CHAPTER THREE

RECORD KEEPING IN
CONSTRUCTION
&
CONSTRUCTION SITE DIARIES
BY :-Abebe
D.
March.
2015
1

QOUASIONS
WHY WE MAKE RECORED
IN SITE?

Records Management (RM)

Record
management
is
the
application of systematic policies
and
procedures
governing
the
creation, distribution, maintenance,
managing,
use
and
ultimate
retention or disposal of records to
achieve
effective,
economical,
accountable,
transparent
and
efficient administration.
It can also be defined as the field of
management responsible for the
systematic control of the creation,
maintenance, use and disposition of
3

Benefits of records management

programme. :
1. Facilitates effective performance of
activities throughout an agency;
2. Protects the rights of the agency,
its employees and its customers;
3. Provides continuity in the event of a
disaster;
4. Meets
statutory
and
regulatory
requirements including archival, audit
and oversight activities;
5. Provides protection and support in
litigation;

Record keeping
Is the activity of organizing and storing
all the documents, files, invoices, etc.
relating to a company's or organization's
activities (Cambridge Business English
Dictionary).
is the maintenance/preservation of a
history of one's activities, as financial
dealings, by entering data in ledgers or
journals, putting documents in files, etc
(Dictionary.com Unabridged).
Keeping site records is a daily practice
on all the civil Engineering projects and
these
records
are
maintained
for
5
different reasons.

However, some record keeping will

be required in any case because it is:
1.Required by law,
2.Required by the terms of the
contract,
3.Needed to control the on-going
work,
4.Needed as data for estimating
future work,
5.Needed for preserving the
contractor's rights under the
contract
6

Goal of maintaining site records in

construction:

To
provide
the
right
information to the right
person at the right time at
the lowest possible cost.

The purpose of Record keeping in

Construction:

To control the construction process

by monitoring the physical progress
of the project and identifying
unsatisfactory progress.
To assure quality, by proving the
works are carried out according to
the contract specification;
To control the finance of the project
by monitoring the financial situation
of the project;
For preparing
and assessing
construction claims;
8

Site records

Delay in construction projects are

very common specially in countries
like Ethiopia.
This demand the follow up of the
activities over a prolonged time.
Therefore keeping accurate records
plays a significant role, particularly
when there is a tendency for varying
the work.
9

Generaly a listing of the most important information sets would

include:

Cash flow and procurement accounts for each

organization,
Intermediate analysis results during planning
and design,
Design documents, including drawings and
specifications,
Construction schedules and cost estimates,
Quality control and assurance records,
Chronological files of project correspondence
and memorandum,
Construction field activity and inspection logs,
Legal contracts and regulatory documents.
Etc
10

Generally, Construction site

records are used:
For reference purposes during
and
after
the
construction
period;
For providing a vital and often
the only tool in the business of
monitoring,
controlling
and
predicting
the
quality
and
progress of the works
11

A. Records kept by construction site

supervisors
Construction site supervisor has great role in keeping
the records at the construction site. The following are a
typical set of records that might be kept by construction
site supervisor of construction project:
Correspondence filing system;

Confirmation of oral instruction and

instructions to contractor;
Register of drawings;
Daily and other progress records
Quantity records;
The contractor's interim payment
applications;
Authorisation of day works;
Filing system for day works sheets;
Check of materials on site;
Price increase records;

12

B. Records kept by the engineer's site

staff/include RE

All
correspondence/letters
between the resident engineer and
the agent, including the engineer's
instructions, variation orders and
approval forms;
All correspondence between the
engineer for the contract and the
resident engineer, the employer
and any third parties;
The minutes or notes of formal
meetings;
13

CONTD.
Work records such as dimension
books, time sheets and delivery notes
Day work records, as submitted and
corrected where necessary;
Interim statements, as submitted and
including any corrections, with copies
of all supporting particulars and
interim certificates;
Level and survey books, containing
checks on setting out and completed
work;
Progress drawings, charts and revised
drawings;
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Site diaries;

CONTD.
Progress photographs;
Administrative records, such as leave and
sickness returns, and accident reports.
Engineer's certificates and correspondence
thereon;
Variation Orders passed;
Variation Orders pending or in draft;
Other contractor's invoices and claims;
Claims pending for extra charges by main
contractor;
Estimates of future expenditure;
Laboratory reports and other test data;
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Weather records

C. Records kept by the Contractor

The Contractor keeps records in

Construction Site for the following
Reasons:
For Monitoring both the financial
position of the contract and the
physical progress of the work; and
For
identifying
unsatisfactory
progress and producing evidence of
additional costs where these are
recoverable from other parties.
16

The following are a typical set of records

that might be kept by the Contractor of
construction
Records of labour
includingproject:
wage sheets;
record of numbers of labours on site;
total hours worked on a project;
non-productive hours;
Average hourly rate.
Plant: returns usually made weekly
Monthly financial report: amounts applied for
and paid on
valuations;
Claims and expected settlement accounts;
Claims against contractor;
Forecasts of total payments to be received
from the project;
17

CONTD

Progress Records: said to be

kept in some form, but all too
commonly not maintained or
modified part-way through.
Progress meetings held at
regular intervals will yield
minutes but are said only to
provide a broad picture of
progress.

