Record a two-minute voice note at the end of each shift, have AI turn the transcript into a fixed-format diary, and keep RFIs and snags in two logs that AI helps draft and chase. It costs a small electrical contractor roughly ten minutes a day per site and produces dated records for any later talk of delays and extra work.
The rule that keeps this safe: the assistant records what the note says and writes "not recorded" for everything else. A diary that has been tidied into something that never happened is worse than a messy true one.
The diary entry: what an electrical foreman should always cover
The example site belongs to a six-person electrical contractor (a foreman, four electricians and an apprentice) fitting out the electrics on a three-storey office refurbishment for a main contractor. Everything that follows is an illustration, with invented but plausible entries.
Diary guidance from construction lawyers and project-management publishers lists much the same categories: labour, work done, deliveries, instructions and conversations, delays and disruption, inspections, visitors and safety. The same sources agree on how to write the entries. Record what you saw or heard yourself, say who told you anything you did not witness, leave out blame and guesswork, and write the same day. The table turns that into a script for an electrical foreman.
| Field | What to say in the voice note | Why it matters later |
|---|---|---|
| Date, level and area | "Tuesday, level 2 east, ceiling void and riser" | Ties the entry to drawings and to the main contractor's programme |
| Labour | Numbers by grade, and anyone who left early or arrived late | Shows what you had on site when a delay or extra work is discussed |
| Work done, with quantities | "About 60 metres of tray; 14 of 22 outlet boxes in rooms 2.01 to 2.06" | Quantities show progress, and an "about" is honest |
| Deliveries | What arrived, when, what was short or damaged, who signed | Backs up claims about materials not turning up |
| Instructions received | Who, when, what was said, and whether it was verbal or in writing | The raw material for any later variation |
| Hindrances | Cause, who was affected, how long, where the crew went instead | Evidence of lost time, in facts rather than opinions |
| Inspections and tests | Who visited, what was tested, any comments | Proves what was checked and when |
| Health and safety | Toolbox talk topic, near misses, permits | Shows the controls in place that day |
| Visitors | Client, consultants, inspectors, supplier reps | Fills the gaps in who saw what |
| Tomorrow | The planned work, and what you need: access, drawings, answers | Starts tomorrow's hindrance record before it happens |
One day on level 2: from rambling voice note to diary entry
This is what a foreman actually says into a phone, with the names removed:
Tuesday, level 2 east. Four electricians and the apprentice, one of the lads
went home at twelve feeling rough so four of us in the afternoon. Finished the
tray runs in the ceiling void, about sixty metres, and got fourteen of the
twenty-two outlet boxes in rooms 2.01 to 2.06. Cable delivery came at ten,
signed for it, but they were two cartons of trunking short, told the driver,
supplier's ringing back. The ceiling grid wasn't up in zone C till eleven so
three of us waited about an hour and a half, moved them onto the riser. The
site manager told me at quarter past nine to move the sockets in 2.04 to the
opposite wall, said he'd email it, hasn't yet. Client's rep walked level 1 at
two, no comments. Toolbox talk this morning on working at height, no
incidents. Tomorrow more boxes on level 2, need access to 2.07 which is locked
and the revised drawing for 2.04.The instruction block in the project is short and strict:
Turn the voice-note transcript below into a site diary with these headings:
Date and area; Labour; Work done; Deliveries; Instructions received;
Hindrances; Inspections and visitors; Health and safety; Plan for tomorrow;
Not recorded.
