The site logbook in Peru: what changed with Law 32069 and the cuaderno de incidencias
Last reviewed: Regulations change: the text is checked against the official source at each review.
The cuaderno de obra is the document where the resident engineer and the supervisor or inspector record, in sequential entries, the relevant events that occur during the execution of a construction project. With the entry into force of Law 32069, Peru's General Public Procurement Law, the instrument was renamed the cuaderno de incidencias — the incident log — and its scope was broadened.
Note: Peru’s public procurement regime is in transition. Law 32069 and its regulations replaced the previous framework, and the OECE has been issuing complementary directives. Verify the rules in force and the provisions applicable to your contract before making decisions.
If you work on Peruvian public projects and still call it the cuaderno de obra, you are not alone: the term is so entrenched that it will coexist with the new one for years. But the rules changed, and it pays to understand what changed with them.
What it was before
Under the previous regime, the cuaderno de obra was a physical document. The inspector or supervisor, or the resident engineer, recorded in sequential entries the relevant events occurring during execution, as well as any requests arising from those events.
That physical format carried well-known problems: loss, tampering, torn-out pages, illegible entries or records made by unauthorized people meant relevant information was simply missing during execution and oversight. Peru’s Comptroller General flagged it repeatedly: when the resident engineer and the supervisor omit entries, the outcome of the risk assessment and the project’s events go unrecorded, which can prevent preventive or corrective measures from being taken.
Out of that came the Digital Site Logbook, approved by directive of the then-OSCE in 2020, which digitized the instrument and defined access profiles: the resident engineer could record entries and consult information; the inspector and the supervisor could additionally upload images of entries made in the physical logbook where its use was authorized. The logbook opens on the date the site is handed over, with the resident engineer’s first record.
What it is now
With Law 32069 and its regulations, approved by Supreme Decree 009-2025-EF, the instrument is the cuaderno de incidencias (CDI), and the governing body became the OECE — the Specialized Agency for Efficient Public Procurement — replacing the OSCE.
The cuaderno de incidencias is the digital tool where the main events occurring during contract execution are recorded — for the preparation of the technical file and the execution of the works, as well as the supervision of both — along with the tasks or line items to be performed, queries and their answers, and the entries substantiating contract modifications.
The substantive change is one of scope: the instrument no longer covers only the execution of the works but also the preparation of the technical file and its supervision. It is a direct answer to a known problem in the Peruvian system — a good share of construction problems are born in deficient technical files, and that stage previously had no equivalent record.
Connectivity is your responsibility
This point deserves attention because it is where real projects feel the most friction.
Contracting entities and contractors are responsible for having the necessary equipment and maintaining the technical conditions that ensure timely and adequate internet connectivity.
In other words: connectivity is not an excuse, it is an obligation. Under the previous regime there was an escape valve: exceptionally, an entity could request authorization to use a physical logbook before the tender when the site had no internet access, with the obligation to upload images of the month’s entries within the first ten working days of the following month.
For a project in the high Andes or the rainforest, this is a real operational problem — and one worth solving before signing, not after.
Who records
Entries must be signed by the inspector or supervisor and by the resident engineer. And it pays to be clear on each role’s scope, because they get confused: the inspector or supervisor represents the contracting entity for the technical, administrative and economic control of the works, with no authority to modify the contract; the resident engineer represents the contractor for technical purposes only — logbook entries, planning — likewise with no authority to modify the contract.
The resident engineer must be an engineer or architect with two or more years of professional registration.
A minor detail that raises frequent questions: on contracted works, the logbook does not need to be notarized.
What gets recorded
The criterion is broad: relevant events. In practice, and above all thinking of what you will need later:
- The resident engineer’s queries and their answers, both dated
- Events affecting the schedule, with cause and effect
- Time extension requests and their substantiation
- Quantity overruns and additional work
- Test results and quality control
- Handover and release of work fronts
- Stoppages and their causes
- Risks identified and measures taken
That last point connects with the new law’s emphasis on risk management: recording the risk when it is identified, not when it materializes, is what later demonstrates diligence.
Frequently asked questions
- Should I say cuaderno de obra or cuaderno de incidencias?
- In formal documents under the new regime, cuaderno de incidencias. In everyday site talk, both coexist and will for a long while. What matters is knowing which instrument governs your contract, which depends on the law it was tendered under.
- What about contracts tendered under the previous law?
- They are governed by the rules they were tendered under. Projects under both regimes can coexist at the same time, which breeds confusion. Check the tender date before assuming which one applies.
- Does the cuaderno de incidencias apply to private projects?
- No. It is an instrument of the public procurement regime. On private projects the equivalent is contractual, and the parties define its format.
- What is an unanswered entry worth?
- It depends on the type of entry and the response period the rules provide. As a general principle, putting the query — and the absence of a reply — on record is what preserves your position. A query that was never recorded, by contrast, does not exist.
- Can I record entries if I am neither the resident engineer nor the supervisor?
- Under the previous regime only the inspector or supervisor and the resident engineer were authorized. The new regime broadens who must record entries depending on the type of service. Check the current directive for your contract's specific case.
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