​ A Daily Progress Report of a construction site is the day-to-day documentation of the progress achieved in an ongoing project usually consisting of staff contributions, material & equipment inventory and progress evaluation. It is the construction work progress report or log, formatted at the end of a day’s work which includes all data related to the progress of the project. ​

Why prepare a DPR?

​ The purpose of preparing a daily report is done to streamline operations, track usage of resources and keep the project on track. All project operations occurring on a construction site each day are identified and noted down in the daily project report. ​

A DPR is important to start the tasks and operations scheduled for the next day rapidly and more accurately. The point at which the previous tasks were left off and the resources & equipment required to continue with the previous tasks or scheduled operations can be figured out from a DPR. This helps managers and contractors to be aware of the project progress and be ready for the next day with the required resources. ​

A daily documentation of a day’s work is by far the most robust and useful project documentation technique that exists among manual forms of project management. This type of documentation can bear witness and confirm the individual or team responsible for each operation that has already been completed or is in process. DPRs help you to find the answers to the What, When, Why, Where of everything that has taken place on a construction site; the immediate and long term counter plans and actions that were taken in case of any setbacks ​

With the help of these daily progress reports the project managers can make their staff more engaged with the project goals and aid in accomplishing them within the given time and resources. Based on these reports one can record important information and personal notes on all employees and teams regarding their roles and achievements in a day. ​

​ How to prepare a DPR? ​

Conventionally, a daily project report(DPR) is prepared by drawing rows for each project variable in a manual logbook or using a single sheet of paper daily which is usually maintained by the site-in-charge. Each of these project variables can have its own set of parameters which can be filled up daily as per their usage or requirement. For instance, for a building construction in process, the amount of cement, fine aggregates and coarse aggregates used on-site each day is recorded in kilograms in a DPR. ​

Even the equipment used throughout the day and the time for which they were used along with unexpected malfunctioning in any of this equipment are also recorded. Many more factors based on the construction project that needs to be tracked and assessed to keep the construction project on the schedule are recorded in a DPR. ​

For tech-savvy people, construction daily progress reports can be prepared using MS Excel templates which are easily customizable according to project variables that need to be monitored and recorded daily for its unhindered progress. Also, there are several project management software available in the market which can be used for designing this kind of daily construction report template for free.

Contents of Daily Progress Report(DPR)

​ The daily progress report(DPR) format of a construction project mainly includes : ​

• Details about the different tasks completed which were scheduled for the day. If any task remains incomplete, the reason for it is recorded and the incomplete task should be adjusted in the coming days to avoid any extension. The time assigned for each task and the resources used for it is also included in the DPR.

• The quantity of all the materials used and its probable requirement for the next day, if there is any. In case there was a shortage of any material required on that day, then this shortage issue and its countermeasures are also recorded in the DPR.

• Any obstacles faced during the entire day which may or may not have influenced the daily progress are also added to the DPR. ​

• The logs of the overall staff contributions, their breaks in between working hours and everybody’s individual goals.

​ Daily Progress Report acts as a paper trail in identifying the responsible parties in case of any delays or discrepancies. Not only does a daily progress report for construction works help in saving time for a team meeting, but also assists the project to remain on track which is more cost-effective than daily meetings. ​

With the help of these daily progress report formats for civil works, the project manager or engineer is well informed about the completion of the previously prescribed tasks and is thus able to assign new tasks. Also, these reports come in handy frequently during employee evaluations and appraisals – as these reports contain data indicating an employee’s engagement during the project, skilled and unskilled labor count and efficiency of employees in completing tasks. ​

There are various firms/applications which provide you with an assortment of templates as per your conditions completely free of cost. From my perspective PowerPlay app fulfills most of the present-day construction progress report template demand.