Two templates: a daily log and an evidence manifest
The two documents I most wish I had kept from day one. Both fit in a notes app. Both take two minutes a day.
Where this comes from
My project record
Everything on this site that has a date and a document behind it came from records like these. Everything that says “date being confirmed” is a day I did not write down. Use the templates; adapt the columns.
Daily log
One line per day the project is active, including days nothing happens. Nothing happening is a fact worth recording when a crew is late.
- Date
- Who was on site (company, how many, names if given)
- Equipment on site (yours, theirs, rented, and who is paying for it)
- What was done, in one sentence
- What was said: any promise, date or instruction, and by whom
- What you paid or were asked to pay
- Photos taken (file names or IDs)
- Open issues carried to tomorrow
Example entries
- Aug 27: No crew. Text from L&G contact 8:29 AM: crews behind, lift will be there “Monday at latest.” Install had been set for Sat Aug 29. Lift rental confirmed for delivery Fri.
- Sep 3: Crew arrived AM, started standing frame. Telehandler on site (mine, day 6 of 7). Photos P-04, P-05.
- Sep 4: Crew on site. Found stub-ups leaning and gouged, tread marks on slab. Photos P-06 to P-08. Texted company with photos.
Evidence manifest
One row per document, photo or message. Add rows as things arrive; never renumber.
- ID (P-01, M-01, C-01: photos, messages, contract documents)
- File name as stored
- Date created, and how you know (EXIF, time stamp, postmark)
- Source (your phone, the company, the county, the bank)
- What it shows, in one neutral sentence
- Public or private (bank details and addresses stay private)
- Which claim or timeline entry it supports
Rules that keep both useful
- Write what happened, not what you think of it. The opinions go somewhere else.
- Never edit an old entry; add a new one that corrects it.
- Back both up somewhere that is not your phone.
- When you hand the folder to an attorney or the licensing board, the manifest is the first page and the log is the second.
Why a customer wrote this
In February 2026 I signed a $98,750 contract with L&G Building & Concrete of Asheboro, North Carolina. By September I had a cracked slab, damaged plumbing and half a steel frame. This site documents it, with the contract, photos, texts and public records. The resources exist so the next buyer does not need to learn the same things the same way.
General information from one customer’s experience and research. Not legal, engineering or financial advice.