When to write one
After a supervision visit, a meeting on site, a client walk-through or a check on a contractor instruction. If the purpose is to list defects for handover, write a snagging report instead.
The format
Keep the same order on every visit so readers know where to look:
- title block: site, client, report number, date, time on site, engineer;
- purpose: one or two sentences on why you visited;
- observations in sequence, each with a location and a photo;
- actions and who owns them;
- signature, with your registration number.
Writing observations
Write what you saw, not what you think caused it, unless you checked. "Water staining on the ceiling below the AC unit, approx. 300 mm wide" is useful. "Leak from the AC" is a guess.
Give each observation a location in the same format every time, and put any measurement in the sentence.
A table works best
Site visit reports read well as a table: number, photo, location, observation, action. One photo per row keeps the report short enough to read on a phone.
Send it the same day
A visit report sent a week later is history, not instruction. Finish it on site, sign it, and send the PDF before you leave the car park.
