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Insight · Getting paid

Daywork sheets:
signed on the day, paid at valuation.

A daywork sheet is the record of instructed work nobody could price in advance. What it should hold, what the signature agrees to, how daywork rates are built, and how it reaches the valuation intact.

Published ·7 min read·Written by

An operative on a mobile tower working at ceiling level in a fit-out

A daywork sheet is how a contractor is paid for instructed work that could not be priced in advance. It is also the document most often argued over at valuation. Whether a sheet is paid in full is decided mostly on the day it is written: who signed it, what it names, and how soon it reached the other side.

What daywork is, and when it applies

Daywork values work by the time, materials and plant actually used, rather than by measurement. It suits instructed work that cannot properly be measured or priced from the contract rates. Making good after another trade, opening up to investigate a fault, attendance on a specialist and small reactive jobs are the usual examples.

RICS guidance treats daywork as the valuation of last resort. Significant or prolonged work should be measured and valued at contract rates, pro rata rates or fair rates. Daywork is for the short, unpredictable job where measurement would cost more than the work.

Under the JCT Standard Building Contract 2016, variations that cannot properly be valued by measurement are valued on a daywork basis under clause 5.7. Daywork is a way of valuing instructed work. It does not create the instruction, which is why the paperwork starts before the work does. The wider question of instructions is covered in getting paid for variations you were told to get on with.

A daywork sheet signed before the work starts

The strongest daywork sheets carry two signatures. The first is on the request, before anybody picks up a tool. The client’s representative signs a short description of what is to be done, where, and who asked for it. That turns a conversation in a corridor into an instruction with a name and a date on it.

The second signature comes at completion, against the finished record of the day. Start and finish times should be compulsory before that signature can be taken. A sheet signed with the hours still blank is a signature on nothing in particular.

Both signatures belong to somebody who was there. A representative signing at the end of the week for work they did not see gives the other side an easy question at valuation.

What a daywork sheet should record

A daywork sheet is evidence, and it is judged on how specific it is. Every sheet should carry:

  • The date, the job and the location. The floor, room or grid line, not just the site name.
  • The instruction. What was asked for, who asked for it, and any reference number the client uses.
  • Each person by name and trade. A headcount of “three operatives” invites an argument that a named electrician, plumber and labourer does not.
  • Start and finish times for each person. Hours without times are an estimate. Times recorded at the scan are a measurement.
  • Plant, with its hours. Separate working time from standing time, because contracts often value the two differently.
  • Materials, with quantities. Tie them to a delivery note or a store issue where there is one.
  • Outside labour. Hired-in or subcontract labour on the same task belongs on the same sheet, named in the same way.
  • Photographs or video. Before, during and after. This is the most persuasive evidence on the sheet.
  • The signature, printed name and position of the client’s representative, with the date it was signed.

A photograph of the opened-up ceiling settles in seconds what three emails will not.

What the signature on a daywork sheet agrees to

A signature on a daywork sheet confirms the facts: the work was done, and the people, hours, plant and materials recorded are accurate. It does not ordinarily agree that the work is a variation, that it will be valued as daywork, or what it is worth. The contract decides those questions.

That is why sheets often come back marked “for record purposes only”. It is a fair description of what a daywork sheet is, a record made at the time, and it takes nothing away from the record. Entitlement to payment comes from the contract as a whole.

The practical aim follows from that. Make the record so specific that nobody can argue with the facts, so the only remaining discussion is valuation. This is general guidance rather than legal advice, and the terms of your own contract come first.

Daywork sheets delivered while the work is fresh

Contracts that provide for daywork commonly set a deadline for delivering the records for verification. Read the clause in your own contract and build the routine around it.

The best routine is the simplest. The sheet is completed and signed on the day, and it reaches the office the same day. A sheet verified while everybody still remembers the work is verified quickly. Weekly batches collected on a Friday are the slowest route to payment.

How daywork rates are built

Daywork is priced as the prime cost of labour, materials and plant, plus percentage additions for overheads and profit. On building contracts, prime cost is usually defined by the Definition of Prime Cost of Daywork carried out under a Building Contract, published by RICS and the Construction Confederation.

Its third edition, operative from 1 September 2007, gives two options for labour:

  • Option A, percentage addition. The prime cost of labour at the time the work is done, plus a percentage for incidental costs, overheads and profit.
  • Option B, all-inclusive rates. Hourly rates that already include those allowances, fixed for the period of the contract.

Plant is commonly valued from the RICS Schedule of Basic Plant Charges. Electrical contracts and heating, ventilating and air conditioning contracts have their own RICS definitions, so M&E contractors should check which definition their contract names.

The percentages or all-in rates are normally set in the tender or the contract. Agree them before the job starts, not on the first disputed sheet. Then the office can price every sheet the same way, at the agreed labour rates plus the agreed addition on materials.

Prices added in the office, not on site

The person filling in a daywork sheet should record the work and never see the costs. Their job is names, trades, times, plant, materials and photographs. Pricing belongs in the office, where the agreed rates live and one person applies them consistently.

The client’s representative signs a copy that shows the work without the prices. That keeps the signature about the facts, which is exactly what it is for, and keeps cost rates between the firm and its own office.

Daywork under NEC contracts

NEC contracts do not use daywork. A change is a compensation event, assessed by its effect on Defined Cost plus the Fee, and usually priced as a forecast before the work is done. Defined Cost is set out in the Schedule of Cost Components, or the Short Schedule under the priced options.

