Time Tracking in Construction: Solutions for Sites and Mobile Teams

Time Tracking in Construction: A Challenge with a Solution

If there’s one sector where time tracking gets really complicated, it’s construction. Workers changing sites every week, teams scattered across different locations, shifts that start at dawn, and conditions that make having a computer in the middle of the job site unviable.

And yet, the law is clear: all companies, including construction firms, are required to record the working hours of their employees. The Royal Decree on Digital Time Recording (currently in processing) will go a step further and require this record to be electronic, accessible, and tamper-proof.

How do you square that with the reality of a construction site? Let’s look at it step by step.

The Real Problems of Time Tracking on Site

Before talking about solutions, it’s worth understanding why the construction sector has so many difficulties with time recording. It’s not due to lack of will - it’s context.

Constant Mobility

A bricklayer, an electrician, or a site manager aren’t sitting in front of a computer. They travel between sites, work in remote locations, and often don’t even have access to stable WiFi. Traditional clocking with a card or biometric reader simply doesn’t work here.

Multiple Work Centres

A medium-sized construction company can have 5, 10, or 20 sites open simultaneously. Each with its own team, its schedules, and its particularities. Managing time recording centrally with manual methods is a logistical nightmare.

Subcontractors and Mixed Teams

In construction, it’s common for a single site to have both in-house workers and subcontractors working together. Each company is responsible for recording their own employees’ time, but coordination gets complicated when everything is done on paper or with incompatible systems.

Harsh Physical Conditions

Dust, humidity, extreme temperatures, work gloves… Clocking devices have to be tough and work in conditions that would destroy any office equipment in a week.

Variable and Irregular Schedules

Shifts on site rarely follow a fixed pattern. There are longer days, weather stoppages, shifts that change according to the phase of the project. The time tracking system needs flexibility to adapt to this reality.

What the Regulations Say About Time Recording in Construction

The obligation to record working hours affects all sectors without exception, including construction. The legal framework includes:

• Royal Decree-Law 8/2019: Established the obligation for daily time recording for all companies.
• New Royal Decree on Digital Time Recording: Requires the record to be electronic, accessible to workers, and retained for 4 years.
• Sector collective agreements: The General Construction Agreement includes specific provisions on working hours, rest periods, and overtime.

Penalties for Non-Compliance

Fines for not keeping an adequate time record range from 751 EUR to 7,500 EUR per violation, depending on severity. And in the construction sector, labour inspections are especially frequent - particularly on large sites where many workers are concentrated.

What could previously be resolved with a paper timesheet signed by the supervisor will soon require a digital system that guarantees traceability and data integrity.

Clocking Solutions Adapted to Construction

The good news is that current technology offers solutions specifically designed for the sector’s particularities. These are the most relevant:

Mobile App Clocking

It’s the most practical solution for construction. Each worker clocks in from their own smartphone - something everyone carries with them today, even on site.

The advantages are clear:

• No additional hardware: nothing needs to be installed on site.
• Works with mobile data: doesn’t depend on WiFi.
• Instant recording: clocking is recorded in real-time in the cloud.
• Available for Android and iOS: compatible with practically any mobile.

With Cleverfy, for example, the worker opens the app, presses a button, and their entry is recorded. At the end of the day, they do the same for exit. That simple.

Geolocation: Knowing Where They Clock In

One of the most important features for construction is geolocation. When a worker clocks in, the system automatically records the GPS coordinates, which allows:

• Verifying that clocking is done at the correct site.
• Tracking movements between different locations.
• Generating reports by site with hours dedicated to each project.
• Preventing fraudulent clocking from unauthorised locations.

This is especially useful for companies with multiple active sites, as it allows knowing exactly how many hours have been dedicated to each project without relying on manual timesheets.

Kiosk Mode for Fixed Points on Site

On large sites where there’s a site office or a defined access point, kiosk mode is a very practical alternative. A tablet is placed at a fixed point and workers clock in as they pass, either with a PIN code, their employee number, or even a QR code.

This system complements mobile clocking and is ideal for:

• Sites with controlled access.
• Companies that prefer a centralised clocking point.
• Situations where not all workers have their own smartphone.

