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Hey!Here’s a detailed overview of what daily construction reports are, what the purpose is of daily reports, what goes in them and how to make them admissible for court and some best practices.Construction daily reports document all on-site work done for a construction project in a given day.They typically include:Weather conditionsNumber of working hoursType of work performedSafety observationsPotential delaysCompleted tasksWhat’s the purpose of a construction daily report?By documenting the construction project activities, reports provide transparency, reduce communication issues and safety risks, and protect you during lawsuits.Here are the benefits in more detail:They reduce delays and other issuesMost of the time, construction projects fail because of bad communication and collaboration. Since many people and companies are involved in projects, there’s a constant risk of misunderstandings, mistakes, and delays.Daily construction reports can reduce these by documenting and sharing observations made during site visits. Not only do they help stakeholders understand what needs to get done, they also allow you to catch small issues before they grow bigger.They improve customer relationsWhen it comes to your client, daily reports help you in several ways:They create transparency for your actions.They allow you to demonstrate your progress.They help the client understand your process.Your client, for example, may ask you why HVAC is taking so long to install. Daily reports would give them a window into the duration of each individual step, causing them to increase their patience.If you send daily or weekly reports that demonstrate what you’ve been doing (including materials used, hours spent, etc.), the customer will also feel confident you’re doing a good job.Translation: They’ll be happy to quickly pay whatever invoices you send their way.They help you manage your timeAs with any kind of reporting, construction progress reports allow you to get a better general view on your project and its progress, issues, risks, evolution, etc.If you’re not creating regular site reports, you’re driving blind — and won’t know if you’re heading in the right direction (let alone whether you’ll arrive on time!).They can settle disputesIf a client or general contractor disputes an invoice, your daily construction documentation will be invaluable. It could verify the number of hours worked, the materials used, supplier delays, or weather conditions.That’s why you should always strive to include detailed documentation, photos, and client signatures on every report. If need be, you might even be able to use them in court (more on that below).Even if you have a great relationship with your customer, don’t assume disputes and court claims are out of the realm of possibility. Your team could change, your customer’s management could change — and at that point, any verbal agreements will be moot. Without daily reports, new team members won’t know what was agreed upon or discussed, which could lead to conflicts.In the end, daily construction reports are all about maintaining quality and managing risk. When you make daily reporting a priority, you’ll reduce unplanned costs, lower safety risks, and keep your project on the right track.What goes into a daily report?Since they only include what you need, daily reports all contain different building blocks. Here are the most common elements:Project information: The project name and number, address, report date and author, etc. Adding this information helps managers, customers, and other parties immediately see which project goes with which report. It’ll also help when you need to look up an old report in your archive.Weather conditions: Changes to the weather, such as rain, snow, or intense sun, can cause delays (e.g. when pouring concrete slabs), impact worker efficiency, and increase the potential for accidents.Labor time spent: The workers on site, the number of hours they worked, and what they did.Equipment used and received: Which major materials were used or received, and which weren’t received (and are causing delays).Tasks in progress and tasks completed: Which tasks are in progress (e.g. slab pouring 70% complete) and which tasks are done (and can be documented with photos).Potential risks, issues, delays: Anything worth noting, plus areas where managers or the customer could intervene (e.g. a delay of another contractor that prevents you from starting your portion). Don’t forget to include photos so everyone can see the exact issue.Safety observations and accidents: All safety risks and observations, again with photos. (When accidents happen, the daily report can protect you from litigation.) In the case of accidents, record who was involved, when and where it occurred, how it impacted the work, and any photos of the event.How to make your daily report admissible for courtAs noted above, daily construction reports are often the most important piece of evidence used in court during a contract dispute. But the problem is they’re not always admissible.In addition to having your daily reports signed by the client, you should also follow this advice from Corwin & Corwin law firm:“The most common ground for admissibility of job reports (often the only ground) is that the reports are regularly kept business records of the party who offers them as evidence… To avoid tripping on any of these evidentiary requirements at trial, assign a supervisor or foreman who is on site to fill in the report form each day.At the end of each week (or at regular intervals) collect the reports from each foreman and file them by project at your office. Make sure there is