Construction Daily Report Template: Better Than PDF, Excel, Word Docs

Even though many construction companies still rely on paper-based methods of daily site data capture, construction daily reporting has come a long way since the days of clipboards and paper reports.

These mostly technology driven developments are really important, because daily reports and commercial site records are becoming an increasingly important safeguard in increasingly complex construction projects, with more and more stakeholders and other moving parts.

If you don't capture good daily records like weather induced delays and other important details, then you may be liable for delays costs and at the very least get involved with disputes which can't be backed by strong evidence either way.

AI and 'marketing' aside, some of the more interesting developments in this space which are and will continue to change the face of progress reporting include:

Mobile apps and voice to text

The most obvious change on construction sites in the last 5-10 years has been the relatively widespread adoption of mobile apps like Sitemate's Daily Reporting App. These apps have replaced paper forms and data collection with streamlined digital forms, meaning site workers can document what's happening on their sites via mobile or tablet devices.

The benefits of this are numerous, with foremen, supervisors and other leading hands being able to document what's happening as it happens vs. at the end of the day, and attach photo and video evidence of these activities.

Digital data capture also opens up the ability for voice-to-text, which enables workers to ditch the pen or pencil for quick voice notes, saving valuable time.

Real-time weather and activity reporting

Digital data capture has enabled the integration of real-time information like the weather, with some sites even generating daily drone data to visualise daily, weekly and monthly progress.

This type of reporting is almost always complimented with jobsite level data, as that's where a lot of the detail lies in terms of who was on site, what was on site, what was delivered etc.

Structured data feeding into dashboards

All of this digital data capture has led to a quick expansion in business intelligence and almost real-time project level dashboards.

Construction companies which used to get extremely delayed information or at times run completely blind are now getting daily progress data feeding into software systems, Excel, PowerBI or other BI tool dashboards.

With this information, these companies are starting to make data driven decisions, leading to more controlled project management, and hopefully more projects being delivered on time and on budget.