The core fields every log needs
These eight fields are the backbone of a credible daily log. Skip one and you have created the gap that someone will point to later.
- Date, project, and author. Who wrote this, for which job, on what day. It is the first thing missing on weak logs and the first thing checked on credible ones.
- Weather. Temperature, conditions, and anything that affected work — rain, wind, heat, cold. Weather is the single most common documented cause of delay, so this field is not optional even on a clear day.
- Crew on site. Who was there from your company and from each sub, and how many. Headcount drives labor cost and underpins the credibility of everything else in the log.
- Equipment on site. Owned and rented machines present and in use. This is the basis for equipment cost tracking and any idle-equipment delay claim.
- Work completed. What got done, where, and how much — concrete locations and scope, not "made progress".
- Quantities / production. Units installed, yards placed, linear feet, square footage — the numbers that make the log a progress record you can measure against the bid.
- Delays, issues, and notes. Anything that slowed or stopped work, with cause and times. This is the field that turns a log into delay-claim evidence.
- Photos. Dated images of conditions and completed work, attached to the day's entry — see the jobsite photo guide for how to manage them.
The fields people forget
The core eight are well known. The entries below are the ones that go missing — and the ones that most often decide a dispute, because they document events outside the routine.
- Visitors and inspections. Who came to the site — inspectors, the owner, the architect, the safety officer — and the result. An inspection passed (or a late inspection) is a dated fact you may need later.
- Deliveries. Materials and equipment that arrived (or didn't). A missing or late delivery is a documented delay cause; an on-time one backs your material billing.
- Instructions and directives received. Verbal change directions, RFIs answered on site, decisions made by the GC or owner. Verbal instructions vanish unless they are logged the day they are given.
- Safety events and toolbox talks. Incidents, near-misses, and the daily safety briefing. A logged toolbox talk is evidence of your safety program; a logged near-miss is the start of a paper trail you want.
- Idle time and standby. Crew or equipment waiting on another trade, an inspection, or a delivery — with times. Idle time is recoverable far more often when it is documented the day it happens.
How much detail is enough
The test for every entry is simple: will this answer a question someone asks six months from now when they were not here? "Worked on slab" fails the test. "Placed and finished 3,100 sq ft slab-on-grade, grid lines A–D; first truck 8:05 AM, last 11:20 AM; 78 yards" passes it. Be specific about locations, quantities, and times, and the log carries weight.
At the same time, the entry has to be fast enough to make every day. Aim for short but complete — concrete nouns and numbers, not paragraphs. The point is not literary; it is that the facts are dated, specific, and recorded while they were fresh.
Common mistakes that gut a log
- Writing it from memory. Logs filled in Friday for the whole week are vague and wrong. Make the entry on the day, on site.
- Vague descriptions. "Made progress" and "good day" document nothing. Locations, quantities, and times or it didn't happen.
- Photos disconnected from the log. Images sitting in a camera roll with no link to the day's entry lose most of their value. Attach them to the log.
- Blank days. The day nothing happened — rained out, waiting on a sub — is often the most important day to log, because it documents a delay.
- No timestamp. A handwritten date proves nothing about when it was written. Contemporaneous credibility comes from an automatic timestamp, not a scribbled "6/12".
A log structure that holds up
Put the fields in a consistent order, the same every day, so nothing gets skipped: header (date/project/author), weather, crew, equipment, work completed, quantities, then delays/notes, then photos. A consistent structure is what turns "remembering to log everything" into a 90-second routine the foreman can do before leaving the site — which is the only way logs actually get made every day.
In Vexor
Vexor's Daily Logs give you this structure as a built-in part of every job: weather, crew on site, equipment, work completed, quantities, and delays/notes are all fields in the entry, with job photos attached to the same record. Each log is timestamped automatically — the contemporaneous credibility a handwritten date can't provide — and is visible to the office and GC as soon as it is saved. It works on iOS and Android and is offline-capable, so a foreman on a no-signal site still completes the full checklist on time and it syncs when the device reconnects. Because logs live in the same workspace as scheduling, time tracking, photos, and invoicing, a logged crew count or delay lines up with the hours and the job cost without re-entering anything.
Step by step
- 1
Start with the header
Record date, project, and author first — the fields most often missing on weak logs.
- 2
Capture conditions and people
Log weather (even on clear days) and crew on site by company and headcount.
- 3
List equipment and work completed
Note machines present and in use, then describe work by location and scope — not "made progress".
- 4
Record quantities and any delays
Add units, yards, or footage placed, then any delay or idle time with its cause and times.
- 5
Add the forgotten fields and photos, then save on site
Log visitors, inspections, deliveries, instructions, and safety events; attach dated photos; save the timestamped entry before leaving.