Site visit report: 8 ways to automate

What a site visit report covers

A site visit report is the written record of a visit to a site: who went, why, what they saw, who they spoke to, and what needs doing as a result. It might be a contractor's manager visiting a building site, a client checking progress, a surveyor, an area manager visiting a branch, or a facilities lead checking a contractor's work. Some teams call it a site inspection report. Whatever the name, the job is the same: turn a walk round into a list of actions with names and dates.

A site visit report is different from a daily site diary or a workplace safety walk. A diary is kept by the people on site every day. A safety walk looks for hazards. A site visit is made by someone who is not there every day, so the report has to stand on its own for people who were not there.

Where the UK rules come in

On construction work, the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 put monitoring at the centre. Regulation 13 says the principal contractor must plan, manage and monitor the construction phase so that, as far as is reasonably practicable, the work is carried out without risks to health or safety. HSE's guide to principal contractor duties adds that the construction phase plan must be regularly reviewed and revised. Visits from managers and clients are one of the ways that monitoring happens.

Regulation 24 only applies in one case: when an inspection of an excavation under regulation 22, or of a cofferdam or caisson under regulation 23, finds the work cannot be carried out safely. The inspector must then tell the person it was done for before the end of the shift and give them a report within 24 hours. Regulation 24(1)(b) lists what that report must hold: the location, a description of what was inspected, the date and time, any risk found, the action taken, any further action needed, and the name and position of the person making the report. It does not cover an ordinary visit, but it is a good model for what any site visit report template should ask for. Outside construction, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations require employers to have arrangements for planning, control, monitoring and review, and to record them if they employ five or more people.

What makes a report useful

A report that says "site generally tidy, some issues" helps nobody. A useful one says what, where, who and by when, and the next visit starts by checking those actions. The versions below start with the basic visit record and add photos, signatures and follow-up one at a time.

#1 - The visit record

Who it's for: One person visiting a site and writing it up.

What it is: A visit record is one site visit, on a phone. It asks which site and why you are visiting. Eight checks cover what you saw: signing in, progress, quality, protected edges, welfare and first aid, storage, safe working, and last visit's actions. Then who you met and the findings and actions, one per line. The report is written on site, not back at the office.

In practice: A small building firm's owner visits a kitchen extension his team is building. He opens the report in the van, ticks the checks as he walks round, and notes that the skip is overfull and the steel delivery is a day late. He writes both as actions with names before he drives to the next job.

Why it works: The eight checks make you look at the same things on every visit, so a quick visit still covers the basics. Writing the report on site means it is finished before the next job pushes it out of your head.

The common failure is the report written from memory that evening. Details go, and actions turn into "talk to Dave about the skip". With each finding written as an action with a name while you are standing on site, the report goes out the same day. When an excavation inspection finds the work unsafe, regulation 24 asks for a report within 24 hours. The same day is a good habit for every visit.

Steps included:

• 1 text input (which site)
• 1 text input (why you are visiting)
• 1 checklist (8 checks on what you saw)
• 1 text input (who you met)
• 1 text input (findings and actions)

When to upgrade:

1. Someone else makes the visits
2. People off site need to see what you saw
3. The site manager has to accept the actions
4. You visit the same site again and again

#2 - With guidance above the checks

Who it's for: Teams where several managers or surveyors visit sites.

What it is: The same report, with two guidance panels above it. The first says how to run the visit: sign in, start with the site manager, then walk the whole site including welfare and stores. The second says how to write an action: what, where, who and by when, one per line, and to raise anything dangerous before leaving. Every visitor writes the same kind of report.

In practice: A housing association sends three surveyors to visit contractors fitting new kitchens. One is new. He reads the panels, starts with the site manager, and writes "Flat 6, worktop not sealed by sink, contractor to seal by Friday" instead of "some finishing needed".

What it adds to the previous template:

1. How to run a visit, in the same order every time
2. How to write an action someone can do
3. What to do about danger before you leave

Why it works: The panels put the method in front of the visitor at the moment they need it. Reports from different people can be read side by side, because they cover the same ground in the same way.

The usual problem is a report full of observations with no actions. "Edge protection poor" is an observation. "Second floor, east side, edge protection missing, site manager to fix today" is an action. The second panel asks for the action form every time. It also says what to do about immediate danger: tell the site manager before you leave. The written report follows, but someone at risk should not wait for it.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance panel (how to run the visit)
• 1 guidance panel (how to write an action)
• The five steps from #1

When to upgrade: When people off site need to see what you saw (#3).