The site record still matters under NEC. Named people, times, plant and photographs are what support Defined Cost for work already done, and they settle the same questions a daywork sheet settles under JCT.

From signed daywork sheet to the monthly valuation

A signed sheet is only worth something once it is claimed. A reliable process runs every sheet through the same stages: draft, submitted, approved, completed, and claimed in the monthly valuation.

Each stage has an owner. Site completes and submits. A manager approves. The office prices it and marks it complete. The commercial team claims it, with the signed sheet and its photographs attached to the application. A sheet that is approved but never claimed is work done and not yet paid for. A list of sheets by stage makes it impossible to miss. What the application itself needs is covered in an application for payment that does not come back rejected.

Where this touches the platform

On Unibuild, a day works sheet takes its labour hours straight from the clock-ins on that job. The named people and their arrival and leaving times come from the scan, not from memory. The client signs it on the phone on the day, against a copy without prices. Photographs attach to the sheet, and the office prices it at your agreed rates before it is claimed. The operative does all of this in your firm’s own app, published on the App Store and Google Play under your company’s name. Unibuild is bespoke construction management software in daily production since 2016, so the stages and the sheet follow the way your firm already works.

Day works from the clock-ins Variations signed on site Your own staff app Bespoke on a proven core

Where to start, this week

Take last month’s daywork sheets and check each one for four things. Named people with start and finish times. A photograph. A dated signature from somebody who was there. Delivery inside the contract’s window. The sheets that pass all four are the standard. Make every sheet next month look like them.

Sources

Checked against the source rather than against commentary. Where a schedule, a rate or a threshold is definitive on a government site, read it there.

Asked most often

The follow-up questions.

How a signed change becomes a variation and reaches the application is on variations signed on site.

What is a daywork sheet?
A daywork sheet is the record of instructed work valued on the time, materials and plant actually used, rather than by measurement. It names the people and their trades, their start and finish times, the plant and materials, and carries photographs. The client’s representative signs it to confirm the facts. It is then priced at the agreed daywork rates and claimed in the next valuation.
What should a daywork sheet include?
The date, job and exact location, and the instruction with who gave it. Each person by name and trade, with start and finish times. Plant with working and standing hours, materials with quantities, and any outside labour. Photographs or video. Then the signature, printed name and position of the client’s representative. The more specific the sheet, the less there is to argue about at valuation.
Who should sign a daywork sheet?
The client’s representative who saw the work, on the day it was done. The strongest sheets carry two signatures from that side: one on the request before work starts, and one on the completed record with start and finish times filled in. A signature from somebody who was not there, collected at the end of the week, is the weakest kind.
Does signing a daywork sheet mean the client agrees to pay?
Not on its own. A signature confirms that the work was done and that the hours and resources recorded are accurate. Whether the work is a variation, and how it is valued, is decided by the contract. That is why a detailed, well evidenced sheet matters: it settles the facts, so the only remaining discussion is the valuation. This is general guidance, not legal advice.
What does “for record purposes only” mean on a daywork sheet?
It means the signatory accepts the sheet as an accurate record of the work, hours and resources, without agreeing that the work will be paid as daywork. It is a fair description of what a daywork sheet is. The record still stands as evidence, and entitlement to payment comes from the contract as a whole.
How are daywork rates calculated?
As the prime cost of labour, materials and plant, plus percentage additions for overheads and profit. Labour is either prime cost plus a percentage, or an all-inclusive hourly rate fixed for the contract period. Plant is often valued from the RICS Schedule of Basic Plant Charges. The percentages or rates are normally set in the tender or contract, so agree them before work starts.
What is the Definition of Prime Cost of Daywork?
It is the document that defines what counts as the prime cost of labour, materials and plant in daywork on a building contract. The current edition, the third, was published by RICS and the Construction Confederation and became operative on 1 September 2007. It offers Option A, a percentage addition to labour, and Option B, all-inclusive rates. RICS also publishes separate definitions for electrical contracts and for heating, ventilating and air conditioning contracts.
How does a JCT contract deal with dayworks?
Under the JCT Standard Building Contract 2016, variations that cannot properly be valued by measurement are valued on a daywork basis under clause 5.7. The prime cost definitions and percentage additions come from the contract. Contracts that provide for daywork commonly set a period for delivering the records for verification, so check the exact wording in your own contract.
Is there daywork under an NEC contract?
No. NEC contracts do not use daywork. A change is a compensation event, assessed by its effect on Defined Cost plus the Fee, and usually priced as a forecast before the work is done. Good site records of people, times, plant and photographs are still what support the Defined Cost of work already carried out.
How quickly should daywork sheets be submitted?
On the day, wherever possible, and always inside the deadline your contract sets for delivering daywork records for verification. A sheet signed and sent the same day is verified while everybody still remembers the work, which is the quickest route to it being paid.
Should operatives see the costs on a daywork sheet?
No. The operative records names, trades, times, plant, materials and photographs, and the office adds the prices at the agreed rates. The client’s representative signs a copy that shows the work without the prices, which keeps the signature about the facts and keeps cost rates inside the firm.
What is the difference between daywork and a variation?
A variation is the change to the work. Daywork is one way of valuing it, used when the change cannot properly be measured or priced from the contract rates. Where the extra work can be defined in advance, pricing it before it starts and getting that price signed is usually the better route. Daywork suits the job nobody could scope until it was opened up.
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