Page 159 - Civil Engineering Project Management, Fourth Edition

13
The resident engineer’s

office records

13.1 Records and their importance

The records a resident engineer (RE) must keep are essential for deciding
what payments are due to the contractor and what claims and extensions of
time are to be allowed. They record the quality of the works as built and all
tests thereon. They keep track of progress and decisions made, the financial
expenditure and the probable final cost of the job. When the project is com-
pleted they provide details and drawings of all the works as built.
The records required come under four categories:

• historical – weekly reports showing progress of the work, a diary, and min-
utes of all discussions and decisions relating to progress and changes to
the work, and daily weather data;
• quantitative and financial – measuring quantities of work done, recording
facts about varied work and contractor’s claims, estimating expenditure to
date and probable final cost of works;
• qualitative – recording all observations of the quality of the work and materials
used, including nature of foundation materials, test results, test certificates
from manufacturers and suppliers; performance tests on completed works;
•‘as built’ records – record drawings of all the works as built, details of the
origin and quality of all materials used in the works, names of suppliers,
manufacturers’ instruction manuals for equipment, and the operational
instruction manual for the works as a whole.

13.2 The correspondence filing system

A correspondence filing system of the type outlined below is needed.