Daywork sheets that get paid

What daywork is, and why it is so often disputed

Daywork is a way of valuing work by the resources it used, rather than by measured quantities and rates. It is usually reserved for work that cannot properly be measured and valued in the normal way: small, unpredictable or out-of-sequence tasks. Because it pays for time rather than output, the paying side reviews every sheet for padding, duplication and work that should have been measured. A daywork sheet has to stand up to that review on its own.

What a daywork sheet must carry

• Date, project and the exact location of the work
• The instruction reference that authorised the work to be done on daywork
• A clear description of the work done, specific enough to tell apart from measured work
• Labour: each operative by name and trade, with start, finish and break times
• Plant: each item by type and fleet number, with working hours, and whether it was hired or owned
• Materials: what was used, quantities, and delivery ticket or invoice references
• Signature or acknowledgement from the client’s representative on the day, with their name

The description is where most sheets fail. “Assisting other trades” tells a reviewer nothing. “Breaking out and removing redundant concrete thrust block found at chamber MH4, not shown on drawings, 2 operatives and 3t excavator with breaker, 09:00–14:30, per instruction CI-042” tells them what was done, why it is extra, and on whose authority. A dated photo of the obstruction before and after makes it far harder to argue with.

Why dayworks get rejected

• Submitted late

  A sheet that arrives weeks after the work asks someone to confirm what they no longer remember. Many contracts set a deadline for submitting daywork records; even where they don’t, late sheets get challenged.

• No instruction

  Daywork is normally only payable where the work was instructed to be valued that way. Without an instruction reference, the sheet records work nobody agreed to pay for on that basis.

• Unsigned

  A sheet nobody on the client side saw on the day is easy to dispute. A signature or acknowledgement fixes it as a record both sides had at the time.

• Vague descriptions

  “Assisting”, “making good” or “general works” could mean anything. If the reviewer can’t tell what was done, they can’t check it.

• Duplicating measured work

  If the work described is already covered by a bill item or the measured rates, daywork for it will be rejected. The description must show why this work falls outside what is already priced.

Each of these is a record-keeping failure, not a commercial one. Each is also far easier to prevent on the day than to fix at final account.

Prime cost, in general terms

Daywork is usually valued as the prime cost of labour, materials and plant, plus percentage additions for overheads and profit, or at agreed daywork rates. Contracts commonly point to a published definition for building up that prime cost: the RICS definition of prime cost of daywork for building work, and the CECA schedules of dayworks for civil engineering. These set out what counts as labour, materials and plant cost and what the percentages are meant to cover.

You don’t need to know the definitions by heart on site. You do need to know which one your contract or subcontract uses, and what records it expects: names and trades for labour, plant by type and size, and materials by invoice. A sheet that gives the commercial team exactly those details can be priced quickly and is much harder to cut.

The daily habit

The pattern is the same as for any other site record: make it on the day, make it specific, link it to an instruction, and show it to the client’s team while they can still check it. In Site Chronicle, additional work is linked to an instruction reference, the daily record carries the labour, plant and photos for the day, and the client’s representative can acknowledge it from a link. That acknowledgement confirms receipt but does not by itself constitute contractual acceptance, so where your contract requires signed daywork sheets, get them signed as well.

Related reading: the complete guide to site diaries, evidencing delay, disruption and instructions and records for JCT loss and expense.