Rules: use only what the transcript says. If a heading has no information,
write "not recorded". Keep the foreman's own verbs ("told me", not
"instructed"). Put any number you calculated in brackets and mark it
"calculated". Mark any instruction that could change the scope with
POSSIBLE VARIATION. No opinions, no blame, no weather unless stated.The assistant returns an entry like this (illustrative, trimmed):
| Heading | Entry |
|---|---|
| Date and area | Tuesday [date]. Level 2 east. |
| Labour | Four electricians and one apprentice in the morning. Four people in the afternoon (one electrician left at 12:00, unwell). |
| Work done | Tray runs in the ceiling void complete, about 60 m. 14 of 22 outlet boxes installed, rooms 2.01 to 2.06. |
| Deliveries | Cable delivered about 10:00 and signed for. Two cartons of trunking short; driver told; supplier to call back. |
| Instructions received | Site manager told the foreman at 09:15 to move the sockets in room 2.04 to the opposite wall. He said he would email it. Not received by end of shift. POSSIBLE VARIATION. |
| Hindrances | Ceiling grid in zone C not up until 11:00. Three electricians waited about 1.5 hours, then moved to the riser. (Calculated: 3 x 1.5 = 4.5 labour hours.) |
| Inspections and visitors | Client's representative walked level 1 at 14:00. No comments recorded. |
| Health and safety | Toolbox talk on working at height this morning. No incidents recorded. |
| Plan for tomorrow | More outlet boxes on level 2. Needs: access to room 2.07 (locked) and the revised drawing for 2.04. |
| Not recorded | Weather. Plant on site. Delivery times other than cable. |
Three things needed fixing during testing, and they are typical. The assistant first wrote "four electricians in the afternoon", but the foreman said "four of us", which may include the apprentice. The entry now says "four people", and the foreman confirms the split next morning. An early version of the prompt had the assistant write "instructed" for "told me", which turns a conversation into an order. And in the first week it wrote "Weather: dry and mild" on an entry where nobody had mentioned weather. The "not recorded" rule came from that.
Recording the note: a script, a quiet spot and a transcript
The foreman follows the same order each time, which is why the table above reads like a script: date and area, labour, work done with quantities, deliveries, instructions, hindrances, inspections and visitors, safety, tomorrow. Two minutes is enough. Four habits help the transcript:
- Record somewhere quiet. A van cab with the doors shut beats a corridor with a drill running.
- Say the date first, and read room and circuit references slowly. "2.04" and "2.14" sound alike.
- Name who told you what, and say whether it was in person, by phone or in writing.
- Give numbers as numbers: "fourteen of twenty-two boxes", not "most of them".
To get words from the recording, the simplest route is dictation: the microphone key on the phone keyboard fills a notes app or a chat window as you talk. The other route is to record audio and upload it. Google's help page for Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) says audio files such as MP3 and WAV are transcribed when you add them, that low-quality recordings may fail to import and that audio with no speech is not supported. A free account can hold up to 50 sources in a notebook. Either way, keep the original audio file with the diary entry. For wider guidance on photos and notes from site, AI in the construction field: photos, voice notes and punch lists goes through the same toolkit from a general contractor's side.
Unexpected instructions: flag possible extra work the same day
The most valuable line in the example diary is the one marked POSSIBLE VARIATION. An instruction given in passing, with no email behind it, is exactly how disputes about extra work begin. The flag does two jobs: it puts the instruction in a dated record, and it feeds a short watch list that the foreman checks each morning.
The assistant can draft the confirmation from the diary entry in seconds:
Hello [first name], to confirm our conversation yesterday at about 09:15: you asked us to move the sockets in room 2.04 to the opposite wall. Please can you confirm by email and issue a revised drawing. We will price the change separately and send it before starting. Kind regards, [your name]
Read it for tone. A confirmation is a record, not a complaint, and the assistant's first draft tended to add "as you are aware, this is outside our scope", which belongs in a priced change request rather than a confirmation. Contracts often set short deadlines for notifying changes or delays, so check yours and ask a qualified adviser what it requires. Pricing the change itself is covered in electrical change orders written with AI.
The RFI log: raise it, number it, chase it, close it
A request for information (RFI) is a formal question from one party on a project to another, typically from the contractor to the client's design team, and equally from a subcontractor to the main contractor. Published guidance says an RFI should carry the project details, who is asking, the date raised, what information is needed, the date a response is needed and any supporting documents. It also recommends keeping a schedule with the dates sent, due and answered, because those dates matter if a dispute arises. In many contracts, information that arrives late can support a request for more time or money, but that depends on the wording, so ask your adviser.
