Cumulative site register: keeping site memory in Codex

Install the ChatGPT plugin: Site follow-up and meeting reports →

Sixth visit to the fictional "Résidence des Tilleuls" site. Reading the latest report before the meeting, the project lead looks for the item on the second-floor balustrade fixings, opened at visit no. 2: it is gone. Nobody cleared it; it simply was not copied into CR no. 5 (compte rendu, the French site visit or meeting report), which was written from the previous visit's notes alone, and the deadline set three weeks earlier no longer appears anywhere. The problem is not the writing: each report was treated as a standalone document rather than as an extract of the site's memory.

This article presents the "Site follow-up and meeting reports" ChatGPT plugin that Educasium provides to participants in its training courses: why it relies on a cumulative register, how to use it from one visit to the next, what sets it apart from the ChatGPT reporting skill, how to install it in Codex and when it is not enough.

Contents

1. Why successive reports lose items
2. The cumulative register as the main source
3. Using the plugin, visit after visit
4. CCTP, programme, Word template and filtered extracts
5. Skill or plugin: what really changes
6. Installing the plugin in Codex
7. When this plugin is not enough
8. Training in AI-assisted site follow-up
9. Frequently asked questions

Why successive reports lose items

During the DET phase (direction de l’exécution des travaux, the French architect's site supervision stage), most practices write report n from report n-1 plus the visit notes. That chain holds as long as every writer copies everything. Otherwise, three losses keep coming back: an open item not discussed that drops out; an old deadline replaced without a trace, so nobody can tell how many times it has slipped; and a closed item that returns under a new number.

Writing a single report (separating observation, statement and decision, reviewing before circulation) is already covered in our ChatGPT method for site meeting minutes, its Claude version and our article on the site visit report with Claude. This article focuses only on what the plugin adds: the site's memory from one visit to the next.

The cumulative register as the main source

The plugin reverses the logic: the main source becomes a cumulative site register, a versioned JSON file of which each report is only a dated snapshot. It keeps every item, open and closed, with its lot (the French term for a trade package), initial description, date first observed, events and actions.

Events are added, never erased

Each visit adds events without rewriting earlier ones:

An open item missing from the notes is never cleared automatically, and a contractor saying "it's done" produces a declared completion, not a clearance. A clearance confirmed without a date stays "date to be completed" instead of borrowing the visit date.

Same ID on reopening

A closed item that becomes relevant again is reopened under the same ID, with its full history, including the earlier clearance. IDs of closed items are never reused: if MEN-03 is closed, the next item in that trade becomes MEN-04.

Actions and successive deadlines

Each action has a stable ID, a source, an owner who is confirmed, proposed or to be confirmed, and an explicit deadline or one still to be agreed. A replaced deadline stays visible in the earlier event. Closing an observation does not close its actions: an action still open on a cleared item stays in the report.

Each register revision names its parent; the plugin edits neither the previous version nor a report already delivered, and flags a conflict between two versions rather than silently merging them.

Using the plugin, visit after visit

Step 1: gather the sources. Visit or meeting notes, date, attendees, labelled photos and, from the second visit on, the register produced last time. Without an earlier register, the plugin starts from the notes and flags that history is unverified; new IDs stay provisional.

Step 2: update existing records before creating new ones. A new wording of the same item does not justify a new ID. If the match is unclear, the plugin keeps the candidates and asks you to decide.

Step 3: record the visit's facts as events. Each new piece of information is added to the relevant item's record with its source; items not discussed get a carry-forward without information instead of silence.

Step 4: produce the deliverables. The new register revision, an observation records file (location, parties involved, drawings and revisions, linked media) and the dated report. The report shows every active item with its original date, latest sourced information and actions, separating changes from this visit, carry-forwards, recent clearances and closed items, which can go in an appendix.

Step 5: check before circulating. No item from the previous register should have disappeared. The distribution list remains a planned distribution: nothing is sent.

Fictional example: at the 12 September 2026 visit, structural work is reported at 60% and a leak is reported on the ground floor, cause to be checked. The plugin opens an item for the leak, records progress as declared and carries forward the balustrade item marked "current state not confirmed".

