By Brian K. Carroll, Sanderford & Carroll
Project documentation is exceptionally important to every aspect of the construction project lifespan. Documentation is important for everything from internal QA/QC to making sure a Subcontractor can develop a successful claim if/when a dispute arises on a Project. Almost as a universal truth, the party in a construction dispute with the best project documentation is most likely to prevail.
Documenting a project can take different forms depending on the type of project (public, private, industrial, commercial, etc.) as well as the limitations and/or requirements imposed by the project Owner. Likewise, the type and size of work performed by the subcontractor may lend itself to different types of project documentation. This article will address some of the most common forms of documentation, along with several unique forms that may be applicable to your projects.
The daily report is the most crucial form of project documentation. Daily reports need to be generated at the foreman level per crew. What to include in a daily report is highly dependent on the trade generating the report, but some aspects of daily reports are universal regardless of the trade. A daily report should always be done on the day of the work and in no event later than the next working day. Contemporaneous records are viewed by Court as the most reliable form of records, especially if they are made consistently by the Subcontractor.
A daily report should include
- the date,
- time work started/stopped,
- who was on the crew by name,
- weather conditions (regardless if the work is inside or outside),
- a description of all work activities for the day,
- equipment and materials utilized during the day,
- safety issues, and
- special notes as to anything that impacted the progress of the work for the day.
Many companies will include a section noting if special visitors appeared on the jobsite, or inspections were conducted by third parties. Likewise, if RFIs were generated at the field level, those should also be noted on the daily report as well as on the project RFI log. Daily reports can be made via software or via pen and paper forms. What is key is that the daily reports are made consistently and all information is included. It is incumbent on the project manager/superintendent to ensure that this is occurring and take steps to correct lax daily reporting.
Pay Applications, while they may not seem at first glance to be a form of project documentation, can be a source of vast information regarding the Project. A proper pay application tied to a schedule of values can be used to determine retrospectively when impacts occurred on a project, what activities were impacted by various causes, as well as serve as a warning sign to the subcontractor as to a project being over or under billed when viewed against the expected project cash flow. Often, earned value may be one of the few data points available to establish the starting point for impacts on a project.
CPM Schedules and any and all updates must be tracked on a project. Often the Project will have a broad overall CPM schedule, but that schedule may not be detailed enough for the subcontractor to manage its work. If the subcontractor operates with more detailed schedules internally, those need to be tracked and aligned with changes in the overall project schedule. Anytime the schedule is changed – activities added or moved, durations shifted, or schedule logic changed – the subcontractor must look at those changes and determine if a cost impact is going to occur. Time impacts frequently lead to increased labor and equipment costs on a project. A good, frequently updated CPM schedule, when combined with daily reports, creates a powerful tool to support change order requests and claims if necessary to protect the subcontractor.
Photographs and videos are exceptionally useful project documentation if taken properly. Photographs should always be taken with something that can be used to create scale and under favorable lighting conditions. Likewise, videos should include a narrative as to what is being viewed and an explanation of any issues related with the work. I have been involved with projects that were in distress where a complete site walk was made daily along with a real time discussion of the challenges on the Project. On one exceptional large project, an intern was outfitted with a Go-Pro camera and required to walk the site daily which took several hours to walk the project route through each floor/level, but the imagery was exceptionally useful in support of the claim.
RFIs and the accompanying RFI log often quickly point to the location and drivers of project impacts. When a consistent theme in the RFIs begins to emerge, it is often the sign of incomplete plans or errors in the plans. This can be useful for demonstrating that the subcontractor was a team player, and proactively seeking to avoid impacts by asking questions on the work. RFI responses should always be reviewed to determine if the response has a cost or time impact to the Subcontractor.
Notices are required by almost every prime contract for various events on the Project. The failure to timely provide notice, and provide the notice in the proper form (written, certain contents, certified, etc.) can prevent the subcontractor from recovering on otherwise valid impacts. I suggest a short list be made during the contract review as to every event that requires a notice to be provided, and the length of time that the subcontractor has to provide that notice. If the contract is subject to negotiation, obtaining a longer time period and lighter reporting requirements are major subcontract negotiation victories for the subcontractor. When in doubt, it is always better to provide too many notices, and to provide them too early. These notices often provide the roadmap at the end of the project as to what can be claimed if change orders are not issued when requested by the subcontractor. Notices are often required for weather impacts, delays, differing site conditions, force majeure events, and extra work.
As a leader in your respective companies, it is key to establish a corporate culture that values project documentation. Project documentation also builds accountability across the project and field team, because they develop the understanding that they are self-evaluating themselves daily by generating this information. Likewise, at the company level, rewarding project and field staff for consistently creating the records emphasized the value of this – often boring – task. At the end of the day, the team with the best records will likely prevail in a dispute, and the best kept records often lead to approved change orders versus lengthy fights through the claim process.
About the Author:
Brian K. Carroll is the managing partner of Sanderford & Carroll, P.C. Licensed since 2002, the primary focus of Brian’s practice is representing contractors and subcontractors in the construction industry. He is a past ASA National President. He holds a BS in Architectural Engineering from the University of Texas, and a JD from Baylor. Brian also serves as an adjunct professor of Construction Law at Baylor.
