How To Write a Daily Report for Electrical Contractors
A construction daily report is crucial for a project’s success. In addition to helping stakeholders and other key players understand the project’s health in a snapshot view, daily reporting also increases project accountability and streamlines communication across the job site.
Although many people in construction state contracts as the most critical document (and for kicking off a project, it is), the construction daily report explains vital details of the job and site progress, along with providing critical documentation to keep both subcontractors and stakeholders in the loop.
Keep reading for a complete guide on how to write a daily report for electrical contractors.
Table of Contents
A Short History of Construction Daily Reports
Daily reporting has long since been viewed as a tedious and time-consuming job for project superintendents. However, with the increasing capabilities of mobile construction daily report software, daily reporting is faster and simpler than ever.
Before technology made daily reporting a breeze, superintendents would carry around a notebook and take notes by hand on the conditions, weather, work performed, and other essential factors for a daily report. Due to human error, daily reports would often have mistakes and unclear reporting.
Now, there is daily reporting software that makes this previously tedious task more straightforward than ever. Using platforms like apps, superintendents can now input traditional entries like weather, date, and time, but now with increased capabilities such as including site photos.
Additionally, superintendents can now send these daily reports to necessary people with just the click of a button. Using daily reporting software helps reduce the amount of information that is miscommunicated or lost due to human error.
Importance of Daily Reports for Contractors
Superintendents filing daily reports are essentially acting as historians for the project. While daily reports can be tedious, they are paramount to showing the transformation and progress of the project from start to finish.
It sometimes seems like daily reports are solely for the benefit of stakeholders since it is the method typically used to keep them updated about the project. However, daily reports are also essential for keeping track and staying accountable for the progress made on a construction project.
Daily reports can sometimes contradict the original contract. It’s well known that construction projects often are delayed or go over budget, and the daily report reflects this.
Daily reporting is a data-intense process. Stakeholders can analyze every piece of information in the report to better understand the health of a project. Project managers can use this information to make better estimates for future projects and help everyone involved understand the performance, progress, and productivity of a project.
Subcontractors Benefit from Daily Reporting in Construction
Jobs often aren’t as straightforward as they appear in the contract. Delays can happen due to weather, shortage of workers, lack of materials, or a plethora of other project mishaps. Daily reporting is a simple way to account for these shifts in a timeline and other contractual plans.
Construction daily reports can record performance and answer questions regarding delays. They are also able to log how many workers were on site, the jobs they completed, what materials they used, and much more. Daily reports benefit both the subcontractor and stakeholder.
Since daily reporting leaves a record of the daily progress, it’s an easy way for subcontractors to ensure payment. Daily reports aid subcontractors in proving billing to GC’s and construction managers. For example, if more people were on the site than expected on a specific day, a daily report can help subcontractors prove it.
Additionally, daily reports function as a guide to what has been done on the project so far. If a subcontractor typically only works on a specific portion of the project, daily reports can help them stay up-to-date with the overall project flow.
Daily reports can help subcontractors highlight areas where the project is struggling or can help explain the reasoning behind a delay. Experienced subcontractors may even be able to provide solutions based on the daily report to help get the project back on track.
Daily Reporting for Electrical Subcontractors
Manual daily reporting can take-up hours of an electrical subcontractor’s day. Using construction daily reporting software allows electrical subcontractors to capture details about their progress using efficient tools like a tablet or smartphone.
For electrical subcontractors, daily reporting software can include features like electrical inspections that include materials used, electrical equipment rented, and the number of hours worked.
Electrical subcontractors can also customize their daily reports for their specific needs, such as writing an order for new personal protective equipment (PPE). Outside/line contractors can include facets such as reports on power distribution lines, while inside electricians could report on the status of electrical cabling.
Electricians specializing in integrated building systems (IBS) would have a plethora of uses for construction daily reporting software. Examples include reporting the statuses of climate controls, the set up of wireless networks, and progress on security systems.
How to Write a Construction Daily Report
Daily reports and field notes are an essential part of the construction project manager’s day. Nowadays, the amount of software and mobile application options means there is a perfect daily reporting software for every business. However, there are specific elements that should be added to daily reports to help maximize their usability.
Time, Date, and Weather
Time, date, and weather are essential to include in a construction daily report. The date and time distinguish the report and organize each report in chronological order. The weather and temperature can help explain delays or issues with construction. For example, workers can’t complete certain tasks in rain or bad weather.
Comments, Notes, Occurrences
After this, superintendents should complete the comments, notes, and occurrences. In this section, superintendents can note anything specific about the project and enter field notes. Some daily reporting software integrates this with field notes, relieving the superintendent of having to input the same information twice.
Crew, Work Location, and Work Completed
While some construction daily reporting software uses geolocation, others use a set picklist to help streamline the daily process. Once the superintendent selects the location, they can enter the crew and work completed. This allows stakeholders to get a snapshot of the work completed on any given day. Reporting the crew hours is also essential to ensure everyone is paid correctly.
Subcontractors
In addition to tracking your crew’s hours, superintendents should track subcontractors on site that day and completion of their work performed. Subcontractors representative your company to the customer or general contractor. Superintendents must document their performance (or lack thereof) as well. Superintendents each subcontractor, number of workers, and any pertinent notes for that organizations.
Equipment and Material Tracking
Daily reports provide a window into the jobsite for the office. Tracking equipment used and material installed helps the team in the office understand utilization to track productivity. Additionally, superintendents can note how much longer they will need equipment on site or they need to order additional supplies. Because daily reports are shared with the office in real-time this provides them proactive communication to take action on items.
Jobsite Photos
Photos are important to share as visual backup documentation. Take photos the incidents that occurred on site, damage to work previously done, or document work completed. Mobile daily report apps store photos with the project documentation. Superintendents attach photos to the daily report to provide 360 degree documentation of the day.
Daily reports are an essential part of keeping a construction project on track and ensuring workers are accountable for the daily progress. While contracts report what should happen with the project, the construction daily report shows what actually happened on the site.
