With the construction industry being highly regulated it is very important that information is recorded and kept. There are various types of records that are kept within the construction industry however we are going to look closely at:
- contracts
- employee and consumer details
- drawings and specifications
- SWMS
Contracts
A contract is a legally binding agreement between parties to ensure they have understood and acknowledged their role when engaging in a professional relationship.
The following diagram illustrates some of the parties that are involved with contracts.
A contract is developed with detailed information binding the parties together. For example, a company and a contractor would have a contract in place stating any of the following:
- Drawings and specifications
- Building variation
- Reports for Work health and safety
- Copies of contractor’s licences, and a white card.
Fun fact!
Did you know, without a white card, you will not be allowed to work on a construction site.
The contract is drafted up according to the specific company and usually has legal representation present at some point throughout the process. This is to ensure parties have understood the legal requirements that apply to the development and signing of a contract.
The contract is also used as a means of keeping a record of payments, this includes how much money will be spent throughout the duration of the build. This applies to both consumers and contractors (trades personnel).
With a technologically evolving world, a lot of these documents that have been physically signed between the parties, are scanned, and stored within an archived system online. Each client or employee has a file belonging only to them to ensure information is kept confidential and only accessible to those involved within the process. Log in details are provided to relevant personnel to access these records. They are then kept for a number of years.
Archiving and storage systems vary from company to company. Each building company may choose to store such records in systems such as onsite, data build or i-auditor (just to name a few).
Fun Fact!
Did you know, records of consumers and employees are kept for a minimum of 7 years even after their build or termination of employment? However, with computer systems being the main source of storing and keeping records, they can continue to be stored and archived many years after.