a report for each day you were on site, and that all are complete and accurate. If there are questions or gaps, address them immediately.”Best practices for creating daily construction reportsWhether you’re using an old-school notebook or a nifty new app, there are certain best practices you should follow for your daily construction reports:Provide sufficient detail: Too often, daily reports are drafted noting the date, the weather, and a broad description of the work being performed. This isn’t sufficient for properly communicating with other parties, or for disputes or court claims. Don’t forget that progress reports are supposed to document what happens on the project every day — and not only when problems arise.File reports as early as possible: Memories fade quickly. The shorter the time between events and notation, the more accurate the reports will be. By using an app, you’ll be able to document observations as soon as you make them.Report delays in detail: Record when activities get delayed or stopped, plus the reasons why (e.g. due to weather or an accident). Make sure you record each day of the delay; if you only note a delay’s start date, it’ll look like it only lasted one day.Get it signed: Getting construction site reports signed by a client, manager, or other responsible party increases their value. To preserve the integrity of the reporting, don’t make any changes once it’s signed.Use a checklist: Checklists reduce the risk of mistakes, increase the likelihood everything will get documented, and free up your mental RAM. So use your app’s checklist feature to make a list of what should be in each daily report.Keep it simple: Make sure your report is readable by using common language and including ample pictures. Don’t use specialist terms; just stick to a concise and clear description that anyone can understand.How to use reports to improve your servicesJust like in any other industry, one of the goals of reporting is to understand how your company or project is doing — and to use that information to boost future performance.You might, for example, include manpower details — like trades and hours — into your daily report. Then, along with progress data, you could use this information to track the performance of your team.By keeping daily records of work progress, you’ll gain clearer insight on ongoing projects as well as improve future processes.Daily report example and templateReady to see a construction daily report in action?We created a simple checklist in ArchiSnapper that has an overview of the items to review:FYI: You can download this daily report template here and upload it into your ArchiSnapper account from here.Using this checklist, project managers, foremen, or superintendents can use their mobile device to create a comprehensive site report, even adding pictures and sketches, assignees, dates, PDF annotations, etc.When they finish, the daily report could look like this:Click here if you’d like to see a video of how we used the ArchiSnapper app to create this report.If you’re not yet ready to use an app like ArchiSnapper for your daily reports, we’ve also drafted a construction daily report template (Excel) you can download instead.Whether you use an app, a notebook, or an Excel document, the important thing is to always create construction daily reports. So you can reduce delays, keep your customer informed, settle disputes …I hope this information is useful!Jerry

Hey!Compiling field reports (or punch lists) is one of the less glamorous aspects of a career in architecture or construction and it is probably not your favorite part of the job, but it is vital that you have good practice in place for writing your reports.Field reports are necessary to make sure projects stay on track in terms of time and budget, ensure good communication between the client, architect and site team, and maybe most importantly, protect yourself in case of a legal dispute.Reporting potential issues and work that does not conform to specifications in a site report will give you legal protection to fall back on in the case that there is a serious building fault, causing the client to make a court claim.To understand exactly why it’s so important for architects to have a good field report practice in place, let’s cover each of these points in a little more detail.1. Good Field Report Practice Will Save You TimeIt can sometimes feel repetitive and time consuming to fill out field reports, but a little extra time spent planning and compiling your reports in detail can potentially save you many hours of work further down the line.Field reports help you, the owner and the contractor to spot errors before they occur (or at least before they have caused irreversible problems.) This means that any potential issues can be nipped in the bud and corrected more quickly and easily than if they had been noticed later on in the project.Reporting can also help with the issue of time slippage because it forces you to constantly review the status of a project and set targets within a specific time frame. If a project is likely to run over deadline, this will be brought to your attention by your field reports and steps can be taken to bring it back on track.Completing paperwork obviously takes time, but the key to keeping your field reporting time to a minimum is to have an efficient system in place for completing your reports. You may utilize checklists, templates, and pre-filled fields (such as legal disclaimers) to reduce your record-keeping time to a minimum. Services like Archisnapper can also help a great deal when it comes to completing your field reports quickly and efficiently.2. Field Reports Can Help Keep Projects On BudgetIn