What it means
During a refurbishment, workers discover an undocumented service line and receive an instruction to expose it safely, but the quantity and method are not yet clear enough for a fixed variation price. Daywork may record resources while the issue is addressed.
RICS's NRM2 defines daywork as valuation based on contractor-team time, materials and plant, and the contract remains the authority for pricing and entitlement. Designing Buildings explains daily sheets and warns that a client's signature can verify site data without accepting the final claim.
Confirm the instruction first, identifying who may direct the extra work and how it is recorded, since an employee on site may lack authority to approve cost. Check whether daywork is appropriate at all, because if a measured quantity or agreed unit rate can value the change, that route may be clearer and daywork is not a default for every variation.
Find the agreed rates before the work, as labour grades, plant, materials and overhead or profit additions can follow a schedule or contract formula, and rates should not be invented after the work. A sheet should show project, instruction, date, location and description, because vague "extra work" entries are hard to verify.
Track labour by worker, trade, hours and relevant overtime, check whether breaks and travel are chargeable under the contract, and list materials with delivery or issue records, remembering that materials delivered to site are not necessarily materials used on the daywork task. Track plant by machine, hours and operating status, because a parked excavator may have a different contractual rate from one actively working.
Avoid duplicate charges for work already covered by the base contract or another variation, and clarify markup, since some contracts use all-inclusive rates while others add percentages to documented costs and mixing the two can charge overhead twice. Supervision may be included in rates or charged separately, and measurement units must match, as labour may be hourly, plant daily and materials by quantity, so a correct rate on the wrong unit produces the wrong total.
Site representatives should inspect resources contemporaneously, because reconstructing hours months later is weak evidence. A signature can acknowledge what was observed, but its legal effect depends on the contract and wording, so do not assume it approves entitlement.
If the client's representative disputes a quantity or instruction, note the difference promptly and preserve both records, and consider an approval cap or escalation limit if the contract and project controls allow it. Emergency works still need appropriate permits and competent supervision, and paying by time can reduce the direct incentive to finish quickly.
Daywork cost records do not automatically grant an extension of time, which follows separate notice and assessment rules, and sheets, instructions, invoices and rate schedules must be reconciled to the final account because a pile of signed sheets is not a complete valuation. For owners, daywork trades early price certainty for speed and flexibility, so watch subcontractor markup chains, switch to an agreed price once scope is known, and keep an issue log with budget-versus-actual forecasts.
In practice
Real-world examples.
Example
An unexpected pipe repair is instructed with labour and plant recorded on daily sheets. The site team lists each worker, the hours worked and the machine used. The sheets are matched to the written instruction before any invoice is raised.
Example
A site reviewer confirms hours observed but notes that payment entitlement remains under review. The signature acknowledges what was seen on site. It does not accept the final claim or the contractor's markup.
Example
A project manager stops daywork after the scope can be priced as a measured variation. A fixed price now gives the owner better cost control than open-ended time records. Future work is valued on the agreed rates instead.
Formula
Calculation
Illustrative daywork valuation = eligible labour hours x agreed rates + eligible materials + eligible plant, plus contract-permitted additions.
Worked example. Forty hours at an agreed $80 per hour gives 40 x $80 = $3,200 of labour. Add $2,000 of materials and $1,500 of plant, so the total is $3,200 + $2,000 + $1,500 = $6,700 before any permitted markup or tax. Check exclusions and entitlement, because the arithmetic does not decide what the contract allows.Case study
Seen in the real world.
Entirely fictional case: Orbit Hotels found unplanned wiring during a refurbishment. Its team issued a written instruction, checked daily labour and materials and kept the final value open until contract rates were reconciled. The case does not claim that signing a site sheet alone approved the variation.
Watch out
Common mistakes.
- Starting without a valid instruction or agreed valuation method.
- Treating a signed resource sheet as automatic approval of the final claim.
- Charging the same labour, plant or overhead twice.
Questions
People also ask.
What is daywork?
A contract method for valuing instructed work by recorded labour, materials and plant.
When is it used?
Often when extra work cannot readily be priced by normal measured or agreed rates.
How is it controlled?
Use authorized instructions, agreed rates, contemporaneous records and final-account review.
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