#3 - With photos of the site

Who it's for: Clients, managers and surveyors who report to people who were not there.

What it is: The guided report, with a photo step straight after the checks. The visitor takes a wide photo of the main work area, then one photo of everything that needs action. The photos sit on the same record as the checks and the actions. The people who were not there can see what the visitor saw.

In practice: A retail chain's project manager visits a store refit. She photographs the shop floor, a fire exit blocked by stacked boxes, and a ceiling tile left out. Head office sees the photos that afternoon and the fire exit is cleared before the store opens.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A wide photo of the work
2. A photo of every action
3. A dated view of progress, visit by visit

Why it works: A line of text says progress is behind. A photo shows how far. Photos also stop arguments about what was there on the day, because they are dated and on the report they belong to.

Take the wide photo from the same spot on every visit if you can, so a run of reports shows progress like a timelapse. For each action, take a close photo of the problem with something in the frame that shows where it is. If you photograph people, check the site rules first. Some clients and sites do not allow it. When the action is done, a second photo from the same spot closes it, and the next visit can check the pair rather than walk back to the spot.

Steps included:

• The guided report from #2
• 1 photo (the site and every action)

When to upgrade: When the site manager has to accept the actions (#4).

#4 - With signatures from both sides

Who it's for: Visits where the site must accept the actions.

What it is: The photo report, with two signatures at the end. The visitor signs that the visit happened and the report is accurate. The site manager signs that they have read and received the actions. The site cannot say it never saw the actions.

In practice: A facilities manager visits a contractor replacing a school roof. Before he leaves, he goes through the four actions with the contractor's site manager, who reads them on the phone and signs. Two weeks later, when an action has not been done, the signed report shows it was agreed.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A signature from the visitor
2. A signature from the site manager
3. A record that the actions were handed over before the visitor left

Why it works: An action written in an office and emailed later is easy to miss or dispute. An action read and signed on site is one the site has accepted.

Go through the actions together before you sign. It takes five minutes and catches the ones that are wrong or already done. The second signature should come from someone who can commit the site to the action, usually the site manager or their deputy. If they will not sign, write why in the findings and send the report anyway. Regulation 24 has the inspector of an unsafe excavation give the report to the person it was done for, and the same habit works on any visit: a signed copy on the record shows it was handed over. Both sides then work from the same list, with the same wording, until the next visit.

Steps included:

• The photo report from #3
• 1 signature (visited by)
• 1 signature (site manager)

When to upgrade: When you visit the same site again and again (#5).

#5 - With the last visit on screen

Who it's for: People who visit the same sites again and again.

What it is: The signed report, with a Pilla briefing on the "which site" step. Pilla looks up the last site visit report for the same site. It says when it was, who went, and every action not marked as done. Each visit starts with what the last one left open.

In practice: A regional manager visits eight sites a fortnight. At one, Pilla tells her the last visit left two actions open: a missing fire extinguisher in the cabin and a delivery route that crosses the pedestrian path. She checks both first. The extinguisher is back. The route has not changed.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. The last report for this site, before the visit
2. Every action still open
3. Who made the last visit and when

Why it works: A visit that does not check the last visit's actions lets them drift. The briefing puts them on screen at the start, so they are checked before anything new is added.

It also matters when visitors change. A different manager can pick up where the last one left off without reading old emails. Over a project, the briefing shows which actions come back visit after visit. Those are the ones to raise with the contractor's management, not only the site. The last check, "actions from the last visit have been done", is only honest when the visitor knows what those actions were. With the briefing, they tick it from the list, not from memory, and anything still open is written up again as an action.

Steps included:

• The signed report from #4
• 1 Pilla briefing of the last visit, on the "which site" step

When to upgrade: When every action needs a name and a date (#6).

#6 - With more detail when action is needed

Who it's for: Teams that need every action owned and dated.

What it is: The same report, with a Pilla rule on the findings and actions step. If the visitor lists any action, problem, delay or unsafe work, the next step opens. It asks who will do each action, the date it will be done, and whether any work should stop until it is. If nothing needs doing, the step stays out of the way. Every action leaves site with a name and a date.

In practice: A client's project manager visits a warehouse fit out and finds racking being built with no exclusion zone. The follow-up opens. She writes that the site manager will fence the area off today, that racking work stops until he has, and that the electrician's late start is the contractor's to fix by Monday.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A follow-up that opens only when something needs doing
2. Who does each action, and by when
3. Whether any work has to stop

Why it works: "Racking area unsafe" is a finding. "Site manager to fence it today, work stops until then" is an action someone can check. The follow-up asks for that while the visitor is still on site.

