Site diary for a loft conversion: what to record

A loft conversion is a small footprint with an outsized amount that can go wrong. You are opening up the roof of a house someone is living in, tying steels into a structure you did not build, and working to fire safety rules that decide whether it can ever be signed off. The daily site diary is what keeps all of that straight and protects you when a question comes up months later. This guide sets out what a loft conversion diary should capture, a worked example of a real day, and how to log it from your phone without losing an hour to paperwork.

What a site diary for a loft conversion needs to capture

A generic template misses the things a loft conversion actually turns on: the weather over an open roof, the structure, and the sign-offs. Record these every day:

• Weather and weathertightness. The weather, and how the open roof was made weathertight each day or temporarily covered. This is the single biggest risk to the house below
• Structural work. Steels and beams installed, padstones, the new floor structure, and any alteration to the existing roof such as a dormer or rooflights
• Building control inspections. Structural sign-offs, and each building control visit with the outcome
• Fire safety works. The protected stairway, fire doors, interlinked alarms and fire resisting construction, which the conversion is signed off against
• The staircase and opening. Forming the opening in the existing ceiling, the new stair, and headroom
• Party wall. Any party wall matters, condition of the neighbour's property, and monitoring where a surveyor requires it
• Services. Electrics, heating and any plumbing extended up into the new space
• Labour and trades. Who was on site, trades and numbers
• Occupied-house points. Access, dust and noise controls, protection of the house below, and any disruption to the family
• Instructions, variations and delays. Anything found in the existing structure, instructions that follow, and time lost with the cause. Photos of structure and fire separation before they are boarded over

A worked loft conversion diary example

Here is what a solid entry looks like for a single day on a rear dormer loft conversion. It is illustrative only, but it shows the level of detail that stands up later.

Monday. Weather: dry am, showers forecast pm, 12C. On site: 2 carpenters, 1 steel erector am, site lead. Structural: main ridge beam and two floor steels installed onto padstones to engineer's drawing S-201, floor joists started. Roof: rear dormer opening formed, temporary weathertight cover fitted and checked before rain at 14:20, no water into the property. Building control: structural inspection of steels booked for Wednesday. Fire safety: noted the protected stairway line and fire door positions for second fix. Party wall: no works to the shared wall today, neighbour's property unaffected. Occupied house: family in occupation, dust screens to landing maintained, access via scaffold only. Instruction: client asked for an extra rooflight to the front slope, logged as variation. Photos: steels on padstones before boxing in, floor structure, temporary weathertight cover.

Compare that to "put the steels in, boarded out". One is a record you can rely on at sign-off and in a dispute. The other is not.

Why it matters on a loft conversion

A loft conversion runs into three kinds of question later, and all three are answered by the diary. Did water get in while the roof was open, is the structure and fire safety right, and was the neighbour affected.

The record of weathertightness each day is what protects you if the ceiling below is stained after a wet week. The photographs of steels on their padstones and of the fire resisting construction before it was boarded are the proof the hidden work was done correctly, because a loft conversion buries most of its own structure. And the party wall notes and any monitoring are the record if a neighbour raises a crack. On a job this exposed and this tightly regulated, the record has to be made on the day or it is gone.

Paper vs phone on a loft conversion

A paper diary is awkward on a loft. You are up a scaffold or in a cramped roof space, the photos of the steels and the weather cover sit on a phone with no link to the entry, and reconstructing which day the roof was open weeks later is guesswork.

Logging from a phone fits the job. The photo of the steel or the weathertight cover attaches to that day, timestamped as you make it, and the record cannot be quietly rewritten afterwards. A terraced street or a roof space often has poor signal, so the tool has to work offline and sync later. A diary that needs a connection to save is no use standing in an open loft.

Frequently asked questions

What is different about a loft conversion site diary?

A loft conversion opens up the roof of a house someone is living in, ties new steels into the existing structure, and has to meet fire safety and building control on the escape route. So the diary leans on weather protection while the roof is open, the structural and building control inspections, the fire safety works, and any party wall matters, on top of the usual daily record.

Why does weather matter so much on a loft conversion?

For part of the job the roof is open over an occupied house. A record of when it was made weathertight each day, and of any temporary covering, protects you if water gets into the house below. If there is a claim about damage, the diary of weather protection is the evidence of what was done.

What building control points belong in a loft diary?

Record the structural inspections of steels and the new floor, the fire safety provisions such as the protected stairway, fire doors and interlinked alarms, insulation, and each building control visit with the outcome. These are the items a loft conversion is signed off against, so the record of them matters at completion.

How does FORGE Command help on a loft conversion?

FORGE Command lets the site lead log the day from a phone in a couple of minutes, attach photos to each entry, and have every record stamped with GPS, weather and time. It works offline, then syncs, and exports a branded PDF for the file. It is a one payment of £39.99 with no subscription.

Related: what a defensible site diary records, site diary for a house extension, site diary for a refurbishment, site diary for roofing.