The email comes in three weeks after the job. The invoice was $31,400 and the proposal was $28,900. The property manager writes: "We never approved extra base repair, and your crew was only here a day and a half. Please revise."
You remember that job. The soft spots at the east entrance, the cars that weren't moved the first morning, the phone call where she said go ahead. What you remember doesn't matter much. What matters is what somebody wrote down on the lot that day.
What a daily log needs to settle a dispute
A daily log that backs you up is written by the foreman on the lot, the same day, and records facts someone else can check: who was there and for how long, what got done and where on the lot, how much material went down, what held the crew up and for how long, and who asked for what, with a name and a time. Photos go with it. A log like that turns "we never approved it" into a date, a time, a measurement and a picture, and most disputes end there.
The entries each dispute asks for
Every billing argument on a paving job comes down to a handful of questions. Build the log so it answers them before they're asked.
"Your crew was barely here." Who was on the lot, start and finish times, and breaks. A foreman's note that says "crew of 6, on site 6:40 a.m. to 4:15 p.m." answers it in one line. Hours clocked on the lot from the crew's phones answer it better.
"You didn't do that much." Quantities, and where. Not "paved the lot" but "surface course, north half, stalls 1 to 64 and the drive aisle to the light pole, 212 tons on 18 tickets." Count the plant tickets and keep them with the job.
"We never approved that." Changes, with names and times. What was found, how big it was, who you showed it to, what they said, and what happened next. If the answer was a phone call, write down the call. Then get it signed before the crew does it, because a note that says "she said go ahead" is evidence, and a signed change order is payment. Change orders on paving jobs covers how to get that signature without holding up the paver.
"Why is there a charge for waiting?" Delays, with start time, end time and the cause. "7:05 to 9:35, waited on 11 cars in the north row. Called the property manager at 7:10 and 8:15. Tow truck arrived 9:00."
"That's not what the lot looked like." Photos, before and after, from the same spots.
Photos that prove something
A phone full of random pictures of asphalt proves very little. A few habits make them count.
Before, from the corners. Walk the lot before the first truck and shoot it from each corner and each entrance. That's your record of cracks in the curb, the broken wheel stop and the sunken drain that were there before you arrived.
The problem, with a tape in the frame. A soft spot photographed from standing height is a dark patch. The same spot with a tape measure across it and a boot for scale is 20 feet by 12 feet.
The delay, with the clock visible. Cars in the row you were supposed to pave, taken at 7:05 a.m. Most phones record the time with every photo, so take it when it happens, not at noon.
After, from the same corners. Same spots as the before shots. When the customer says the lot looked better before, you can put them side by side.
A log entry that holds up, worked through
Here's the base repair from the opening, written two ways.
The version that loses the argument: "Did some base repair at the entrance. Customer OK'd it."
The version that doesn't: "East entrance: soft base in three areas under the old surface. Area 1: 20 ft × 12 ft. Area 2: 16 ft × 15 ft. Area 3: 10 ft × 16 ft. Total 640 sq ft. Photos with tape attached. Showed the property manager at 10:20 a.m. on site. Change order #2 for dig-out 8 in. and new base sent 10:35 a.m., signed 11:02 a.m. Dig-out started 11:15 a.m."
Check the arithmetic the way the customer's accountant will: 240 + 240 + 160 = 640 square feet. The numbers match the change order, the change order has a signature, and the signature came before the work. There isn't much left to argue about.
The waiting charge works the same way. Say your proposal says you bill standby time when the lot isn't ready, and the log shows 2.5 hours waiting on cars. Your illustrative rates are $52 an hour loaded for each of six crew members, $95 an hour for the paver and rollers together, and $105 an hour each for three trucks on hourly.
- Crew: 6 × 2.5 hours × $52 = $780.00
- Paver and rollers: 2.5 hours × $95 = $237.50
- Trucks: 3 × 2.5 hours × $105 = $787.50
- Total standby: $1,805.00
Without the clause in the proposal, the log only proves you lost the money. Without the log, the clause is your word against theirs. You need both.
Write it before the crew leaves the lot
A log written on Friday for Tuesday is a memory with a date on it. It's also the kind of thing that looks rebuilt when a lawyer or an insurance adjuster reads it.
Make it the last thing the foreman does before the trucks pull out. Five minutes, the same headings every day, the same order. The fixed headings matter more than the format, because a foreman who has to decide what to write won't. The night-before call and daily log for a five-person crew lays out a simple set of headings to start from.
If you correct a log later, add a dated note. Don't rewrite the original entry.
Facts, not opinions
Assume the customer, their lawyer or a judge might read every log someday. Write them for that reader.
- Write what happened, not whose fault it was. "Cars in the north row until 9:35" is better than "the property manager screwed up again."
- Don't guess. "Soft base in three areas, 640 sq ft" is a fact. "The whole lot's base is probably shot" is a guess that can be quoted back at you.
- Name people and times. "Property manager" plus a time is useful. "They" is not.
- Write down your own problems too. "Screed heater out 9:10 to 9:40, re-rolled joint at the north end." A log that only ever records the customer's problems reads like a case file, and people trust it less.
When the dispute comes
Answer with the log, not with what you remember. Pull the entries for the job's dates, the photos and the signed change orders, and reply in the same plain terms:
"The difference is change order #2 for base repair at the east entrance, $2,500.00. It was signed at 11:02 a.m. on June 16, before the work started. The measurements and photos are attached. The crew was on site June 16 from 6:40 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. and June 17 from 6:30 a.m. to 1:10 p.m."
That's $28,900 plus $2,500, which is the $31,400 on the invoice. When every line on the invoice traces back to a log entry, most customers stop asking.
Questions contractors ask
What should a paving daily log include?
The crew and their hours, the work done and where on the lot, tons placed with the ticket count, weather and conditions, delays with start and end times, any changes with names and times, and before and after photos.
Who should write the daily log?
The foreman, on the lot, before the crew leaves. The person running the work knows what happened, and a same-day entry is worth far more than one written later from memory.
Can I bill a customer for standby time?
Generally only if the proposal or contract says you can, and only for time you can show. Put the standby terms in the proposal, and log each delay with start and end times and the cause.
Do photos need to be timestamped?
Most phones record the time with every photo, which helps. What matters more is taking the photo when the thing happens, with a tape measure or a landmark in the frame when size matters.
Where Pavr fits
Pavr is job management software for paving, sealcoating, striping and concrete contractors. The crew clocks in on the job from their phones, and the foreman's daily log goes on the job the same day, with photos, material used and punch list items. With no signal at the back of the lot, the log saves on the phone and goes up when signal comes back. Extra work goes on the job's map as a change order with the photo attached, and the customer signs it from the email before the work starts.
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