What to record in a site diary

A site diary is the day's record of what actually happened on site, written by someone who was there, on the day. Most of the time nobody reads it. Then, months later, somebody asks why a pour slipped or what the gang was doing on a Tuesday in March, and the diary is the only thing that knows.

No UK law requires a site diary by name, but contracts, adjudicators and quantity surveyors all treat one as expected practice, and it is usually the first thing asked for when there is a claim for delay or extra cost.

Write it on the day

An entry written the same day is evidence. One written up at the end of the week from memory is a story, and it reads like one. Keep one diary per area if the site is big enough to need it, written by whoever runs that area: usually an engineer or the supervisor, and signed off by a manager before the shift ends.

What to record

• Who wrote it, the date and the shift. The entry has to say whose account it is.
• The weather, morning and afternoon, with the temperature range and the wind. More usefully, what it stopped: “Wind above crane limits from 13:30, no lifts for the rest of the shift.”
• Labour on site, by company and trade, with numbers and hours.
• Work done against the plan. For each activity, whether it started, carried on or finished, and what happened. Say what changed from the plan and why.
• Plant on site, and whether it was working or standing.
• Deliveries, including any that were late, short or turned away.
• Visitors and inspections, with times: the client, building control, the principal designer, a supplier's rep.
• Instructions received, especially verbal ones: who gave them, what they were, and when. An instruction that is only in someone's head is very hard to get paid for.
• Delays, disruption and incidents, and anything else unusual, including health and safety observations.
• Photos, with a caption saying what and where. A photo with no caption proves very little a year later.

How to write an entry

Write facts, not opinions. Times, quantities and names can be checked. “Scaffold not ready, gang stood 08:00 to 10:30, moved to AD04 at 10:30” will stand up. “Scaffolders useless again” won't, and it can be quoted back at you.

Don't rub anything out. If an entry is wrong, strike it through so it can still be read and add a dated note with the correction. A diary that has been tidied up afterwards is worth far less than one with its corrections showing.

Make it match the hours

The diary and the labour allocation describe the same day, and commercial will read them side by side. If six people are booked to an activity that the diary says didn't happen, one of them is wrong, and that is exactly the kind of thing that gets costs disallowed. When the plan changes during the shift, change both. If you also keep daywork sheets, they need to agree with the diary too.

Sign it off and send it

At the end of the shift, the diary is checked and signed off by someone senior enough to stand behind it. It then goes to the people who rely on it: managers, supervisors, engineers, planners and commercial. If the contract asks for the client's signature on the diary, get it while the day is still fresh.