The question this answers
What to write down when work on your home goes wrong
Owners and builders keep almost the same record, for different reasons. Most disputes about building work come down to dates nobody wrote down at the time.
The photographs taken before something is covered up cannot be taken again. That's the one entry on this page with a deadline on it, and the deadline is physical.
Whichever side you're on
- The quote as it stood when work started, kept whole.
- The dates work happened — and the dates nobody came.
- Every change agreed on site, written down the same day by whoever heard it.
- Photos of the same areas regularly, not only when something looks wrong.
- Every payment, with its date and what it was for.
- Messages left somewhere they keep their dates, rather than cleared off a phone.
If it's your home
- The date work was meant to start, and the date it did.
- What was said about the program and when — including what was said in person.
- The state each area was left in at the end of a day, where that matters.
- Anything you supplied yourself, and when it arrived.
- The date you asked for something in writing, kept separate from the date you got it.
If you did the work
- Your own site record: who was there, what was done, each day.
- The date each stage was reached, alongside the invoice that refers to it.
- Every variation, numbered, with the message or email that went with it.
- What you were waiting on, and the date you asked for it.
- Photos at the end of each stage — including the parts about to be covered up.
A checklist of what to record. It doesn't say what any of it means for a particular situation, and nothing here is legal advice.