Time clock for construction
A construction time clock that runs on the foreman's phone.
A construction time clock records when each worker starts and stops at a job site. With TrackBadges, every worker gets a printed QR badge and the foreman scans it at the gate or trailer with any phone: once in, once out. The crew needs no app or smartphone, and every punch is stamped with the site, the time and, optionally, GPS.
What the time clock has to handle
Crews on three sites by Tuesday
A clock on the trailer wall only works where it's mounted. Give each foreman a paired phone and every scan records which site it came from.
Buddy punching at the gate
When workers punch themselves in, one can clock in a friend who's still at the gas station. The foreman scans each badge face to face, so only people who are there get clocked in.
Workers who won't use their own phone
Not everyone has a data plan, and plenty of workers won't put a work app on a personal phone. A printed badge in a wallet or holder needs no phone at all.
Paper sign-in sheets at the trailer
Handwriting, hours rounded to the half hour and sheets left in the truck. Scans are timestamped to the minute and land on the timesheet as they happen.
Drive time between sites
Travel between job sites during the day is paid work time under 29 CFR 785.38. Keep the crew on the clock until the last scan and the drive counts.
Long pours and overtime
A pour that starts at 6 a.m. and runs to 5 p.m. adds up fast. Daily and weekly overtime are applied to every timesheet as the week goes, not found on Friday.
A time clock app for construction workers, run by the foreman
The foreman's phone is the time clock. Pair it once from a setup link, assign it to the job site, and it scans each worker's printed QR badge at the gate or the trailer: once to clock in, again to clock out. Nobody installs anything.
Here's a normal day on a two-site job:
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 6:40 a.m. | The foreman opens the scanner on their phone at the site gate. |
| 6:45 a.m. | Twelve workers hold up their badges one by one. The whole crew is on the clock in about a minute and a half. |
| 11:30 a.m. | Unpaid lunch: the foreman scans everyone out, and back in at noon. A break is just a scan out and a scan in. |
| 1:15 p.m. | Three framers drive to the second site. They stay on the clock, because that drive is work time. |
| 3:30 p.m. | Each foreman scans their crew out. The office watches everyone go off the clock on the live board. |
| Friday | The office reviews the week, fixes anything flagged, approves it and exports a CSV for payroll. |
If someone walks off without scanning out, auto clock-out closes the shift after the limit you set and flags it for review, so one missed scan doesn't become 16 hours of overtime.
Multiple job sites, one set of timesheets
Make each job a location and pair a scanner for each foreman. Scanners and locations are unlimited on every plan, and every punch records the time, the scanner, its location and, if you turn it on, a GPS stamp of where the scan happened. The live board shows who's on the clock at which site right now.
Workers who move between jobs keep one timesheet. Hours from every site add up into the same week, so overtime is worked out on the total, not per site. For more on splitting time by job, see tracking time across job sites.
Subcontractors: if you pay a sub on time and materials, badging their crew gives you hours to check against the invoice. Every badged person counts toward your plan, so archive them when the sub's work is done. For visitors and inspectors, a paper construction sign-in sheet is still the simpler tool.
Travel time, overtime and certified payroll
Travel between job sites during the workday is paid work time under 29 CFR 785.38. So is the drive from the yard to the site when you require the crew to meet there first to pick up tools or get instructions. The ordinary commute from home to the first site isn't. The simplest way to get it right is to scan the crew in where their paid day starts and leave them on the clock until it ends.
- Weekly overtime: the FLSA requires 1.5× the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. Set a 40-hour weekly threshold and every timesheet splits regular and overtime hours.
- Daily overtime: California pays 1.5× over 8 hours in a day, and Alaska, Nevada and Colorado have their own daily rules. Add a daily threshold if one applies to you.
- What's not automatic: TrackBadges applies one daily and one weekly threshold. California's double time over 12 hours and seventh-day rules are left to your payroll provider.
- Certified payroll: on Davis-Bacon and state prevailing-wage jobs you file certified payroll every week. TrackBadges doesn't produce certified payroll reports, but it gives you the accurate daily hours they're built from, in a CSV your payroll or certified payroll software can use.
