Time tracking in construction and on site: how to clock in on the job (2026)

Published on 6 June 2026

Construction is a heavily inspected sector with problems of its own for time tracking: several sites at once, no fixed office, hands full and workers moving between jobs. We explain how to clock in on site while complying with the law without making it complicated.

The challenges of time tracking in construction

• No office: there is no fixed entrance to put a terminal in.
• Several sites at once and workers rotating between them.
• Dirty hands and a harsh setting: dust, knocks, damp.
• A lot of moving about and subcontracting.

How to clock in on the job

The most practical answer is the mobile app: each worker clocks in from their phone when they get to the site, with geolocation to confirm they are on the right job. For gangs without phones, a key fob or portable terminal in the site hut works well.

Geolocation for each site

Set a radius on each site: when someone clocks in, it checks whether they are there. That is how you split the hours by project and spot clocking in from a distance. Two legal cautions before you turn it on:

• Article 90 of Ley Orgánica 3/2018 requires workers and their representatives to be informed beforehand, «de forma expresa, clara e inequívoca» — expressly, clearly and unambiguously — of the existence and characteristics of the system, and also of how to exercise their rights of access, rectification, restriction and erasure. Mentioning it in passing will not do.
• Blocking someone from clocking in when they are outside the radius is risky: if that person really is working, you have stopped them recording their actual hours, and article 34.9 requires you to reflect them. It is safer to always record and to flag the exception for review.

More detail in clocking in with geolocation.

Subcontractors and agencies: who records whom

It is the commonest question on site, and the Ministry of Labour's guide answers it:

• Subcontracting under article 42 of the Workers' Statute: the one that records is the contractor or subcontractor, which is the real employer. The two companies may agree that the contractor's workers use the main company's clocking-in system — which is more reliable — but the duty to keep the records still belongs to the contractor.
• Workers supplied by a temporary employment agency: the one that records is the user company, because it is the one that directs and controls the activity, and it is also the one that has to keep the records for four years. The agency and the user company must agree how the records are passed on for what the agency needs.

None of this replaces the libro de subcontratación, the subcontracting register under Ley 32/2006, which is a separate obligation and is also checked on site.

Watch the collective agreement and overtime

In construction the Convenio General del Sector, the industry-wide national agreement, sits alongside the provincial agreements, which are usually the ones that set the annual hours, the calendar and the rate for overtime. Look at yours before you take any figure as read: there is no single “industry rule” here. And remember that the collective agreement is also the preferred route for organising and documenting working time records, under article 34.9.

A good record lets you evidence overtime and avoid penalties in a closely watched sector (remember the fines).

Practical tips

• Have them clock in when they set foot on the site, not when they leave home. And not for convenience: the Ministry of Labour's guide makes clear that for travel the record covers actual working time, not periods of being merely available, without prejudice to those being compensated with allowances.
• Use geolocation per site to split the hours by project.
• Turn on clocking-in reminders.
• Check the sheet weekly, not at the end of the month.