Rivet is a communication tool which can complement your construction daily report app. Learn how to streamline your reporting process!
Many teams use pen and paper to fill out construction daily reports. These reports give them an archive of who was onsite, what was done, and any other information pertinent to the timeline or cost of the project.
This process can be tedious for field leads. It often falls short of actually flagging issues for management and keeping the property owner updated on progress.
Many apps digitize daily reports to lighten the load. The problem is, moving the form online doesn’t necessarily make it better, or easier to fill out.
Here, we’ll take a look at what goes into a daily report, the purpose it serves, and how construction communication tools can improve the reporting process.
What Goes Into a Construction Daily Report?
When a daily report is filled out on a daily log app, the rule of thumb is to share all critical information in one hub with as much detail as possible. Daily reports show the status of a project and what to expect for the next day. This way, everyone involved can access the records at a later date.
Because every day of construction is different, daily reports vary. However, most reports incorporate some of these components:
- Author
- Date
- Crew List and Hours
- Photographs
- Progress Reports
- Weather and Site Conditions
Some conditional pieces of information may also show up in reports. They include safety concerns, delivery of materials, and job site visitors. Communicating these details each day helps all stakeholders stay on the same page.
Construction Daily Report at a Glance
If you’d like a more in-depth look at what construction daily log book apps may include, we’ve laid a few points out in the table below.
Construction Daily Log App Issues, Rivet’s Solution
At its core, construction is a long and arduous process. Every person on the job site takes enormous responsibility. As anyone involved in the industry knows, even a small delay can be pricey. All these costs add up, and are sometimes increased by unforeseen circumstances. This is why it’s important to work as quickly and efficiently as possible, while maintaining safe working conditions.
Tracking what you can in your construction daily report app keeps everyone on the same page and minimizes the issues that external factors may cause. These details help flag management issues, let homeowners know what’s happening, and create critical records in case of future disputes.
However, daily reporting has its issues, even on free apps. These include:
- Information overload
- Human error
- Communication mishaps
So, What’s the Solution?
Sometimes, one app doesn’t cut it. Digging through old texts and emails to fill out reports is tedious. You need a central hub.
What if there was a tool that automatically stored important information by date so you could go back at any time, see what happened, and funnel it into your daily report?
That’s where we come in.
Rivet is a construction communication app, not a daily report app or a construction management software. However, lots of our features lend themselves to supporting a streamlined daily reporting process. We strive to make your life easier on and off site with effective, easy-to-use functions.
Wondering how? Below, we’ll walk you through some common issues with daily reporting and explain how Rivet can fix them.
Issue #1: Information Overload
A big hurdle to clear with construction daily reports (on paper and in free construction daily report apps) is the sheer amount of information you must include. When your project participants are ready to clock out for the day, it’s likely that they won’t want to spend time searching through texts and emails gathering information.
This overwhelm and rush to get out the door can lead to big oversights.
Overhaul the Overload with a Project Hub
Rivet is here to help you and project participants (homeowners, builders, suppliers, supervisors, etc.) to access information and communicate in one place, at any time.
On any construction project, there is a lot of information that needs to be stored. Instead of keeping this information in different filing cabinets or even separate notes on your phone, we can help organize your files in one place.
When you open a project channel in Rivet, a project info hub is created. Here, you can store information like lockbox codes, permit numbers, phone numbers, frequently used files, and anything else you deem useful.
Everyone participating in the construction project has access to these details. The project info hub also stores information about who checked in and out of the job site that day.
What this all means is that gathering the details you need to complete a daily report is a quick process with Rivet. Instead of spending time pulling up information on multiple apps, supervisors can glance at Rivet and then input information into their construction daily log app. Instead of messaging others to check who worked that day, supervisors can look at a quick list of who checked into the job site on the app.
While you can’t eliminate all the information that must go into your daily report app, you can eliminate the overwhelming process of gathering it. By pulling all relevant information into one place, you’re greatly reducing the stress involved in the reporting process.
Issue #2: Human Error
Sometimes – even when information is easy to gather – people miss things. In other fields, this is annoying. In construction, it can be life-threatening. When the safety of your project crew is on the line, you can’t afford to ignore potential issues. Marking down (and then solving) hazards in your daily report is a must.
You also must record any accidents that occurred on site in your daily report. This provides protection and information for potential litigation.
However, In stressful situations, human error is at an all time high. If you are dealing with the aftermath of an onsite accident, searching for information in a stack of papers or a chain of texts is frustrating and inefficient.
