Free daywork sheet template for UK construction
Use this as a digital alternative to a blank Word, Excel or NCR daywork sheet. Fill it in on a phone or computer, let the totals calculate as you go, then print or save the finished record as PDF.
Prefer paper on site? The one-page A4 landscape template is free, needs no account and includes a QR code back to this digital sheet.
What should a construction daywork sheet include?
Daywork is commonly used to value work by the labour time, plant and materials actually used. The useful record is the one made while the details are still available: what was instructed, where the work happened, what resources were used, and who reviewed the record.
- Project, sheet number, date and location so the record can be tied back to the right job and area.
- Instruction reference and who gave it using the reference you actually have, such as a site instruction, drawing change, email or other record.
- Description of the extra work written clearly enough for the office to understand what happened without rebuilding the story later.
- Labour with the operative or trade, hours, rate and calculated value you enter.
- Plant with the item, time or quantity, rate and calculated value you enter.
- Materials with the item, quantity, rate and calculated value you enter.
- Any percentage additions you choose to record kept visible rather than hidden inside another rate.
- Site acknowledgement with the signer details and date, while keeping clear that acknowledgement does not automatically decide contractual entitlement or value.
This free tool totals the quantities and rates you enter and can show optional labour, plant and material percentage additions when you enter them. CertKeep does not decide whether those percentages apply under your contract, which rates are valid, or whether an instruction creates a payable variation.
Why the acknowledgement matters
A contemporaneous acknowledgement can help show what was recorded on the day. It should not be treated as an automatic promise to pay. Your contract, the authority of the person signing and the surrounding facts still matter.
Read what a signed daywork can evidence, and what it does not automatically establish →
What evidence should you keep with a daywork?
The right evidence depends on your contract and process, but useful supporting records can include the instruction or email reference, the signed daywork PDF, site photos, delivery or supplier records and other documents that help explain what happened. A photo on its own does not establish contractual entitlement, so keep the underlying instruction and commercial record as well.
Fictional daywork example
Imagine a drylining subcontractor is asked to form an extra bulkhead around a late services change. The supervisor records instruction reference SI-27, the location, two operatives at 6.5 hours each, one access tower for the shift and the additional board and metal used. The record is completed while the details are still fresh and acknowledged on site.
The daywork itself does not decide whether the work is contractually payable or which rates apply. It gives the commercial team a contemporaneous record to connect to the instruction, supporting evidence, variation and later payment application. If the change is priced at £3,250, later submitted at £3,480 and eventually assessed at a different value, those stages should remain visible instead of overwriting the earlier position.
Need to keep every extra, not just one sheet?
Saved Dayworks keeps projects, numbered dayworks, recorded values and the commercial statuses you enter in one private register. Free includes one saved variation and one payment application at a time. Pro adds private PDF/photo evidence, more live records, Payment Schedule and follow-up. Download a saved application's supporting summary, evidence index and linked files in one ZIP, up to 100 files / 25 MB. External approval links are not available. CertKeep does not create contractual applications or notices.
CertKeep is an organisational tool, not legal or contractual advice. Check the relevant contract and your own commercial procedures.