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The following items should also be a part of the

construction administration record keeping

Field observations reports: follow-ups

on all unresolved items
Shop drawings, samples, product data,
checklist of all required submissions
Submittals: checklist of all required
submittals correspondence
Payment requests, schedules of contract
sum and time, change orders
Change orders and construction change
directives
Drawings and revisions
Specifications and revisions
Status of requests for information's and
requests for quotations
Memos on delay caused by weather, 19

Construction site diaries

The Construction Project Diary is

a recorded collection of events,
data, occurrences, instructions,
situations and work performed
each day during a construction
project.
Recorded information must be
clear,
detailed,
accurate,
complete and objective.
Anyone reading the Project Diary
should be able to comprehend
20

CONTD

The site diary is completed by

site engineers, site supervisor/
inspector, etc to record all
activities on site.
The site diaries are often only
referred to when there is a
query/doubt as to what actually
took place on site.
Site diaries can be used as a
contemporaneous record of events
and is a written description of what
happened at the time.
21

645

CONTD

Construction Site Diaries in a given

Construction
project
may
be
prepared:
1. By the Construction site Supervisor/
Inspector:
Construction
site
Supervisor 's/ Inspector diary
2. By
Surveyors
involved
in
construction project:
Surveyor's
diary
3. By the Project manager of the
Construction
Project:
Project
manager's diary
22

Advantages of Construction site diaries

The following are the reasons for keeping

Construction site diaries:
To document work progress, site conditions, labor
and equipment usage, and the contractors ability
(or inability) to perform his/her work, and
Can provide valuable information necessary to
accurately reconstruct the events of the project in
preparation of a claim.
Maintain relationships with clients, contractors,
and other stake holders;
To record the amount and the type of labour on
the site necessary to achieve the required
progress;
Reduce financial risk
Maintain profit
23

 "Daily diaries are the key to claims avoidance and

mitigating damages".

Contents of Construction Site diary

Generally, what is included in Construction site diary
(i.e. the Contents of Construction site diary) may
vary depending on:
The nature and the Complexity of the project, work,
service provided;
The scope of the Responsibility of the Professional
preparing it:
The daily activities carried out;
The nature and magnitude of problems encountered;
Contractors Resources used and available at site
Weather condition
Delays, difficulties, accidents, utility damages, and
other unusual conditions.
Other factors( if any)
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Construction site diary may include, but

not limited to, the Following items:

Weather

conditions

affecting

operations

and

temperature range.
Identify days when crews were sent home or
were unable to work due to weather or field
conditions.
Contractors work force and equipment and
hours worked.
Description
of
major
construction
activity
Including locations and approximate quantities.
Description of any extraordinary work being
performed.

Controlling item(s) of work.

Comments on the progress of operations as
compared to the Contractors approved schedule.
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Suspensions and resumptions of contractor

REPORTS
The purpose of the inspectors site
visit is to become generally
familiar with the progress and
quality
of
the
work
and
to
determine if the work is being done
in a manner which will yield results
consistent
with
the
contract
documents.
The supervisor is required to keep
the owner informed of the progress
and quality of the work.
Most inspectors discharge this
continuing obligations by sending
26

CONTD.

The report should be a complete record

of the proceedings at the inspectors job
site visit and should include;

Date
Time, duration
Weather conditions
Persons present
Percentage of work completed by trade

Work progress compared to schedule

Work now being accomplished, work
scheduled before next visit
Questions raised by the contractor or
owner
Determinations made by the engineer
Any questions or actions which remain

27

Classification of Progress
Report
Progress Report for a given
Construction Project may be
prepared:
Weekly Progress Reports
Monthly Progress Reports;
Three months Progress report ;
Six months Progress report;
Annual progress report
28

Who prepare Progress

Report?
Project manager;

Construction site supervisor;

Consultant;
Site Engineer;
Employer of the project to higher
Government executive bodies in
case of public projects;
Other professionals (if any and
authorized to prepare)
29

Information included in Construction project

progress report

Generally,
what
is
included
in
Construction project progress report may
vary depending on:
The nature and complexity of project and
of the things to be procured;
The scope of responsibility of the
professional preparing the report;
The Type of progress report to be
prepared( weekly, monthly, etc);
The Tools and Techniques used for
progress monitoring;
Project progress measurement criteria;
Difficulties encounter during reporting
30
time

A good report should have the following

characteristics

Should provide timely, complete

and accurate status information.
Should warn of pending problem is
in to take action.
Should be easily understandable
Report is submitted from site
engineer to construction supervisor
and supervision department head,

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Monitoring Project progress

Progress monitoring is evaluating actual project
progress compared to the baseline.
Tools and Techniques for progress monitoring
1.Progress
Curves
Development
Tools
and
Techniques. used to monitor project progress are;
A.Mathematical analyses: is used to calculate the
weight distribution along the project duration. Each
activity has its weight and it is utilized according to
standard curves. Computing the weight completed
for each activity in a work period gives the overall
project progress for that work period. Repeating
the analysis for all project work periods gives the
overall project progress curve.
B.Project Management software: can be used to
automate
the
process
of
performing
the
mathematical analysis.
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CONTD
2. Progress Measurement Criteria. are methods
to determine how much progress has been
accomplished for an activity if it is under
progress in the
data date. Some common
methods are:
0%-100%. The weight of an activity is entered
into progress calculations only when it is 100%
completed.
This applies to short duration
activities only (one month or less).
20%-80%. When the activity starts, 20% of its
weight can be used for progress calculations.
When it finishes, 100% of the weight is
considered. This convention has varying
percentages, such as 30%-70% or 50%-50%.
Percentage of the activity duration. is the same
33
as the percentage calculated by dividing the

CONTD
3. Progress curve analysis. involves
evaluating actual progress versus
baseline in order to take preventive
action toward accomplishing the
progress for those activities. The
evaluation includes examining the
activities
involved
and
their
characteristics.

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QOUSIONS?
What are the effects of Poor
Record Keeping on Construction
Project Performance?

35

QOUSIONS?

U
O
Y
K
N
A
H
T
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