Stores
Construction storekeeper: duties, registers and the software that helps
Every bag, bar and box on a site passes through the storekeeper twice: once coming in, once going out to the work. If both are written down, you always know what is on site and where the rest went.
Part of the guide to construction material tracking
On this page · 7 sections
Key takeaways
- The storekeeper receives deliveries against the order, issues material against a signed request, and keeps the store's balance true.
- Count before signing any delivery note, and write the accepted quantity on it.
- Nothing leaves the store without an issue slip or a transfer note that names where it went.
- Counts are blind and regular; differences are approved by someone else.
- Software for storekeepers should work on a phone at the gate, not only at an office desk.
What a construction storekeeper does
A construction storekeeper looks after the material on one site, or in a central store or yard that serves several. The job has four parts: receive what suppliers deliver, issue material to the work when someone asks for it, move material to and from other sites, and keep the store's balance matching what is physically there.
It sounds like clerical work, but it decides whether the owner's biggest cost is controlled. Material is often the largest share of a building's cost, and on most sites it sits in the open, handled by many people. The storekeeper is the one person whose job is to know where it went.
The registers a site store keeps
Whether on paper or in software, a site store needs the same few records. Each movement has its own document and its own signature:
| Record | Written when | Signed by | What it proves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goods received note (or signed delivery note) | A delivery arrives | Storekeeper, with the driver | How much arrived, against which order, and what was short or damaged |
| Material request | The site needs material | Site engineer or foreman | Who asked, for which work, and how much |
| Issue slip | Material leaves the store for the work | Storekeeper and the person collecting | What was used, by whom, for which phase or task |
| Return note | Unused material comes back | Storekeeper | What came back into stock, and from which work |
| Transfer note | Material moves to another site or yard | Sending and receiving storekeepers | What left, what arrived, and any loss on the way |
| Stock register (store ledger) | Updated from every record above | Storekeeper | The balance of each item that should be on the shelf |
The material request is the one most sites skip. Without it, an issue slip says what left but not who wanted it or why. A simple material requisition form fixes that.
A storekeeper's day on site
- 1Open the store and check overnight security: locks, gate, anything moved.
- 2Issue the morning's material against the requests approved the evening before, and record each issue against the phase or task it is for.
- 3Receive deliveries as they come.
Check each load against the purchase order, count or weigh it, write the accepted quantity on the delivery note, and photograph the signed note. - 4Send the signed notes to the office the same day, so bills can be matched before they are paid. This is the receiving step of a three-way match.
- 5Take back unused material at the end of the day with a return note.
- 6Count a few items, blind, on a rotating schedule, and report any difference rather than correcting it quietly. See how to count site inventory.
- 7Tell the project manager which items will run out in the next few days, so they are ordered in time.
Controls that stop material going missing
- No signature on a delivery note until the load is counted. 'Received in good order' on an unchecked note is how short deliveries get paid in full.
- No issue without a request, and no material leaves the gate without an issue slip or transfer note.
- Stock can't go below zero. If the register says 20 bags and someone asks for 25, either the register is wrong or a delivery wasn't recorded. Find out which before issuing.
- Separate duties: the person who orders, the person who receives and the person who approves a stock write-off should not be the same person.
- Transfers are counted at both ends. A load that leaves one site with 50 bags and arrives at the next with 46 has a record of the 4.
None of this assumes anyone is dishonest. Most differences are a missing record: an issue nobody wrote down, a delivery received short. The controls make the missing record easy to find (Cleverence).
What storekeeper software for construction sites should do
A paper register works until there are two sites, or until the office needs the balance today rather than at the end of the month. Software for a construction storekeeper should fit the job as it is done: standing at the gate with a phone, often with patchy signal, while a driver waits.
- Receive against the purchase order on a phone, with a photo of the signed delivery note.
- Issue to a project phase or task, so material is charged to the work that used it.
- A store for every site, plus central stores and yards, with transfers between them.
- Refuse an issue larger than the stock, so the balance never shows material that isn't there.
- Counts of a few items at a time, with differences sent for approval.
- Days of stock left, worked out from recent use, so ordering happens before work stops.
Questions people ask
What are the duties of a storekeeper on a construction site?
Receiving deliveries against the purchase order, issuing material against signed requests, recording returns and transfers to other sites, counting stock regularly and warning the project manager before items run out.
What registers does a site storekeeper maintain?
Goods received notes or signed delivery notes, material requests, issue slips, return notes, transfer notes and the stock register that totals them.
Who should approve stock differences found in a count?
Someone other than the storekeeper, usually the project manager for small differences and the owner above a set value, after looking for a missing record first.
Is there software made for construction storekeepers?
Yes. Construction inventory software gives each site its own store and lets the storekeeper receive, issue, transfer and count from a phone, so the office sees the balance without waiting for the register.