the same way that spotting problems early will save you time, it will also help prevent the very common problem of building projects running over budget.A project may run over budget for several reasons:Going over deadline, resulting in increased labor costsIncorrect selection or use of materialsMistakes in construction that need to be rectifiedLosses in terms of broken or stolen materialsLosses due to weather and other natural causes (e.g. concrete having to be re-poured because of heavy rain)While it is not always possible to stop work from going over budget and the owner has the final say in spending, a good field report will anticipate some of these problems before they occur. This may make it possible to take remedial action to prevent overspend or to make savings elsewhere.3. Reporting Improves Communication Between All PartiesReporting is an excellent way to ensure good communication between the architect, owner and contractor. Information is often lost or forgotten when communicated in person or over the telephone and there is no written record of what was said, so having a field report to refer to is important as both a memory aid and as proof that information was given on certain dates.In the event that work on site does not conform to agreed standards, informing the contractors of this in a field report is much less confrontational and can help to keep a good relationship between the client and architect and the on site contractors.4. Reduce Misunderstandings and Complaints with Field ReportsWith improved communication comes improved understanding and less chance for mistakes to be made. The field report provides an excellent place for contractors or owners to raise questions and sets out in black and white any issues that need addressing.When non-conforming work is discovered, it can be described in detail in the field report, along with photographs and diagrams. The report acts as a checklist of problems that need to be resolved and the names of the people who are responsible for fixing them.Your field reports will act as proof that you took action and described problems and potential issues in detail, which allows the owner to see that it was communicated effectively to the contractors.By including the owner in the field report distribution list, you ensure that they are given the opportunity to ask questions and raise any issues, which will help to keep any potential complaints to a minimum.5. Field Reports Could Prevent Legal Action Against YouArchitects are not responsible for spotting every single problem that may result due to work that does not conform to the original plans, however if this situation does occur, it is highly likely that the owner will blame the architect for not doing his job properly.This is where field reports can really help to protect you as an architect as they show that you were aware of potential problems and raised the issue with the contractor via the report. Your reports should always include the date you informed the contractor as this demonstrates when the responsibility was passed to them to rectify the situation.It’s vital for your own protection to prove that you communicated any problems effectively to the contractors and so it’s important to make your reports as detailed as possible, with photos and supporting notes to explain any problems clearly.What Should Go Into a Field Report?There is no industry standard for field reports and it is down to the individual what they ultimately choose to include. Your reports are basically a description of the observations you made during your site visit and in theory, a quick email or written notes of any issues would suffice. However, for the reasons described above, it’s good practice to follow a set format for your field reports and include sufficient detail.Detailed field reports should include the following (for a more detailed view, see our article “The building blocks of a professional construction field report“:Unique report numberThe site or project nameThe names of the architect, owner, and main contractorA record of the people on siteDate, time and duration of visitWeather conditions at time of visitProgress of construction (as an estimated percentage or notesWork to be completed by next site visitNotes and photos of any non-conforming work and other issuesAny questions and actions to be performed (and who should perform them)Standard disclaimer against liabilityDistribution list of people who need to read the report.Start a free ArchiSnapper trial and see how much time you can save creating your field reports.

I’ve bought a house exactly once, and that was about 15 years ago, as of this writing. I am not a real estate agent or anything like that. However, since many of the answers here so far seem to me to be either biased or incomplete, or both, I’ll take a stab at this, from a buyer’s point of view. Please do your own research, and consult a professional for guidance specific to your needs and to your area.Also, I live in that part of California known as Silicon Valley. If you’re somewhere else, and especially if you are in some other country, you will have different rules, climate, and market forces, so keep that in mind, and please take the time to learn about your own.Start learning, way ahead of timeThis answer is not the only place to do that, and probably a partial table of contents, at best.The process of learning about home ownership should start from the moment you consider owning a house, and should continue as long as you own it. For most people, a house is their largest single investment. It’s kind of a peculiar savings vehicle. You live in it. (I don’t know anyone who lives in a money market account.) Also, it