The good news is that new technology has potential to reduce human error and increase site safety. Dr. Sundukovskiy, founder of a construction daily report app, explained in an article for Construction Business Owner that drones might be the future of Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) and Job Safety Analysis (JSA). Drones can capture and analyze video from above, and be used to supplement JHA and JSA done by regular ol’ humans.
The bad news is that drones are not an affordable solution for many smaller-scale projects. They also do not eliminate human error following mishaps.
The easiest answer to human error is collaboration and communication.
If one project participant identifies all safety issues and fills out the daily report alone, things will slip through the cracks. However, if all relevant parties are in constant communication about the job site each day, they can help each other fill in gaps.
Erase Errors as a Team
At Rivet, our features can help facilitate collaboration. When project participants put their heads together, the likelihood that field leads will miss important details goes down.
Our channels allow multiple people to contribute observations from the job site. This can help write a construction daily report. The author cannot be in two places at once, but someone else might have noticed details they didn’t see.
For instance, while project supervisor Maria, fills out the daily report, her co-worker, Jim, can scan messages sent to the project channel. When he sees a note about a low-hanging beam that builders have been bumping into, he will relay that information to Maria. She will mark it down in the report.
That day, Maria and Jim were both busy handling material shipments and didn’t know there was a problem with wiring. The worker who communicated with the electrician can send a message about this through the project channel.
This clues Maria, Jim, and everyone working on the project into the fact that they are now facing a two-day delay. It also ensures that Maria will include information about wiring in the daily report since she can easily funnel it over from Rivet.
Directory
Not only can Maria keep up with co-workers on Rivet, but she can also access a range of contacts through the shared directory, available for the entire team. If Maria needs to contact the electrician who caught the wiring problem, she can easily find his info through this list.
The goal of the shared directory is to allow construction progress to move forward without needing to stop and search for someone’s contact information. Instead, anyone can find the numbers they need on the app.
Calendar
Another method for avoiding human error is carefully tracking all appointments in a shared calendar. Rivet’s calendar allows you to create events, invite others, and send notification reminders which will arrive via SMS.
Your calendar will not remind you of important meetings, but also keep you in sync with others, leaving less room for forgotten tasks. Check out an example below.
Issue #3: Communication Mishaps
One issue with construction daily report apps is they are not designed for your average homeowner.
This can become an issue, as homeowners are financing the project and have a large stake in outcomes. Daily operation information is just as relevant to them as it is to builders.
While it's unlikely that clients will want to download confusing construction daily report apps for iPads, phones, and other devices, they may be interested in a simple app where they can pop in to see daily pictures of project progress.
Manage Mishaps with New Features
We designed Rivet with everyone in mind. It’s for users with and without specialized construction knowledge. We want to ease your heavy workload with clear, easy communication.
Each day, you can distribute daily reports to clients through Rivet.
Homeowners unfamiliar with the form may have questions. You can answer those in the app. You can also explain how supervisors gathered information and ask clients if there are other details they’d like to include in future reports. Here are some of the tools you can leverage:
Texting Outside Rivet
Even though we designed Rivet with everyone in mind, we understand that some people have a hard time adopting new technology. No worries!
Through Rivet, you can still send messages to project participants who do not use the app. These notes will be delivered via text message. On your end, all messages in the thread will be stored and organized in your team’s channel.
This way, both users get the experience they are most comfortable with. Plus, you still get to store everything in one place.
Translation
Not only is Rivet helpful for open communication with clients, but it is an asset to every aspect of your project. In construction, you will work with project participants who speak languages other than English.
Our in-app translation allows you to translate messages without leaving the app. Currently, any language can be translated into English. We also translate from English to Spanish.
We hope that features like these reduce the frequency of communication problems between all parties invested in your project.
Building Out Progress With Rivet
We understand that construction has tons of moving parts, so you may need more than one app to get everything organized. At Rivet, our role is to make everything easier and help communication be as efficient as possible.
Rivet improves communication by centralizing all your information. We’re here to help you create a space to organize your data and information and communicate it to everyone on the project. Our features provide accessible communication to every project participant.
Instead of spending hours searching through group text messages for the construction foreman’s phone number, a Rivet user can simply refer to the project info hub or the shared directory and send a quick direct message. This shaves down the time it takes to get answers to daily report questions.
After a long day on the job site, the last thing anyone wants is to go back to the office to fill out paperwork. With Rivet, your project participants can help you compile all the notes you’ve been sending throughout the day, which will make the daily report easy to complete.
We’re here to help!
Rivet is free to download, so you can try it out. If you have any questions, we would love to provide the answers. Give us a call at (415) 483-9177. If email is more convenient, we can be reached at support@joinrivet.com and we will respond promptly.
In the meantime, you can find answers to more construction questions through our blog.
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