On a fit-out, an electrical subcontractor's RFIs usually come from one of five situations: drawings that disagree (lighting layout against ceiling plan), missing detail (containment routes, distribution board schedules), a specified product that cannot be had, a clash with another trade, or an access and sequence problem. Bid-stage clarifications and RFIs are a different exercise; this one starts once you are on site. The wider picture across all trades is in AI tools for construction project management: RFIs, logs and reports.
The log needs eleven columns, and a spreadsheet is enough:
| Column | Example |
|---|---|
| Number | ELEC-RFI-007 |
| Date raised | Date and time sent |
| To | The named person at the main contractor |
| Subject | Luminaire positions against the ceiling plan, rooms 2.03 to 2.05 |
| Drawing or specification reference | E-210 rev B and A-120 rev C |
| Question | One closed question |
| Proposed solution | What you will do unless told otherwise |
| Response needed by | Date, usually five working days out |
| Status | Open, answered, overdue, closed |
| Date answered | Date and a copy of the reply |
| Effect on work | What is waiting, and the diary dates it links to |
The assistant drafts the RFI from a diary note plus the references you type in. A trimmed example:
RFI ELEC-007. To: [name], [main contractor]. Date: [date]. Response needed by: [date]. References: drawing E-210 rev B (lighting, level 2) and drawing A-120 rev C (reflected ceiling plan). Question: the lighting layout shows linear luminaires in rooms 2.03 to 2.05 at positions that clash with the ceiling bulkhead on A-120. Which drawing governs? Proposal: we will follow the ceiling plan and move the luminaires 300 mm unless advised otherwise. Effect: lighting first fix in rooms 2.03 to 2.05 cannot be completed until this is answered; ceilings close in week 7.
The first draft contained two questions and cited "E-201", with the digits transposed. One RFI should carry one question, and every reference gets checked against the drawing register before sending. The chase is mechanical: a reminder two working days before the due date, and on the due date a message that names what is waiting.
Hello [first name], RFI ELEC-007 is due for a reply today. Lighting first fix in rooms 2.03 to 2.05 on level 2 is waiting on it. We need the answer by [date] to keep first fix on programme. Kind regards, [your name]
When a due date passes, the next diary entry records it under Hindrances in plain words: "RFI ELEC-007 unanswered; lighting first fix in rooms 2.03 to 2.05 on hold". That sentence, repeated daily and dated, is the link between the RFI log and the diary.
Snag list for a fit-out: items someone else can close
"Snagging" is industry slang for inspecting finished work and listing minor defects or omissions to be put right; some contractors call the result a punch list. Published guidance suggests keeping dated records, using photographs where useful, and noting any services that have not been tested yet on the list instead of leaving them blank. For an electrical contractor that last point is the important one: a circuit that was not energised at the walkthrough is "not tested", never "OK".
Each item gets one location, one defect and one action. A snag that needs two visits is two snags. The columns are number, location, defect, action, photo reference, priority, owner (yours or another trade's), date raised, date fixed and date checked. Here is a sample from a walkthrough of level 2:
| No. | Location | Defect | Action | Owner | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Room 2.04, east wall | Socket plate not flush; gap at top edge | Refix and level | Us | Low |
| 15 | Distribution board DB-2 | Circuit 7 label missing | Label and update the schedule | Us | Medium |
| 16 | Corridor, level 2 | Emergency light does not respond to test | Check supply and lamp; retest | Us | High |
| 17 | Riser, level 2 | Cable penetration not fire-stopped | Confirm whose scope; seal | To confirm | High |
| 18 | Room 2.03 | Trunking lid missing above door | Fit lid | Us | Low |
| 19 | Room 2.05 | Two luminaires out of line with ceiling grid | Realign after ceiling contractor adjusts grid | Others | Medium |
| 20 | Zone C ceiling void | Cable supports missing along a 3 m run | Add supports | Us | Medium |
| 21 | Handover pack | As-built mark-up of DB schedule not issued | Issue marked-up copy | Us | Medium |
The assistant earns its keep in three ways. It converts rough walkthrough notes into rows like these. It groups items by location, so a re-visit is one trip per room. And it writes the weekly summary the main contractor wants: items raised, closed, and open by owner. It must not decide that something is a defect or fix its owner. Closing an item takes a photo and a re-check, not a tick. For a fuller report layout, the snagging report template sets out sections and severity order.
