The minimum field record
- Arrival and departure — when the crew was actually on site.
- Conditions found — especially anything that contradicts what was estimated.
- Work performed, in plain language a non-tradesperson could follow.
- Photos: before, of anything that will be concealed, and after.
- Materials used, including anything bought on the day.
- Issues, delays and customer conversations that affect scope or expectations.
- Completion evidence and, where used, a customer signature.
Photograph what will disappear
The most valuable photograph on any job is of something that is about to be covered up. Behind the wall, under the deck, above the ceiling, beneath the roof surface. Nobody argues about visible work; disputes happen about what nobody can see any more.
It costs fifteen seconds and it is the closest thing to insurance you can generate yourself.
Capture at the point of work
Documentation written at the end of the day is compressed, generic and partly wrong — not through dishonesty, but because detail decays within hours. Notes written at the moment describe conditions, decisions and conversations that will not be recalled later.
This is the practical case for voice capture: a technician will speak two minutes of detail into a phone while standing in front of the work, but will type four words about it at 6pm.
History has to be attributed
Every entry should carry who made it and when. An unattributed history cannot answer the questions histories exist for: who saw this, who decided that, who was on site the day the damage was noticed.
It also protects your people. A record that shows exactly what a crew reported is the best defence against a claim invented after the fact.