CCTP, programme, Word template and filtered extracts

Links to the CCTP and the programme

When the CCTP (cahier des clauses techniques particulières, the French technical specification), the works programme or drawing revisions are provided, the plugin links each observation to the relevant clauses, tasks and revisions in a separate cross-reference file. If several clauses match, they stay as candidates to confirm. A missed deadline with no current observation becomes "deadline passed, status to confirm", not a proven delay. Without these documents, the report is still produced.

A Word template included

The included Word report template is a frame to fill in, never a source of facts: unknown fields "to be completed", signatures blank. Without Word tools, the plugin produces a text draft and says so.

Extracts without deleting anything

On request, it prepares an extract by contractor, trade or sub-trade, showing filter, date and scope. The filter removes nothing from the global register.

A sourced hand-over to the handover stage

At the end of the works, it can prepare a transfer package for Educasium's Handover, snag list and as-built file plugin: complete original observations, ID mappings and a proposed disposition. A site clearance is never copied as a snag clearance, and nothing is imported automatically.

Skill or plugin: what really changes

The ChatGPT minutes skill makes one report reliable; the plugin carries the whole life of the site.

For a one-off report, the skill is enough. For a site lasting several months, the plugin stops the project memory depending on the writer's vigilance.

Installing the plugin in Codex

The download is reserved for participants in Educasium training courses. From the plugin page, download the ZIP file and unzip it into a stable folder that you will not move or rename. In a terminal, add that folder as a catalogue with codex plugin marketplace add "…/plugin-chantier", replacing the path with your own folder, then install the plugin with codex plugin add archi-chantier@educasium-chantier. Then open a new Codex session so the plugin is picked up. The INSTALLATION.md file in the ZIP repeats these commands.

When this plugin is not enough

The plugin structures and preserves; it replaces neither the architect's eye nor contractual instruments.

• No built-in OCR or transcription: audio and scans depend on the tools available.
• A photo does not prove compliance: a visible crack says nothing about its cause or severity.
• Nothing is sent or signed: the report is circulated only on your initiative.
• No site instruction: the report never becomes an ordre de service (formal site instruction), a formal notice, a handover certificate or a contractual commitment.
• No automatic sync with the other plugins: hand-overs happen through files.
• No cloud storage: follow-up depends on the files you keep and provide at each visit.

The plugin has been tested on fictional trials; on a real site, human review remains essential.

Training in AI-assisted site follow-up

Keeping a cumulative register takes habits: keep the files from every visit and reread the register before the meeting. Our Architectural Management with AI training works through these practices on site cases, and its participants get access to Educasium's ChatGPT plugins.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if I forget to provide the previous register?

The plugin then starts from the visit notes alone and says so clearly: earlier history is marked as unverified and new IDs are provisional, because it cannot know which numbers have already been used. It does not reconstruct visits it has no record of. To restore continuity, provide the latest cumulative register at the next visit, so that items can be matched to their original IDs.

Is an item not discussed in the meeting treated as cleared?

No. An open item missing from the new notes receives a carry-forward event without information, marked "carried forward, current state not confirmed". Its earlier actions, owners and deadlines stay intact. Only an explicit confirmation, attributed to an identified person, allows a clearance. Likewise, a contractor stating the work is finished produces a declared completion that the architect still has to check. This rule prevents exactly the missing balustrade item described at the start of this article.

Does the plugin replace snag tracking at handover?

No. A confirmed clearance closes a site observation in the register, but it neither records nor clears a handover snag. The plugin can prepare a transfer package for the Handover, snag list and as-built file plugin, with complete original observations and ID mappings, but snags are qualified within that other mission. For the handover method itself, see our ChatGPT method for the handover report, which covers the formal acceptance document and its initial snag register.

Can I use my own report template?

The included Word template is a generic frame: visit identity, summary, observations and actions, cross-references and sources. Your practice's own template and branding still take priority for your project documents. Whatever the template, the report remains a snapshot of the register: fields without data stay to be completed, signatures stay blank, and the document must be reviewed before it is circulated.

To go further, our ChatGPT method for site meeting minutes and its Claude version cover writing a single report, and our ChatGPT method for the handover report takes over at the end of the works.

Funding may be available depending on your eligibility (OPCO, FIF PL). Qualiopi-certified training provider. To set up cumulative site follow-up with AI as part of our Architectural Management with AI training, contact Educasium and specify your status (employee, self-employed, business owner) and your goal. You will find the download and installation tutorial on the dedicated ChatGPT plugin page.