is a large, illiquid asset, meaning it’s relatively hard to get the money out of it.Your local public library should be a good source of relatively unbiased information. Please visit it. When my husband and I bought this house, we checked out something like 10 books (they were all free!) on home-buying and home ownership. We each took a stack of them and dug through them in search of specific stuff we still needed or wanted to know. Even though it wasn’t the only way we learned, I wish we’d given ourselves more time for that exercise than the night before we decided to make an offer. Either way, I’m glad we did it.In the U.S. the nice folks at Nolo Press have produced some excellent guides on exactly this sort of subject, including expert advice on what you can reasonably accomplish yourself, and when you should consult a professional. Whether you borrow from your library or invest in your own copy, I highly recommend them.Start saving money and building creditSaving money and building good credit are good things to do whether or not you ever buy a house. Your savings could save you down the road in high-interest debt that you don’t have to take on, or simply provide the comfort of knowing you can weather a job loss should you need to. If you do decide to take out a loan for some other reason (such as to purchase a car), you’ll get a much better deal on it if you have good credit. Even insurers, prospective landlords, and employers may check your credit at various times.There’s lots written on this subject already, here on Quora [What are the best ways to save money?, What's the best way to save for a down payment?] and elsewhere around the web. If you’re new to personal finance, go visit your library or start looking around online for good advice about that, too. (Here again, the details also vary by country.) I’ll reiterate a few of the things you should be doing.Earn more, if you can. Maybe that means asking for a raise, or getting some additional training or education. Maybe that means shopping your resume around, or taking a side job.Get a credit card, use it moderately, and pay it off in full each month. That’s the balance, not the minimum payment.Keep current on your utility payments and any credit card or loan payments you are making.Pay down debt, particularly any with a high interest rate. Avoid taking on new debt.Check your credit score once per year (for free, online) and correct/report any errors. In between, read your credit card statements and be on the lookout for charges you didn’t make.Spend less. You know best what that means to you. Go for the big things first, especially recurring expenses. Shop around your insurance. Share your space with a roommate or family member. Use public transit, ride a bike, or keep an older car in good repair.Set aside money toward your down payment. One tactic which works for a lot of people is called “pay yourself first.” It simply means setting aside your savings in a separate account, before you spend it. If your pay arrives by direct deposit, you should be able to automate it so part gets deposited in your savings upon arrival.Get your spouse/significant other on board.Do the exercise about renting vs. buyingThere are calculators online to help you run the numbers based on home prices, mortgage rates, and rental rates in your area, and how long you expect to stay.Keep in mind, too, that you’re likely to be in charge of all the maintenance on a place you own. Are you the sort who picks up the phone to install a towel rod or assemble a kit bookcase? Or are you willing to try laying your own tile or pouring a concrete patio? You can own a home either way, but the balance of money and time will be different.Don’t omit tax consequences, including mortgage interest deduction and property taxes. Also, what used to be having a roommate pay his/her share of the rent will look to you like income when you’re the landlord.Get to know the areaIf you’re new to an area, or even just new to an intended city or neighborhood, it’s wise to rent there for awhile, at least six months to a year. You will learn which directions commute traffic gets hairy on weekday mornings. You will learn which are the good neighborhoods and the good schools, and which are perhaps up-and-coming neighborhoods or areas to shy away from. You will know if there are noisy parties Saturday nights near the university or incessant construction on an area that’s being built or rebuilt. You will learn where transit is, and isn’t, what is under the approach for an airport, and whether the trains go all night.Also be on the lookout for cultural mismatches. I certainly don’t advocate for racial or cultural homogeneity, but there are places I wouldn’t fit in and be comfortable. (I’m an atheist, a liberal, and enthusiastically frugal. I’d welcome being proved wrong, but I doubt I’d feel very much at home in Redneck, USA, or that I’d satisfy any group of neighbors who demanded tasteful makeup and a fancy, late-model car or two in every driveway, alongside the manicured lawn. Such places exist.)Start attending open houses. There are a whole bunch of reasons to do this, even if you think you may be a few years out from buying.You’ll get to know about typical housing prices, along with trends in your area. This is helpful for spotting good deals, and also for spotting not-so-good deals.You’ll learn your own tastes, along with how to look at a house. Start making a wish list of things you want (mine included stairs, and a pantry) and things you don’t want (mine included a swimming pool and homeowner’s association). If you later work with a real estate agent, such a list will help them to narrow your search.You’ll meet real estate agents in your area. Time permitting (yours and theirs), pick their brains. Ask your questions about buying houses and about the local market. How long do most listings here stay on the market? Do they sell for more or less than the asking price? What is your best advice for [first-time homeowners/families with children/etc.]