Almost every construction payment dispute comes down to the same question: what actually happened on site, and can you prove it? The firm with dated, signed daily records wins that argument before it starts. Here is exactly what to record, and how to make it effortless.
Adjudicators, courts and quantity surveyors all apply the same instinct: a record made on the day is credible; a recollection assembled when the dispute starts is not. Twelve months after the job, nobody can honestly remember which Tuesday the groundworks were flooded or who told your team to move to plot 6. A day sheet remembers. In "smash and grab" adjudications, delay claims, variation arguments and final account battles, the paper trail is the case — the legal arguments are just the wrapping. This is also why main contractors keep site diaries religiously: if you are the subcontractor and only their diary exists, disputes get decided on their version of events.
Names or gang size, start and finish times, and what they worked on. This is the backbone of daywork claims and loss-and-expense calculations — "we had 4 men standing for 3 hours" is worth nothing without names and times.
"Second fix, plots 4–6, kitchens complete" can be checked against a programme and valued. "Ongoing works" cannot. Two specific sentences beat a paragraph of filler.
The most expensive words on a building site are "just crack on with it, we'll sort the paperwork later". Record who said what, when, and what it changes. A verbal instruction noted the same day, in a record the client saw, is very hard to deny later — this is where variation money is won or lost.
"No access to plot 3, awaiting scaffold — 2 men reallocated, 4 hours lost." Weather, missing information, other trades in the way, late materials from the client. Neutral wording, specific facts. This is the raw material of every extension-of-time and prolongation claim.
Progress, completed work about to be covered up, site conditions, the flooded trench. A dated photo attached to the day's sheet is the single strongest piece of evidence you can create for free. Photograph work before it gets covered — once it's behind plasterboard, only your photo proves it exists.
Signed by the client's representative, your record becomes an agreed record. If they won't sign, write down who was asked and when — a pattern of documented refusals tells an adjudicator everything about how that site was run, and it favours you.
A paper duplicate book works — until it's rained on, left in a van, or the one copy that matters is missing. Digital records carry timestamps, photo metadata and an unbroken trail showing nothing was rewritten after the fact, which is exactly what the other side's solicitor will probe. Whichever you use, the rules are the same: same-day (a sheet written Friday for the whole week is worth a fraction), consistent (a diary with gaps invites "why is there no record for the week you claim the delay?"), and shared (a record the client received at the time is ten times the record that surfaces at the dispute).
Graftum's Evidence Engine does the whole habit for you: labour, work done, instructions, delays and photos captured on a phone in minutes, signed on the glass (refusals recorded too), emailed to the client the same day, and locked in a tamper-evident register your accountant and — if it ever comes to it — your adjudicator can rely on. Works offline in a basement.
Try it free — 2 minutes to set upBetter than nothing — it's dated and it was received. But messages scatter across phones and leave the company when people do. Put the same facts in your day sheet and let the message be the backup, not the system.
Small firms need records most: you're the ones who can't afford a £15k write-off or a solicitor to reconstruct events. Ten minutes a day is the cheapest insurance in construction.
At least 6 years (limitation period for simple contracts), 12 if contracts are signed as deeds. Digital storage makes this a non-decision — keep everything.
Start recording today anyway — the dispute will run for months and the record from here on still counts. And check your payment-notice position immediately: see our payment notice deadline calculator.
Run the free final account health check — five questions, an honest read on where you stand, and what to gather next.