Site diary examples
Filled site diaries for real kinds of day. Read one, download it, then keep your own on paper or on your phone.
Get the blankChoose a day
- House extension on the day the slab is pouredPump on site, pour held an hour for rain, building control in, one near miss.Full daily diary · Checked 2 November 2026
- Week on a re-roof with two days lost to windStrip, underlay and battens, then two days stood down, then tiling.Week at a glance · Checked 2 November 2026
- Office fit-out with five trades on siteSecond fix: late ceiling tiles stand three men down, and the client’s agent moves two sockets.Day with labour · Checked 2 November 2026
House extension site diary example: slab pour day
House extension on the day the slab is poured
Pump on site, pour held an hour for rain, building control in, one near miss.
What to change
- Your project, people and company
- The sections you use every day
- Who signs
Sources
- Roythornes: site records
- NEC: good records for assessing delay
- Building Regulations 2010: regulation 16
Checked
The same sheet as text
Worked example of a made-up job. Not a record of real work.
Site Diary
Hollins & Reed Contracting Ltd
- Date7 Sep 2026
- ProjectHouse extension, House 2
- Job numberHR-2407
- Weather amRain, 16°C
- Weather pmDry, 18°C
Trades on site
- Site managerCompany: Hollins & Reed Contracting Ltd. No.: 1. Hours: 9
- GroundworkersCompany: Hollins & Reed Groundworks Ltd. No.: 4. Hours: 8
- BanksmanCompany: Hollins & Reed Contracting Ltd. No.: 1. Hours: 8
- Pump operatorCompany: Hollins & Reed Concrete Pumping Ltd. No.: 1. Hours: 3.5
Plant and equipment
- Concrete pump, boomSupplier: Hollins & Reed Concrete Pumping Ltd. No.: 1. Hours: 3.5
- Vibrating tamper beam, petrolSupplier: Hollins & Reed Groundworks Ltd. No.: 1. Hours: 1
Area
- Rear extensionWork carried out: Fixed 50 mm duct in the slab edge for the garden tap, as instructed: 2 groundworkers, 09:00 to 09:30, 1 hour in all.
- Rear extensionWork carried out: Brushed rain water off the membrane, 10:00 to 10:20. Checked mesh, spacers and levels before the pour.
- Rear extensionWork carried out: Poured the ground floor slab, 10:40 to 11:40. Slab 6.0 m by 4.7 m, 28 m², 150 mm thick: 4.2 m³.
- Rear extensionWork carried out: Thickened edge on the 3 new sides, 15.4 m long, 300 mm wide, 175 mm below the slab: 0.8 m³. With the slab, the 5 m³ on the ticket.
- Rear extensionWork carried out: Tamped and floated to 14:30. Covered with polythene at 15:30, as rain and wind are forecast tomorrow.
- Front driveWork carried out: Pump washed out into the lined pit by 12:10 and off site at 12:30. Drive swept.
Time
- 08:10Deliveries: Polythene sheet, 2 rolls, and spare spacers. Supplier: Hollins & Reed Builders Merchants Ltd. Ticket no.: M 20418
- 10:32Deliveries: RC25/30 concrete, 5 m³. Supplier: Hollins & Reed Concrete Ltd. Ticket no.: C 48213
Time
- 08:40Visitors: Building control surveyor. Company: Council building control. Reason for visit: Looked at membrane and mesh before the pour. Nothing to change. Happy for us to pour.
- 14:50Visitors: Client’s surveyor. Company: Thornley Vale Estates Ltd. Reason for visit: Saw the slab and the new duct.
From
- Client, by phone 08:55Instructions received: Add a duct in the slab edge for a garden tap. I confirmed it by email at 09:10. It sits above the membrane, so the membrane is not cut. Rang the surveyor at 09:15 to say so; no need to come back. Cost to follow.
Delays and problems
- Rain from 07:40 to 09:50, heavy at times. Pour held 1 hour. Rang the batching plant at 08:30 and moved the wagon from 09:30 to 10:30, before it was loaded. The pump was already on the road: on site 09:00, set up by 09:30.
- Cost of the hold, 09:30 to 10:30: 1 hour each for the 4 groundworkers and the banksman, 5 hours in all, and the pump stood for the hour. Separate from the duct. No concrete wasted.
Accidents, incidents and near misses
- 10:35, near miss. A neighbour walked behind the wagon on the shared drive as it reversed. Reece Ollerton, banksman, stopped the driver. Nobody hurt. Barrier put across the end of the drive and neighbours told the times. Reported to me at 10:40.
Sign-off
- Signedsigned
- NameDan Hollins
- Date7 September 2026
What a filled site diary shows
Who was on site, and for how long
Trades, numbers and hours, day by day.
What was done, and where
The work, by area, in plain words.
What arrived and who came
Deliveries with times and tickets, and every visitor.
What went wrong, and what it cost in time
The cause, how long, and who it held up.
Signed by the person who was there
Written at the time, not worked out later.
Two ways to keep your site diary
- Print the blank and keep it in the cabin
- Fill it in with a pen, in any weather
- Photos stay on someone’s phone
On your phone with Site Diary
- A day written on the day
- Photos on the rows
- A PDF and an issued copy
Site diary example questions
Are these real jobs?
No. Every job, company, person and reading here is made up. The days are set in real seasons, so the weather fits the date.
Why does the date matter?
A diary is read years later, in a dispute over time or money. Its worth is that it was written at the time.
What goes in every day?
Who was on site and for how long, what was done, what arrived, who came, what went wrong, and the weather.
Can I use one as it is?
No. Write what happened on your job. Use an example to see the level of detail.
Excel, Word or PDF?
PDF to read or print. Word or Excel to change the page.
Where is the blank?
On the site diary template, with your logo and sections.