Daily reports that hold up in a delay claim
In the Court of Federal Claims cases below, the court relied on daily reports written the same day over later records and arguments.
In Slone Associates v. United States (Fed. Cl. 2023), when the daily reports written that day and reports rebuilt years later disagreed, and nobody explained why, the court credited the ones written that day.
More about Daily Report.
Slone Associates v. United States
No. 18-669C (Fed. Cl. July 14, 2023). A subcontractor's original daily report for August 30, 2011 showed one employee, a foreman, inspecting a turbidity curtain for two hours. A report compiled years later for the claim showed a laborer and a welder for four hours on the same day, and hundreds of reports had the same kind of mismatch.
The contractor's witness testified that one person can't safely run the boat and inspect alone, and the government did not dispute it. The court still credited the original daily reports, because nobody explained why they said one worker.
The court did not reject the later reports just because they were made years afterward. The problem was the conflict nobody explained.
K-Con Building Systems v. United States
131 Fed. Cl. 275 (2017). The court denied a weather time extension. The contractor did not submit daily logs showing how the weather affected the work in progress, and the government pointed to the contractor's own daily reports, which showed little or no work.
What to write down that day
- Who was on site, how many, and doing what
- Whether the work was base contract work or change work
- Equipment on site, and whether it was working or standing by
- Weather, and how it affected the work in progress
- Delays: what happened and what work it held up
How Daily Report keeps the record
- You sign the report the same day. Your name and the date and time are recorded on it, and so is the location when location is on.
- A signed report is not edited in place. A correction is a new signed amendment that names the version it replaces, and the original is kept.
- The amended PDF is marked as amended and names the version it replaces.
- Photos taken with the camera carry the time they were taken, and the location when location is on.
Questions
- Will a signed daily report win a delay claim?
- No app can promise that. A signed report written the same day is a record of what happened. How much weight it gets is up to whoever decides the claim.
- Can reports rebuilt later still count?
- In Slone, the court did not reject reports made years later just for being late. It credited the originals where the two disagreed and nobody explained why.
- How do I fix a mistake in a signed report?
- Sign an amendment. It is a new version that names the version it replaces, and the original stays with it.
- What does Daily Report cost?
- The app is free on iPhone and Android, with no account. Company plans are coming.
This page is general information, not legal advice.