A weekly progress note built from the same records
By Friday the diaries, the RFI log and the snag list already hold everything the main contractor asks for in a progress report. The assistant assembles it from those records only, with no memory or guesses, and the dates in it are copied from the logs:
Week ending [date], electrical package. Done: level 2 east tray runs complete; outlet boxes installed in rooms 2.01 to 2.06 except 2.04, which is on hold for the revised drawing. Next week: outlet boxes in rooms 2.07 to 2.12 (access to 2.07 needed); riser terminations when access allows. We need: access to room 2.07; revised drawing for room 2.04. Open RFIs: ELEC-007 (due Wednesday, holding lighting first fix in rooms 2.03 to 2.05). Hindrances: ceiling grid in zone C, about 4.5 labour hours lost on Tuesday. Possible variations: socket relocation in room 2.04 (written confirmation requested).
Check three things before it goes out: every number against the diary, every RFI date against the log, and the wording on hindrances, which should state facts and leave out accusation. If the contract requires formal notice of delay within a set period, that is a separate document for the person who handles contract administration, drafted with your adviser's input. For how delay updates work on a larger programme, see construction scheduling AI and programme updates after delays.
Updating your lines on the main contractor's programme
Most main contractors also want the electrical package's progress against their programme, usually as a look-ahead of the next two or three weeks. The same records produce it. Give the assistant your package's programme lines, the week's diary entries and the open RFIs, and ask for one row per activity: planned weeks, progress from the counted quantities in the diaries, the constraint holding it, and a forecast only where the records support one.
| Activity | Planned | Progress from the diaries | Constraint | Forecast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 2 containment and outlet boxes | Weeks 5 to 6 | Tray complete; rooms 2.01 to 2.06: 14 of 22 boxes (64%) | Revised drawing for 2.04; access to room 2.07 | On programme if both arrive by Monday |
| Level 2 lighting first fix | Week 6 | Not started in rooms 2.03 to 2.05 | RFI ELEC-007 unanswered | Not forecast until the RFI is answered |
| Riser terminations | Week 7 | Riser work begun on Tuesday by the crew moved from zone C | Riser access | On programme if access allows |
Two rules keep it honest. Percentages come from quantities someone counted, never from the assistant's sense of how the job is going, and "not forecast" is an acceptable entry. The assistant's first version of this table gave lighting first fix a finish date in week 7, although nothing in any record supported one, and that date would have reached the main contractor as a commitment. Your job is to report the facts and the constraint early; what changes on the programme is the main contractor's decision.
Where voice-to-diary goes wrong, and the checks that catch it
- Filled gaps. Weather, plant or times invented to complete a heading. The "not recorded" rule and a read-through catch it.
- Ambiguous headcount. "Four of us" turned into four electricians. The foreman confirms the split next morning.
- Misheard references. Room 2.04 versus 2.14, circuit 7 versus 17. Read references slowly into the recording, and look at them on the entry.
- Opinion creep. "Delayed by the slow ceiling contractor" instead of "grid in zone C not up until 11:00". The prompt bans blame, and a human reads every line that mentions another company.
- Late reconstruction. Entries written days later from memory are weaker than same-day entries, and a pile of them is obvious. The voice note takes two minutes at the end of the shift, which is the point.
Three routines keep the whole thing honest. The foreman reads and initials the entry the next morning. The audio, transcript and entry are stored together under the date. And once a week the assistant cross-checks the diary against timesheets and delivery notes. A typical result: diary says five people on Tuesday, timesheets show four plus an apprentice on half a day. Either the note was loose or the timesheet is, and ten minutes on Friday beats an afternoon reconstructing it at the end of the month.