Clocking with Limited Coverage

There are sites in rural or underground areas where mobile coverage is limited. For these cases, look for systems that work with slow or intermittent connections: where clocking queues up and sends when connection allows, without losing data.

This ensures that no clock entry is lost, regardless of connectivity conditions.

Overtime and Timesheet Management

In construction, overtime is more frequent than in other sectors. Planning delays, tight deadlines, or unforeseen circumstances on site mean many shifts extend beyond what was planned.

A good time tracking system should:

• Automatically calculate overtime from the entry and exit record.
• Alert when legal limits are exceeded for overtime (80 hours per year according to the Workers’ Statute).
• Differentiate between ordinary, overtime, and complementary hours.
• Generate detailed reports useful for both internal management and possible inspections.

With Cleverfy, all this is calculated automatically. The site manager can check in real-time how many hours each worker has done, detect possible deviations, and make decisions before they become problems.

How to Implement Time Tracking in Your Construction Company

Implementing a digital clocking system in a construction company doesn’t have to be complicated. These are the steps we recommend:

1. Choose a System Designed for Mobility

Not all time tracking software works for construction. You need one that offers mobile app with geolocation and management of multiple work centres. Discard any solution that depends exclusively on a fixed computer or installed hardware.

2. Set Up Your Sites as Work Centres

Before starting, register each site as a work centre in the system. This way you can assign workers to each one, track hours by project, and generate segmented reports.

3. Train the Site Supervisors

Site managers and supervisors are the key piece. If they understand the system and promote it, the rest of the team will adopt it without problems. Training shouldn’t take more than 15-20 minutes if the system is intuitive.

4. Communicate the Change to Workers

Explain to your team why digital time tracking is being implemented (legal compliance, transparency, protection of their rights) and how it works. Resistance to change usually comes from lack of information, not from system difficulty.

5. Start with a Pilot Site

If you have many active sites, start with one as a pilot test. Resolve any problems on a small scale before extending the system to the whole company.

With Cleverfy, the complete implementation can be done in less than 10 minutes. No contracts, no lock-in, and with a price from 1.50 EUR/user/month that fits any construction company’s budget.

Benefits Beyond Legal Compliance

Although regulations are the main driver for digitalising time tracking, the benefits go much further:

• Cost control by site: Knowing exactly how many hours are dedicated to each project allows better budgeting and detecting deviations before they impact margins.
• Reduction of labour conflicts: A transparent record accessible to the worker eliminates disputes about worked or unpaid hours.
• Data for decision-making: Which site consumes more resources? Which teams are more efficient? Time tracking data answers these questions.
• Administrative simplification: Goodbye to paper timesheets, Excel spreadsheets, and manual data collection for payroll.

FAQ: Time Tracking in Construction

Is digital time tracking mandatory in construction?

Yes. Since the Royal Decree-Law 8/2019 came into force, all companies must record their workers’ hours. The new Royal Decree on Digital Time Recording also requires this record to be electronic. Construction companies have no exemptions.

How do workers who don’t have a smartphone clock in?

There are alternatives such as kiosk mode (a tablet in the site office where everyone clocks in), clocking via printed QR code, or even recording by the site supervisor from their own device. The important thing is that the record is digital and individual.

What happens if there’s no mobile coverage on site?

The best systems work even with slow or intermittent connections. The record queues up and sends when connection allows. Look for solutions that don’t require a permanent stable connection.

Can I track hours dedicated to each site separately?

Yes. By configuring each site as a work centre, you can get detailed reports of hours dedicated to each project, which greatly facilitates cost control and invoicing.

How much does a time tracking system cost for a construction company?

It depends on the provider and number of workers. With Cleverfy, the price starts at 1.50 EUR/user/month, with no installation cost or lock-in. For a company of 20 workers, that’s 30 EUR per month - much less than any fine for non-compliance.

Do subcontractor workers also need to clock in?

Each company is responsible for recording their own workers’ hours. If you subcontract personnel, the subcontracting company must ensure time tracking for their employees. As the main contractor, you can require your subcontractors to have an adequate recording system.

---

Do you manage a construction company and need to digitalise time tracking? Check out our specific solution for construction or try Cleverfy free and see how easy it is to clock in from site with geolocation. If you prefer to see it in action first, book a personalised demo.