Site Control: DPRs, Attendance, WhatsApp and Site Apps
Lesson 14 of 18 · 7 min read
A site produces information every day: who came, what was done, what arrived, what went wrong. If it is not recorded the same day, it is usually lost. Weeks later, when a bill or a delay is disputed, nobody can prove anything.
The daily records
| Record | What it holds | Who fills it |
|---|---|---|
| DPR (daily progress report) | Work done by location, labour and equipment counts, photos, blockers | Site engineer |
| Labour attendance | Names or counts per thekedar, per trade, per day | Site engineer or supervisor |
| Material register | Receipts (GRNs), issues, balance | Store keeper |
| Measurement | Quantities done, by BOQ item and location | Site engineer, checked jointly |
| Quality checks | Pre-pour checks, cube tests, pressure tests | Site engineer, consultant |
| Issues and RFIs | Drawing queries, decisions needed | Anyone, closed by the right person |
The WhatsApp-run site
Many Indian sites run on WhatsApp groups. It is easy to see why:
- Everyone already has it. No training needed.
- Photos, voice notes and PDFs go out in seconds.
- The owner can see progress from anywhere.
But it has real limits:
- No structure. A DPR is a photo and a line of text. Next week, nobody can total the labour days.
- Lost in the scroll. A drawing revision sent on Tuesday is buried by Friday.
- No status. An issue raised has no owner and no "closed".
- Personal phones. When a site engineer leaves, his chats leave with him.
A worked example: attendance
A masonry thekedar bills for 26 working days x 10 labourers = 260 man-days. The site's own attendance register, kept daily, shows 238 man-days. At ₹700 per man-day (illustrative), the gap is 22 x ₹700 = ₹15,400 on one bill.
If attendance lived only in WhatsApp photos of the gang, proving the gap would take days of scrolling, and might not be possible at all.
Site apps and ERPs
Site apps put the same records into structured forms on the phone: DPR fields, attendance counts, indents and GRNs, issues with owners and status. Reports can be totalled and searched.
- Site and project apps commonly seen in India include Powerplay and Onsite. International platforms include Procore and Forma Build (formerly Autodesk Build).
- ERPs like SAP, or real-estate ERPs such as Farvision, link purchase, stores, accounts and sometimes billing on larger companies' projects.
- Accounting on many small and mid-size firms runs on TallyPrime.
These are examples, not a ranking. Choose by your site's size, your team's habits and what your clients ask for.
What makes site records stick
- Same day, every day. A DPR filled next morning is half-remembered.
- One place. WhatsApp for talking, a register or app for records.
- Short forms. If a DPR takes 20 minutes, it will be skipped.
- Someone reads it. If the owner or PM never looks, the site engineer stops filling it.
What comes next
Module 6 covers the last stretch: interiors, the modular factory, and handover.
Key takeaways
- Record DPRs, attendance, material, measurement, quality and issues the same day.
- WhatsApp is fast and familiar, but it has no structure, status or ownership.
- In the example, a daily attendance register saved ₹15,400 on one thekedar bill.
- Site apps and ERPs turn daily records into searchable, totalled data.
- Records stick when forms are short, filled daily and actually read.
Verify on site
- Keep a daily attendance count per thekedar and match it before paying.
- Move drawing revisions and decisions out of chat into one register or app.
Check your understanding
3 questions. Answering them marks this lesson complete — results stay on your device.
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