How to document weather delays in construction

When weather stops work, the record you make that day matters more than anything you write weeks later. This guide covers what contractors commonly keep, in the order that is easiest to do on a busy job. It is general information, not legal advice, and your contract comes first.

Start with your contract

Before the first bad day, find the weather and delay language in your contract. Look for:

• how it defines a weather delay, or a day lost to weather
• any weather numbers it gives, such as rainfall, temperature or wind
• how many weather days per month the schedule already allows, if it says
• how and when you must give written notice, and who must receive it
• what records it asks you to keep

Contracts differ a lot. If any of this is unclear, ask whoever manages the contract before you rely on it.

Write a daily record

Make one entry for every working day, bad weather or not. A day with no problems is useful too, because it shows what a normal day looked like. Each entry can cover:

• the date, and the weather you saw at the site, including when rain or wind started and stopped
• the work you planned and the work you did
• the crews and equipment on site, and whether they were sent home or kept waiting
• who you told about the problem, how (call, text, email) and when

Write plain facts. Leave out opinions and blame.

Take dated photos and video

A photo of standing water, damaged material or an idle crew shows conditions better than a sentence. Make sure each photo carries its date and time, and note where on the site it was taken. Keep the original files.

Record what the delay affected

Weather on its own is only part of the picture. Note which activities could not go ahead and for how long. If you keep a schedule, note whether the stopped work was on the critical path, which is the chain of tasks that sets the finish date.

Whether it rained and whether the finish date moves are separate questions. Your contract decides how a day lost to weather is handled.

Back it up with official weather observations

Your log shows what you saw at the site. Official observations show what a weather station recorded. NOAA publishes daily observations from stations across the United States, including rainfall, high and low temperature, and wind. You can look them up yourself in NOAA Online Weather Data, a National Weather Service tool. It labels its figures preliminary, so read its questions and answers before you rely on one.

Use the station closest to your site that has a complete record for the month, and write down its name and how far away it is. A station can be miles from the job, so conditions there can differ from conditions at your site. That is why your own log still matters.

WeatheredOut does this lookup for you. It finds the nearest station with enough complete data, shows its name and distance, and lists the days that potentially meet the rules you entered, with the reason for each.

Give notice the way your contract says

If your contract asks for written notice of a delay, send it in the form and within the time it states. Keep a copy and proof of how and when you sent it. The guide on writing a weather delay letter has an outline.

Pull it together each month

At the end of each month, put the pieces in one folder: the daily logs, the photos, the notices you sent, and a summary of the weather days with the source of the weather data. A month is a convenient unit because a weather allowance, when a contract has one, is often stated per month. The guide on calculating weather days shows how to count them.

Common questions