You do not need a spreadsheet row for every snapshot on the job. You do need a way to find the sets that will matter later: before a pour, before a ceiling close, a monsoon afternoon, a punch item, a T&M condition. This template is a practical starting point for that list.

The working template is in templates/H7-09-photo-log-template.md. The longer habits are in “Job Photos You Can Find Six Months Later,” “Before-You-Cover-It Photos,” and “Photos That Support a Delay or Extra Work Claim.”

Procore can facilitate photos tied to a daily, a drawing, or a punch item. A dated folder in Google Drive or Dropbox, plus this log for the critical sets, does the same job, as long as the photos actually leave the camera roll the same day.

What is in the template

Each row is a set, not necessarily a single frame: date, time if it matters, area, what the set shows, why it was taken, who took it, the folder path, a link to the related daily, RFI, ticket, or punch item, and notes. Example rows are samples, not from a named client.

How to run it

  1. Get the photos off a personal camera roll the same day, into YYYY-MM-DD_Job_Photos_AreaOrTrade.
  2. Log the critical sets, especially before-cover-up and condition photos.
  3. Caption the important shots in plain language. A short caption beats a wrong one.
  4. Do not invent photos that were never taken.

If you want the folder and the habit set up, or photos filed as they reach the job file as part of a retainer, I can help. The files stay yours.

If you want help, not just a checklist

Some jobs run fine on a clean file and a superintendent who gives the log fifteen minutes twice a week. Others do not: revisions are moving fast, closeout is already behind, or the field simply has no hours left for paperwork.

That is where I come in. I set up the job file, run the logs on a retainer, or prepare closeout before the scramble starts. Your files stay yours, and there is no software contract to sign.

Email travis@builtonrecord.com Get the free Job File Kit