What needs to be in a construction site daily report?
Attendance and work progress are the core. Beyond that: weather, delays and their causes, any incidents or near-misses, materials delivered, subcontractor activity, and verbal instructions given or received. The exact requirements vary by contract, but those categories cover standard site diary obligations across most Australian projects.
What are the minimum required fields?
Most contracts specify date, project name, site supervisor name, weather conditions, attendance record, and a description of work completed as baseline requirements.
Beyond those, incidents, delays, and variations should be logged as they occur. A daily report without delay records is a report that won't support an extension of time claim. A report without incident records is a WHS liability.
Check your specific contract. Principal contractors and large head contractors often have their own site diary requirements that go beyond the standard. Know what yours requires before you start logging.
Do I need to include weather?
Yes. Weather affects programme, safety, and the validity of many delay claims. Record conditions at the start of the day and update if they change significantly. A rain delay at 1pm is different from a full-day weather shutdown.
Temperature extremes matter too. Concrete pours, adhesives, and coatings all have temperature requirements. If you poured in 38 degree heat and there's later a defect, your diary entry showing the conditions provides essential context.
What about photos and evidence?
Photos aren't always contractually mandatory, but they change the quality of a daily report as evidence. A timestamped photo of completed formwork before concrete placement is harder to dispute than any written description.
For variations, photograph the existing condition before work starts and the result after. For delays, photograph whatever caused the delay: the missing materials, the weather-affected area, the flooded basement. Evidence made at the time is worth far more than anything written from memory later.
What should I record if something goes wrong on site?
Record the time, location, what happened, who was involved, what immediate action was taken, and who was notified. Do it at the time. Memory of incident details degrades fast, and exact timelines matter in investigations.
For WHS incidents, follow your site's incident reporting procedure as well as logging in the diary. The daily report is part of the record, not a replacement for formal incident reports, but an important account made at the time that often ends up as supporting evidence.