All outstanding construction firms create various reports that contain a lot of important data. The main goal is to perform building projects on schedule and budget. Construction reports are files that compile details about the progress from order to order of the construction market players. They contain information such as stages of the work, essential processes, and events involved in the project.
It is impossible to define the term construction reporting in general. It goes without saying that there are various types of reports to take into consideration. They are generated both manually and with the help of cost estimating software or other solutions for automated data gathering.
4 Main Types of Construction Reports
Among the most widely-used reporting formats are four of them. You can see cost, progress, supply (materials), and market trends reports in almost any modern building company. Let’s take a closer look at each of the reporting types.
#1 – Cost Reports
Cost reports show financial information. These reporting sheets contain details about the expenses (such as materials, supplies, work/hours). For example, cost estimating software helps to compare a planned budget with factual disbursement. Sometimes it is the essential part of risk assessment and financial estimating at the very beginning of the projects (bids, tenders, etc.)
That is why it is critically important to receive cost reports timely to understand the real financial situation of the company in the context of the planned or ongoing building processes. This way you will be able to avoid serious expenditures or prevent other economic collapses.
#2 – Progress Reports
A progress report compiles the steps of development and the actual status of a project. It is performed at regular intervals to provide the details to contractors. They can check where they are under the timetable.
Progress report display the following items:
- supplies ordered;
- equipment delivered;
- estimated expenses;
- allocable expenses;
- scheduled work hours;
- completed work hours;
- money received;
- money due, etc.
If you use specific software to gather data entries for your progress/performance reports, it is possible to specify some scheduled and templated forms with constant (unchangeable) information and terms for the collection of new statistics and analytics. This way your estimators will not miss any details and will provide a comprehensive analysis of the labor, financial, and other areas of activities.
#3 – Market Trend Reports
These reports while compiling new trends in the industry provide presentations of modern technologies and products that can improve your projects. They display which tech solutions are the most effective among contractors (including your competitors in the niche and leading firms) today.
#4 – Reports on Materials
This reporting format also includes all the information about supply chains. Additionally, the reports on materials are about the data about construction supplies (the amount and quality of materials together with their prices).
Their main idea is to prevent a situation where there is a lack of finishes, blocks, paints, etc. This and other issues with materials can cause building project delays. The purpose of supply reporting is also to minimize overspending.
Why Is Construction Reporting Important?
You can use different options for construction reporting, but the main goal is to create a day-to-day and step-to-step control of all building and management phases. Do not neglect tech solutions and digital technologies to gather data entries for reports faster.
For instance, construction bidding software has helped you to get many projects, so you need reporting because it is physically impossible to remember all data of all projects. Remember that reports show the progress, weak spots, and tendencies for development at once.
So, you should also keep track of what’s happening at every phase. This means storing accurate facts about the workers, recording everything that happened during the construction steps, and so on. This report-driven strategy will help you to analyze the effectiveness of all processes and fix all changes made to plans and specifications.