? How difficult or costly is it to fix or remodel a particular thing? What are typical closing costs like? You will be learning (there’s that word again!) as well as shopping for a real estate agent who might be a good fit for you. If you find a promising one, take a card or flyer. They’ll be glad to hear from you, even if it’ll be a while before you contact them.Figure out your budgetBy this point, you should have some idea of your regular expenses. You should have some idea of your savings rate, and whether you’ll try to put a full 20% down (to avoid primary mortgage insurance, or PMI). You should have no trouble finding online tools about how much loans cost per month, how much loan they say you can afford, and so on. Assuming you cease to pay rent shortly after you buy, figure out how much house you can afford, and how much you can afford comfortably.If you can, don’t drain your bank accounts to the bottom. You’ll probably need money early on to buy appliances and furnishings, and there are up-front costs associated with buying a house. Plus, you will need to eat, and make those first few house payments.Note that I haven’t yet said “get a real estate agent.” You can if you want, but at this stage I’d do at least a basic budget without their help. If you’d like to get help from a real estate agent at this point, ask what typical fees and closing costs look like. Ask for help figuring your annual property taxes, or estimating your PMI if you won’t be putting 20% down. You might still prefer to keep data like your income private.Choose a real estate agentNothing requires you to work with a real estate agent, but it’s a pretty good idea, especially if you can find one you really trust, and especially if it’s your first time buying. Real estate agents have experience completing the big, messy transaction that is buying a house. They also have access to listings and showings which you, as a mere member of the general public, may not.Your real estate agent has a built-in conflict of interest. It’s weird, and almost nobody talks about it, but it’s true. Your real estate agent works on commission, and that commission is paid by the seller.It looks like this. For the sake of round numbers, say the sale price of the house is $100,000. Typically, both the seller’s agent and the buyer’s agent each get 3%.So you, the buyer, pay the $100,000 to the seller. Out of that money, the seller then pays $3,000 to her own agent, and $3,000 to yours. That means your agent gets paid more if you buy a costlier house.Most of the time, this is not an issue, largely because your agent gets paid only if you actually buy a house. However, it does mean two things.Choose an agent whom you really trust as a person, to give you good advice and work hard with you. Not because she talks a big talk or he wears a nice tie.Ultimately, you need to be the one looking out for your own interests.If you didn’t meet someone at an open house who really impressed you, or if you’d like others to choose from, ask around for referrals from neighbors, coworkers, or others who have bought in your area recently. Ask about their experiences, but also sit down with the person yourself and see what they’re like, and if they’re someone you can work with.The rest of this stuff could happen pretty quickly, especially in a hot market, so brace yourself, and be prepared to act decisively when the time comes. This is where all that learning should pay off, in confidence and very probably in money.Get pre-approved for a loanYou should be able to do this readily online, these days. It helps to send a message to a seller that your offer is likely to result in a sale.One caveat: don’t overdo it, and don’t drag out the process too long. Too many credit inquiries in close succession can lower your credit score. You should be able to shop around a little and get pre-approved without running into too much trouble.Choose a houseThere’s all sorts of advice out there about this one, too. Obviously, it’s a big decision, and one you’ll be living with for awhile. If you still have, or can now make, a wish list, it will help your agent to know what to look for and narrow down which ones to show you. It will also help keep you on track.You might spend some time considering how important it is to you to have any given item on the list. If you don’t want a swimming pool, but you otherwise love a house which comes with one, is that a deal-breaker, or would you be willing to give it a chance, or deal with removing it and filling it in? Share this with your agent, too.Use all you’ve learned about the area, about housing, and about yourself, to inform your choice.When you find the house, or you think you have narrowed it down, arrange to see the house more than once. Tour it again and look more thoroughly. Go by it in the evening and sit outside for awhile. Listen to the neighborhood, and notice what it’s like at that time of day. Go by on a Saturday and talk to some prospective future neighbors.Make an offerYour agent, if you choose to have one, will handle the communication at this point, and will help to prepare the correspondence. Your offer may well include details to “sell” yourself to the seller as a qualified, responsible buyer: you’re a nice, young [person/couple] starting out. You are approved for the loan already. You have so and so much money to put as a down