Cost, setup time and a one-week trial
The set-up takes about two hours: a spreadsheet with three tabs (diary, RFIs, snags), the instruction blocks in a ChatGPT or Claude project, and a laminated card with the voice-note script. Running it takes roughly ten minutes a day per site once the habits settle: two minutes recording, a few minutes checking the entry, and the RFI and snag updates. That is my estimate from the steps above, so time your own first week. The options, at list prices as of October 2026:
| Option | Cost | Good for | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone dictation, a spreadsheet and a free AI plan | $0 | One foreman on one site | Free-plan limits change often, and everything is pasted by hand |
| A personal plan per foreman (ChatGPT Plus $20, Claude Pro $20 or $17 billed annually, Google AI Pro $19.99) | About $20 a month each | Two or three foremen | Each person's chats are separate, and personal plans have a training switch to check |
| A team plan with a shared project (ChatGPT Business or Claude Team, $20 to $25 a seat, two-seat minimum) | About $40 to $50 a month at the minimum | A firm with several sites | ChatGPT shares projects on every plan; Claude shares only on Team and Enterprise |
| Gemini Notebook for audio-to-text | Free account | Getting a transcript from a recording without typing | Poor audio may fail to import |
Run a one-week trial on a single site and pass or fail it on five tests. All five diary entries completed on the day. At least one RFI raised, numbered and chased, with the log up to date. Every snag from one walkthrough closed or carrying a date. Foreman time under 15 minutes a day. And the Friday cross-check against timesheets showing no unexplained mismatch. If you pass four or five, keep going. If you fail on foreman time, simplify the voice-note script before you blame the tool.
One privacy point: site records can include clients' premises and security details. Team and business plans from the main AI vendors leave your content out of model training by default, whereas on personal plans it is a setting you have to check. Choose the plan before you paste anything sensitive.
Questions electrical contractors ask about AI site records
Will an AI-assisted diary be accepted as evidence?
I cannot give legal advice, and it depends on your contract and who is judging. Construction lawyers' guidance stresses a same-day, factual record made by someone who was there. Keeping the voice note and raw transcript beside every entry, and having the foreman read and initial it, is my own precaution. Ask a qualified adviser about your contract's notice and records clauses.
Who should sign off the diary?
The foreman who made the voice note, preferably the next morning, in two minutes. Their initials show that a person who was on site checked the wording. Do not let the assistant's version replace the original recording: store the audio, the transcript and the finished entry together under the same date.
Does the assistant need the drawings to write a diary or an RFI?
No. A diary needs the foreman's words and a list of room or area names. An RFI needs the drawing numbers, revisions and the relevant text, which you type or paste. Check the contract's confidentiality terms before uploading whole drawing sets, and use a business plan if you do, since those do not train on your content by default.
What about weather, plant and timings the foreman forgets to say?
The entry says not recorded. That honest gap is better than an assistant guessing dry and mild. Put weather and plant on the voice-note script so they are said every day, and let a weekly check against timesheets and delivery notes catch the rest.
Further reads
- Construction Photo Documentation App: What AI Adds, and Which Plan — When photo folders need a proper app.
- Electrical Contractor AI: Setting Up Permit and Inspection Tracking — Track permits and inspection dates alongside the diary.
- AI for Building Contractors: Chasing Subcontractors and Progress Updates — Chasing other trades for progress and paperwork.
- Five AI Apps for Construction Site Work: Photos, Logs, Checks — Five apps for photos, daily logs and site checks, with the AI features each one lists, which plan carries them, and what four users would pay.
- AV Installation Checklist: Commissioning Tests and Punch List With AI — A grouped AV commissioning checklist with the tests to record, then AI steps for a room test sheet, a punch list from walkthrough notes and the sign-off page.
- Architect Site Visit Report: Notes and Photos to a Clear Report With AI — A worked notes-to-report example for architects: observation, instruction and action columns, photo captions, and a rule that keeps unseen items out.
- AI Tools and AI Development: The Complete 2026 Guide — the AI hub, including every tutorial in the AI-for-business series.
Sources: published construction diary guidance from a construction law firm and a project-management publisher; Designing Buildings wiki on RFIs and snagging; Google's Gemini Notebook help page on sources and audio; ChatGPT, Claude and Google AI pricing pages (October 2026). Figures in the examples are illustrations.