Site logbook

The site logbook and its names across the region: what to record, who signs and what gives an entry evidentiary weight.

8 articles

Victorian oil painting of a formal visit: a woman in mourning dress hands a sealed letter to an elderly man seated at his writing desk, the day’s papers open on its leaf

The site logbook and service orders in Argentina: the record that decides arguments

In Argentina the site record is built from the inspection's service orders and the contractor's request notes. How the circuit works and why it decides disputes.

by Felipe Arancibia

Oil painting of an old man with a long beard in a red robe, reclining in his armchair by lamplight, calmly reading a document beside a row of ring binders

The site logbook in Colombia: what to record and why it decides disputes

In Colombia the site logbook is mainly a contractual requirement. What to record, who signs and why it is the document that decides disputes at settlement.

by Carlos Pérez (Comandos)

Japanese woodblock print in burnt orange, indigo and cream; a carrier pigeon crosses a sky of rolling clouds with a rolled sheet of paper tied to its feet, and below it rises the concrete frame of a building under construction with its tower crane

The site logbook in Chile: what the OGUC requires and who signs each entry

In Chile the libro de obras is compulsory and forms part of the official project file. What the OGUC requires, what the cover page must carry and who may write in it.

by Felipe Arancibia

Japanese woodblock print in black, orange and blue ink on fibrous paper; a clipboard holds a plate of a construction site — tower crane, scaffolding and workers among stacks of beams, planks and bricks — framed by a fret border, over a background of concentric waves

Time extensions on Mexican public works: how to request one and what backup it takes

In Mexico a time extension is formalised through a convenio, and it is won or lost on the backup gathered at the time. What to document and how to file it.

by Carlos Pérez (Comandos)

Japanese woodblock print of a row of documents pegged on a line like drying laundry, each stamped with a large circular seal; beneath them a small figure in a hard hat walks past carrying a lantern, inspecting them, against a geometric lattice background in indigo, burnt orange and cream

Giving your site logbook evidentiary weight: folios, signatures and certain date

What turns a site record into evidence: tamper-evidence, sequential folios, certain date and acknowledgment by the parties. Plus the contract clause that holds it all up.

by Carlos Pérez (Comandos)

Edwardian pen-and-ink and watercolour illustration of a colossal site logbook standing open like a folding screen in the middle of a construction yard; on the left a resident engineer in a hard hat writes on his page and on the right, mirrored, a supervisor writes on his, neither seeing the other, with scaffolding and a half-built wall behind

The site logbook in Peru: what changed with Law 32069 and the cuaderno de incidencias

In Peru the cuaderno de obra became the cuaderno de incidencias under Law 32069. What changed, who records entries and what each entry must contain.

by Felipe Arancibia

Vintage colored-pencil illustration on tan paper of a notary's office; a clerk in shirtsleeves presses an oversized seal press onto a large sheet, and the impression the seal leaves is the outline of a building under construction with a small crane, between tall stacks of ledgers, an inkwell and pens

The construction logbook in Mexico: what the law requires and how to keep it error-free

In Mexico the bitácora is mandatory on federal public works and kept in BESOP. What the law requires, who signs and which mistakes void a note.

by Carlos Pérez (Comandos)

Vintage editorial engraving of a colossal site logbook lying open on a wooden lectern, its pages the size of a field; on the right-hand page a tiny surveyor in a hard hat measures the ruled lines with a theodolite, and a half-built structure rises behind

What the site logbook is: a guide for site engineers in Latin America

The formal instrument of communication between the parties to a construction contract. What it is, who signs it and what it is called in each country.

by Carlos Pérez (Comandos)

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