payment.As further proof that you’re serious about buying the house, your offer will come with Earnest Money, basically a deposit. If your offer is accepted, earnest money counts toward the down payment on the house.If you’re offering lower than the asking price, you may state why. The stated reason should probably not be “because we can’t afford more right now.” It might be that the house has been on the market for awhile and hasn’t sold, or that the condition is not great.If you are in a particularly hot market (such as occurs cyclically in Silicon Valley), you may have to offer above the asking price, and you may have to be prepared to make the offer very quickly.Your agent should be able to help with strategy here, as well: knowing what price is or isn’t likely to fly, making your offer letter so it is convincing. Even choosing a not-so-round number to make the price look more specific or intentional.There may also be contingencies in the offer: the offer is good, provided the house passes inspections or certain deficiencies are repaired. (Some of these are built into laws with home sales.) If inspections find that something is really wrong with the house, you may also get your earnest money, or most of it, back.For you, the most important part of making an offer is to be prepared to pay what you say you are offering.Evaluate a counteroffer (maybe)At this point, the buyers should reply to you, either with acceptance of your offer, or with a counteroffer. In our case, they accepted our offer (somewhat lower than asking; it was a different market here than it is today), on the condition that we take the house “as-is.” We accepted, which meant we shouldered the cost for some required termite work, and took on a whole assortment of cleaning and minor repair work ourselves.If the sellers ask for a higher price, you’ll need to choose whether to pay that price. Again, your agent should help with the correspondence and can probably help with advice and strategy.Wait for a couple of months, get inspections, get your loan, and sign a sh**load of paperworkYour agent should help you with keeping on track and organized through the escrow period and process, but at some point, you’ll need to put in some time, too, and understand enough to look out for yourself. This section is incomplete, at best, so treat it as a starting point on what sorts of things to look out for, not necessarily a complete list or the order in which to do them. (Once again, I did this once, and I’m not a professional in any related field.) Oh, and keep asking questions.Get your loan, or at least lock in your rates. The final loan paperwork may come later in the process.Get inspections done. Read and understand them, and correct major problems, or make sure the sellers do.Connect with a title company. Title companies handle a mess of the paperwork involved in selling houses, making sure the money goes where it should, doing a title search to make sure there are no other owners or outstanding claims on the house, and making sure that your transaction proceeds correctly, and even that everyone involved is who they say they are. They’ll also take care of making sure your agents get their cut.Pay your down payment. It will probably go via the title company, and it will very likely be the largest single check you write in your lifetime. Someone should tell you in advance if it needs to be a cashier’s check or other special thing.Line up your home insurance. It’s probably going to be required by your loan and/or the title company.Pay loan fees, closing costs, and any partial share of property taxes.Figure out how you will take title to the house, especially if you are buying it with a spouse or partner. The details (which vary by state) are way beyond the scope of this answer, but they’re worth figuring out. It will matter again if you ever separate or divorce, or when either of you dies. You may also want to have another look, in the company of a lawyer who knows this stuff, at any prenuptial agreement, trust, or other property or estate-planning document you have (or should have).You may have hundreds of pages to sign before you’re done. One thing to remember is to always sign your name the way it is printed on the document: Johnathan Philip Smith, John Philip Smith, Johnathan P. Smith, etc. (If they’ve botched something and put Jason instead of John, you should probably send it back to be corrected—and be extra alert for other errors.)Give your landlord notice that you’ll be leaving. If you can afford a partial month of extra rent, you may want to allow at least a little overlap, so your move isn’t too rushed, and so that you don’t have to move to a storage unit and hotel, and back, if it takes the previous owners longer than expected to move out. (Having accepted the “as-is” counteroffer, we had a lot of cleaning and painting to do upon arrival. I was glad to stay in my old apartment for another couple of weeks while we got the first rooms habitable. We also moved a lot of our stuff one carload at a time, over the course of those weeks.)Get moving!With some luck, and some work, you should receive the key at the end of about two months of escrow. This part of the process is probably familiar to you already: hauling your belongings from the old home to the new one, settling in and finding your new life (it’s in a box here somewhere; I’m sure I packed it…), and changing your address with every institution known to man. (Don’t forget the DMV, the IRS, and the Registrar of Voters.)This is a good time to automate your mortgage payment and set reminders for stuff like insurance and property taxes.Then, settle in, enjoy your new home, and set about making it your own.