← Construction daily log & evidence pack
The superintendent points at a wall and says move it. You move it. Six weeks later the invoice comes back queried, the superintendent has moved to another job, and the entire question of whether that was extra work rests on a text message thread and what two people remember about a Tuesday.
The fix is not a better argument later. It is a dated record written the same day.
Open the free daily log & evidence pack
That last field is the one most often skipped and the most useful. A record that says "requested written confirmation on the 14th, none received" is a fact about the paperwork, and it is far stronger than remembering that you asked.
A log written on the day is a record of observation. The same facts assembled six weeks later from memory, photos and messages is a reconstruction — one made after you knew there was a dispute, and read that way. Nothing you can do afterwards recovers the difference, which is why the few minutes at the end of the day are worth more than the hour spent arguing later.
It is deliberately evidence-only: it records what you entered and what still needs review. It does not certify work, decide entitlement, file a claim, or promise payment.
Write it the same day, while the detail is still exact. Record the date and time, who gave the direction and in what form, what was actually directed, what work it added or removed, the crew and hours it consumed, any delay or standby it caused, and what you are still waiting for in writing. A record made on the day is contemporaneous; the same facts assembled six weeks later from memory and text messages are a reconstruction, and they are treated very differently in a dispute.
Most disputes are not about bad faith. They are about two people remembering a busy day differently, months later, after the person who gave the direction has moved to another project. A dated log of observable facts — weather, crew on site, deliveries, access problems, what was directed and by whom — costs a few minutes at the end of the day and removes the need for anyone's memory to be the evidence.
No. It records what you entered, with dates, and exports it as a portable JSON pack you keep. It does not certify work, determine entitlement, file a claim, or promise payment, and nothing about a record it produces makes a change order approved. Entitlement depends on your contract and the law that governs it; take advice on those.