Daywork Sheet
A site document used in construction to record the labour hours, materials, and plant used on work instructed and paid at daywork rates. The signed sheet provides a verified basis for billing time-and-materials variations and is required evidence at application for payment.
A daywork sheet is the primary record-keeping document for construction work carried out under daywork rates. When a contractor is instructed to do additional work that cannot be priced using the rates already in the contract, daywork provides a method of payment based on the actual resources used - labour time, materials consumed, and plant or equipment hired. The daywork sheet records those resources on a daily basis and is typically signed by the site supervisor or client representative to confirm accuracy before billing takes place.
What a Daywork Sheet Contains
A standard daywork sheet captures the contract or project name, the date, and a description of the work instructed. It then breaks down into three sections. The labour section lists each operative's trade, the hours worked, and the agreed hourly rate. The materials section lists each item used, with quantity and unit cost. The plant section records the equipment type, hours in use, and the hire rate applied.
Most contractors use carbonless duplicate or triplicate pads - NCR (no carbon required) forms - so that the client retains a signed copy on site and the contractor keeps a record for the office. The sheet must be signed on site before the operatives leave that day. Sheets submitted days later are harder to get signed without dispute, and an unsigned daywork sheet is vulnerable to challenge at application for payment stage.
How daywork rates are set
Most contracts price daywork using one of two approaches. Option A applies a percentage addition to prime cost - the base cost of labour, materials, and plant, with a markup for overheads and profit added on top. Option B sets all-inclusive rates at tender stage. The method used will be specified in the contract documents.
Daywork Sheets and Variation Claims
Daywork sheets are the supporting evidence for any variation claim priced on a time-and-materials basis. Under JCT and NEC contracts, daywork should be instructed in writing before work begins. Verbal instructions should be followed up immediately in writing - starting daywork without a recorded instruction puts the entire claim at risk if the client later disputes that it was ever authorized.
The total of signed daywork sheets feeds into the contractor's application for payment or variation order claim. Contractors who record daywork digitally - attaching resource records directly to the job or variation - avoid the paper trail problems that cause delays at final account stage.
Common in
Frequently asked questions
Ready to put this into
practice?
Book a free demo and see how Zigaflow fits your team.