This isn't legal advice; check your state's rules and your contract. The overtime calculator shows how the math works.
Why scan a badge instead of tapping names
Some construction time apps let the foreman clock a crew in by tapping names in a list. That works, but a tapped name doesn't prove anyone is standing there. A scanned badge is better evidence: the card has to be in front of the foreman's phone, and the foreman sees who's holding it, so a worker who's still at the gas station can't be clocked in by a friend. More in how to stop buddy punching.
What it costs
TrackBadges is free for up to 3 people with every feature. Pro is $9 a month for your first 3 people, plus $1.50 a month for each person after that, so a 25-person crew is $42 a month. Foremen's scanners are free and unlimited, and there's no hardware, setup fee or contract.
When it isn't the right fit
TrackBadges is built for crews that start together. If your people are solo service techs driving to a different call each morning, there's nobody to scan them, and a GPS app on each worker's phone fits better. The scanner also needs a cell signal while it scans, so on a remote site with no coverage, scan the crew at the yard before they leave. And if you track every hour against cost codes or tasks, you'll want a job-costing app: TrackBadges records sites, not cost codes. Compare options in the best time clock apps for construction.
Set it up in three steps
- 01
Add your crew
Name your business and paste in your team. No signup, sales call or card — make an account once you like it.
- 02
Print their badges
Everyone gets a QR badge. Print them on plain paper or card stock. There's nothing for your crew to install.
- 03
Scan with any device
A supervisor's phone, a warehouse tablet — any device can be a scanner. Scan a badge once to clock in, and again to clock out.
Frequently asked questions
What's the best time clock app for construction workers who don't have smartphones?
One where the foreman does the scanning. With TrackBadges, each worker carries a printed QR badge and the foreman's phone clocks the whole crew in at the gate, so workers need no smartphone, app or login. Every punch is stamped with the time, the site and, optionally, GPS.
Do I have to pay construction workers for driving between job sites?
Yes. Travel from one job site to another during the workday is work time under 29 CFR 785.38, and so is travel from a yard where you require the crew to report first. The normal commute from home to the first site isn't. Keep the crew on the clock from the first scan to the last and the drive is counted.
Can TrackBadges produce certified payroll reports?
No. TrackBadges records accurate daily hours for every worker and exports them as a CSV, which is the raw material for certified payroll. The report itself comes from your payroll provider or certified payroll software.
Can I see which job site each worker clocked in at?
Yes. Assign each foreman's scanner to a site and every punch records that location. Turn on the GPS stamp and each scan also records where it happened, so a scan made away from the site stands out.
Does the scanner work on a job site without Wi-Fi?
Yes, on the phone's cellular data. The scanner does need a connection while it scans; there's no offline mode. On a site with no signal, scan the crew in at the yard or the last spot with coverage.
Keep reading
- Crew time clockA crew time clock where the foreman scans each worker's QR badge with one phone: 8 people clocked in in under a minute, no app for the crew. Free for 3 people.
- Construction sign-in sheetFree printable construction site sign-in sheet for crews, subcontractors and visitors: name, company, trade, time in and out, and supervisor initials.
- Time across job sitesHow to track time across multiple job sites, which drive time you must pay (29 CFR 785.38), one punch a day vs a punch per site, and what location stamps prove.
- The best time clock apps for construction in 2026The best construction time clock apps of 2026 compared: crew clock-in, GPS, job costing, kiosks and what a 10, 25 or 50-person crew costs each month.
- Overtime calculatorFree overtime calculator: enter an hourly rate and hours worked to get regular and overtime pay at 1.5× or 2×, plus the premium for no tax on overtime.
- vs ClockSharkTrackBadges vs ClockShark: how employees clock in, whether they need a phone, and what 10, 25 or 50 people cost a month. Prices checked October 2026.
Clock in your construction crew with one phone.
Print a QR badge for everyone and scan them in and out with any phone or tablet. Free for up to 3 people — try it with your real crew before you sign up.