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Daily Reports for Construction Projects: 

A daily report is one of the basic, but most important, aspects of project documentation. However, daily reports are often not submitted with detailed information, but rather with just the minimum notation of date, weather, employees present, and a broad description of work performed. In order to later request additional compensation or change order claim, this type of report proves insufficient.

If daily reports are not filed correctly, contractors may be facing major problems such as penalties, or even felonies. Recently, Alan Harris of North Suburban Asphalt Maintenance was charged with theft of government property and mail fraud. Harris had forced his employees to give back some of their paychecks every month, and then falsified statements to show that he was paying his employees a legal rate. This month, the Department of Labor also found subcontractors in violation of federal wage laws, resulting in $430,000 in back wages to be paid to 59 employees.

Daily reports do not necessarily have to be long and overly detailed, but must at least provide a sufficient description of the daily activity and highlight what happens on the project when things are normal. So, if a problem does arise, contractors will have a more successful report because of their implemented system of writing descriptive reports. The reports are generally required under federal contract and are used as an opportunity to create a comprehensive record of work performance.

Reports should ultimately be designed to operate as checklists. The checklist format prompts supervisors in every category of information desired.

LCPtracker’sDaily Reporter: 

Companies like LCPtracker have software tools like the Daily Reporter to capture daily log data on all the workers on site, the hours worked and the craft being performed.  Thus

providing a detailed daily report the contractor can later use to better monitor project progress or request a change order. The module verifies that the daily report logged matches the certified payroll that is submitted, so that contractors are less likely to have audits – or in extreme cases, catch violations of wage laws early.

Reports can be generated for each contractor’s daily activity. A master report of all activity on site that day is also available. The Daily Reporter will ensure the accuracy of the certified payrolls matching the daily report, or else will send a notification of discrepancies directly to the contractors, ultimately increasing prevailing wage compliance.