track of progress than these records if they are kept accurately and completed daily. Daily production logs are used to track progress on construction projects and compare actual daily progress to projected budgets and schedules as well as to record daily activities if questions arise at a later date.

Observation Reports

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

While the term “quality control” and “quality assurance” are often confused and used interchangeably, they do not mean the same thing. Quality Assurance means ” all planned and systematic actions necessary to provide adequate confidence that a structure, system or component will perform satisfactorily and conform with project requirements.” [1] Quality Control refers to the specific tasks and procedures such as planning, coordinating, developing, checking, reviewing and inspecting work that are part of the quality assurance process. “Quality is achieved by individuals performing work functions carefully and in conformance with the [design] requirements.”[2]

With general contractors sub-contracting and even sub-sub-contracting out specific project areas, maintaining quality control is increasingly difficult. Inspection is critical to quality control and accounts for a substantial portion of construction management costs.[3] The Inspector must be able to evaluate and analyze the particular aspect of the construction project to which s/he is assigned. He or she must be able to “fully read, comprehend and interpret construction plans and specifications” and maintain records that “will fully reflect the inspections performed.[4]”

Inspection reports should communicate a timely and accurate record of the entire inspection process and should provide a complete and accurate description of the entire inspection, step by step. Observations should be recorded during the inspection or immediately afterwards to ensure accuracy. Any gaps in information should be resolved as soon as possible after the inspection is completed. The names of all people present at the inspection should be recorded in case questions arise at a later time.

[1]ASCE, “Manual for Quality in the Constructed Project” as quoted in O’Brien, Construction Inspection Handbook, p. 4.[2] O’Brien, Construction Inspection Handbook p. 4.[3] Ibid, p.4.[4] Ibid, p. 126.

Meeting Minutes

Minutes report the contents of a business meeting and are the official record of the meeting. Meeting minutes can provide information to those who were unable to attend and also can be used as a point of reference if an individual or group needs to review what was discussed or decided at a particular meeting A company may use a specific format or simply have someone type-up the minutes in narrative or less structured form. The usefulness of a structured format is that items can be gone through systematically and are less likely to be forgotten or skipped-over. Also, if different people are recording the meeting from one meeting to the next, a structured format is much easier to use in training staff to properly record meeting minutes.

Weekly/Monthly Progress Reports

Weekly and/or monthly Progress Reports are written reports of the status of ongoing construction projects and/or activities during a certain time period and are usually required by management, regardless of the size of the project. They are meant to describe the work accomplished to date, report any delays or problems that have occurred, and what future activities are planned and when they will be completed.