One of the most important areas of contractor documentation is at the craft level on a project. This is also the least prioritized area of training by contractors. While the project managers can identify the “before and after” conditions, the craft on the project can identify many of the important facts that impacted the installation.
First though, the contractor project staff must be trained to help the craft workers document the project in the field when it is happening. Simple but key techniques include having the plans marked up by the foremen showing daily progress or lack of progress. A line listing can easily show start, hold and completion dates. It can also show rework dates and who directed the rework. The craft need to know that verbal directives from others must be documented with a written confirmation. The use of a simple verbal directive confirmation note can work wonders in documenting the change.
It is not necessary to have the project bogged down in paperwork to accomplish a good level of documentation from the project site. These two simple tips will go a long way to providing facts that are often missing on changes and disputes at the end of the job.
One Comment
Don -
I was always amazed how well your pre-construction estimates compared to final tallies – especially considering how quickly and inexpensively you put them together. Magic!