From recording weather conditions to logging work hours, a comprehensive construction daily report is key to tracking progress and ensuring employee safety throughout each project.
We’ll share what a construction daily report should include, cover the key benefits of this type of report, and provide a step-by-step guide to creating your own template.
Plus, we’ll explain how you can simplify your reports by taking the digital route, so you can build, edit, save, and send documents whether you’re at the project site or on the road.
Table of Contents
A construction daily report is a document that summarizes activities and progress during a work day on a construction site.
Typically, this report includes information on:
A construction daily report keeps track of the project’s progress and allows project managers and stakeholders to make informed decisions at each stage.
A construction daily report can help provide transparency on a project’s progress
From real estate to oil and gas, construction daily reports are used across various industries that deal with construction and development, including:
Ready to create your own template? Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating a daily construction report template:
First, decide whether you want to use a paper-based report, a digital spreadsheet (for example, Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets), a digital document (for example, Microsoft Word or Google Docs) or a mobile forms solution (like doForms).
While paper-based reports involve manual data entry and pose an increased risk of errors, digital construction reports offer real-time collaboration, streamlined data entry and instant accessibility.
With doForms mobile forms solution, you can turn paper-based documents into digitized and simplified reports.
doForms allows you to store all of your construction daily reports in the cloud for easy access, so you can create and submit reports regardless of where you are — whether on site or in the office.
Next, include key details about the project, such as the project’s name, date and location, along with the subcontractor’s name and the names of the employees who are on-site that day.
From strong winds and heavy rains to cold and humid temperatures, weather can impact employee productivity and pose a threat to safety.
Adding information about weather conditions in the report can help stakeholders better understand the impact of weather on project timelines, labor efficiency, potential delays, and equipment performance.
Next, record the arrival and departure times of each employee, along with the number of contractors involved, the hours they worked, the tasks they completed, and any equipment or materials that were utilized that day.
These work logs allow you to generate manpower reports that provide weekly and monthly trend insights into your contractors and the tasks they completed.
You can also include a summary of the project’s overall progress, highlighting any significant milestones or accomplishments, such as permit approvals or a groundbreaking ceremony.
Working hours and project milestones data can help you improve your workforce management, boost productivity, manage costs and increase profitability.
Whether it’s a concrete mixer malfunction or a late delivery of cement, list any setbacks or bottlenecks your team encountered during the day.
Note the causes, how the issues were addressed, and any potential impacts on the project timeline or budget that they caused.
Listing information on bottlenecks will give you insights into the challenges that may impede the progress of your project.
Identifying and documenting these challenges will allow you to allocate resources strategically and implement solutions to improve efficiency.
In this part of the report, record any incidents, near misses, or accidents that occurred during the day to help maintain a safe and secure work environment.
To record incidents or near misses on your report:
Reporting incidents or near misses in your daily construction report will allow you to analyze the causes and implement corrective actions to prevent future incidents.
Next, attach photos and videos of what occurred during your work day.
Adding photos to your daily construction report provides valuable visual documentation of the project’s progress, safety conditions, and issues that may have been encountered, such as near misses.
To capture effective photos for a construction daily report:
When creating a digital report with doForms, you can attach media such as images, videos, and audio to visually support your report.
Lastly, authenticate the report with your signature to verify the report’s accuracy.
Adding your signature shows that you have reviewed and approved the contents of the report and that they meet legal or regulatory obligations if the regulatory authorities in your area require signed documentation.
With a doForms digital form, you can add your signature to the daily construction report, save it in a secure location and send it to managers, third parties, and stakeholders.
A construction daily report includes project details, weather conditions and bottlenecks regarding your construction project
From providing transparency to assessing efficiency, construction daily reports offer benefits for both project management and employee safety.
A comprehensive construction daily report allows you to:
Regularly updating your daily construction logs can help you provide transparent communication, and make sure that everyone is on the same page about the project’s progress and any changes that may occur (regarding budget or direction, for example).
From the number of employees and contractors involved to the materials used and more, a construction daily report provides a detailed account of the activities and progress made on a construction site each day.
This allows you to evaluate labor efficiency, identify over- or under-staffing, and determine whether additional resources (such as materials, equipment, or manpower) are required.
A recent report by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics found that there 2.8 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2022.
A construction daily report records near misses and incidents, allowing you to identify trends or patterns in safety issues, and help you proactively find solutions to protect your workers from workplace injuries.
Daily reports for construction are a crucial part of maintaining efficient project management.
However, paper-based reports can be messy, cumbersome, and expensive. The average business spends $8,000 per year on paper materials alone.
Enter doForms — a mobile forms software solution that allows you to go digital with construction technology, record data in real-time, capture images and videos for documentation, and safely store reports in a centralized location for easy access.
This digital approach can help you save time and resources while improving the overall efficiency of project management on and off the construction site.
The doForms mobile forms app can be used with or without Wi-Fi. It can be conveniently set up for even the most remote work locations.
This means you can manage checklists, timesheets, reports, employee payroll, and more, whether you’re on-site or on the go.
On top of construction daily reports, doForms allows you to:
Have more questions about daily construction reports? Check out the section below with frequently asked questions.
Are construction daily reports mandatory for every project?
While not mandatory for every project, daily construction reports are highly recommended for effective project management — especially for larger projects, projects with multiple stakeholders, or projects with strict reporting requirements.
Can construction daily reports be used in legal disputes?
Yes, construction daily reports can be valuable in legal matters because they provide a chronological record of project activities.
How can construction daily reports be customized to suit the needs of my project?
Daily construction reports can be customized by including or excluding specific sections based on your project’s unique requirements.
DoForms allow you to add sections, videos and signatures to create a template tailored to your business needs.