The stop question matters. Most findings can be fixed while work carries on. A few cannot, such as an unprotected edge or a missing exclusion zone. Asking the question every time means the visitor decides on site, with the site manager, rather than leaving it open. The regulation 24 report on an unsafe excavation includes the action taken and any further action needed. The follow-up records both for any finding.

Steps included:

• The report with the last visit on screen, from #5
• 1 Pilla rule on the findings and actions step
• 1 follow-up step in the chain (what needs doing)

When to upgrade: When the person running the project should hear about actions straight away (#7).

#7 - With a direct message about the actions

Who it's for: The person who set the site visit up.

What it is: When the follow-up step is filled in, Pilla sends a direct message to the person who set the automation up. It says which site, why the visit happened, who went, and each action with who does it and by when. A visit with nothing to do sends nothing. You hear about actions on the day of the visit.

In practice: A construction director has five managers visiting sites. He gets a direct message when a visit to one site finds work stopped on scaffolding until a tie is fixed. He rings the scaffolding firm the same afternoon. The other visits that week, with no actions, stay quiet.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A direct message after the follow-up step
2. The site, the visit and every action with a name and date
3. Nothing sent when nothing needs doing

Why it works: The person who visits is often not the person who can fix the contract, the programme or the supplier. The message joins the two up, and only when there is something to act on.

It matters most when work has stopped. A stopped job costs money every hour, and the person who can get it moving needs to know quickly. The message carries the stop question from the follow-up, so they can see which actions block work and which can wait. Set the visit up as whoever runs the projects, because the message goes to the person who set it up. They can pass it to a contracts or finance lead with the details already in it.

Steps included:

• The follow-up report from #6
• 1 direct message, sent when the follow-up is completed

When to upgrade: When the bigger risk is a visit that never happens (#8).

#8 - With a chase if it is late

Who it's for: Teams with a visit schedule to keep.

What it is: The same report, plus a chase if it is not finished by the deadline. Pilla messages you, the person who set it up, to get the visit done. A report finished on time does not trigger one. A missed visit is chased, not noticed months later.

In practice: A facilities team has a contractor visit due at each of its 20 sites every month. By the end of the month, three reports are not finished. You get a message for each and move two visits into the next week.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A deadline on the site visit
2. A chase when the deadline passes and it is unfinished
3. No message when the visit was done on time

Why it works: The rest of the report only helps if the visit happens. When people are busy, visits slip, and the sites that are not visited are often the ones that most need it.

Set the deadline to match the risk. A busy construction site with lots of trades may need a visit every week. A long, quiet maintenance contract may only need one a month. HSE expects the construction phase plan to be reviewed regularly, and visits feed that review. A visit that slips by a month leaves the plan a month out of date. Reports finished on time send nothing, so the chases you get are a list of the visits still to make.

Steps included:

• The report from #7, including the direct message about actions
• 1 chase if the visit is not finished by the deadline

When to upgrade: This is the full route. Use an earlier version if you do not want the message or the chase.

How to pick the right version

You don't need to know the product to choose. You need to know who visits, who reads the report, and how often the same site is visited.

Is it just you, or do several people visit?

If you make all the visits yourself, #1 is enough. Once managers or surveyors share the visits, put the method above the checks: #2.

Do people who were not there need to see it?

If the report is only for you, text is enough. If a client, head office or a contractor's manager reads it, add the photos: #3.

Does the site have to accept the actions?

If actions are agreed on site and you need proof, add the signatures: #4.

After that, the choice is about repeat visits and follow-up. If you visit the same site again and again, use #5. If every action needs a name and a date, use #6. If you want a direct message when there are actions, use #7. If the real risk is a visit that never happens, use #8.

Related workflows

• Workplace safety walk - a regular walk round to spot hazards
• Contractor sign in - recording who is on site and when
• Cleaning site survey - surveying a site before cleaning work starts
• Job completion signoff - confirming a job is finished and accepted
• Hazard spot - reporting a hazard as soon as you see it

Conclusion

A site visit report is the record of who visited a site, what they saw and what needs doing, written so the actions can be checked on the next visit. Start with the eight checks, add photos and signatures when other people need to see and accept the actions, and add Pilla when you visit the same sites often. Open any version in the playground and use it on your next visit.