Free Project Documentation Templates to Track Essential Documents for Any Project

By Kate Eby | August 19, 2019

In this article, you’ll find a variety of ready-to-use project documentation templates that you can tailor to fit your needs for a wide range of industries. These free templates are available to download in Word, Excel, and PDF formats. 

Included on this page, you will find a variety of helpful templates, including a project documentation template, a construction project documentation template, a software project documentation template, and many more. 

Project Documentation Template

Project Documentation Template

Effective project documentation is the basis of successful project management. This template helps ensure that you complete and account for the documentation necessary for each phase of a project. Customize this project documentation template to track each project document, each document version, the party responsible, and the document’s purpose. Then, check off each task as you complete it.

Download Project Documentation Template

Excel | Word | PDF | Smartsheet

Construction Documentation Tracker Template

Construction Documentation Tracker Template

The complex nature of construction projects directly correlates with the significant amount of required documentation needed throughout a project. From drawings and scheduling to approvals and reports, use this template to track each document, specification reference, document owner, request and receive date, and document location to easily find all required project documentation.

Download Construction Documentation Tracker Template

Excel | PDF  | Smartsheet

Subcontractor Documentation Tracker Template

Subcontractor Documentation Tracker Template

Construction sites regularly hire specialty subcontractors to complete assignments for a project, including plumbing, painting, and electrical work. Use this pre-built subcontractor documentation template to gather, organize, and track documents during each phase. The template also includes dedicated spaces for company name and contact information, contracts, scope of work, licenses, key dates, shop drawings, and more. 

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Excel | Smartsheet

Software Project Documentation Template

Software Project Documentation Template

The software development lifecycle requires technical documentation at each stage. From the planning phase to product release, use this customizable software project documentation template to keep a record of design documents, test plans and standards, end-user guides, installation guides, final reports, and other essential documentation. 

Download Software Project Documentation Template

Word | PDF

Agile Project Documentation Template

Agile Project Document Template

An Agile approach to documentation is minimal, adaptive, and continuous. Use this pre-built template to ensure your team fulfills iteration goals by recording the status of each document, the party responsible for completion, and where to locate the document.

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Excel | PDF

Website Project Documentation Template

Website Project Documentation Template

From brand and style guidelines to technical specifications, a web project has many moving parts that require intentional documentation management. Use this template to gather all the essential documentation into a central location to ensure all parties are on the same page. This customizable template allows you to organize key documents by category, with space for specification references, ownership, location, and requested and received dates. 

Download Website Project Documentation Template

Excel | PDF

IT Project Documentation Template

IT Project Documentation Template

When it comes to documentation for an IT project, keep in mind that quality transcends quantity. Ensuring the documentation filed is truly helpful and directly supports the IT project deliverable will save valuable time and resources. Download this pre-built IT project documentation template to account for important documents, from concept proposal to project closure reports, request dates, ownership, received dates, and location.

Download IT Project Documentation Template

Excel | PDF

Data Science Project Documentation Template

Date Science Project Document Template

With the accelerated growth of dataset analysis in the computation and technology realms, organizations must be better equipped to uncover vast amounts of insights into user behaviors and trends. This customizable template will account for and track each critical piece of documentation in your data science project, from data mining to visualization. This template also provides space to manage document requests, ownership, location, and more.

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Excel | PDF

Quality Improvement Project Documentation Template

Quality Improvement Project Documentation Template

Continuous quality improvement (CQI) is fundamental to enhancing the processes and outcomes in any healthcare organization. Whether your QI program or project involves improving patient safety, record-keeping, or waste reduction, this customizable template helps you organize and track key documents. Use this template to outline the project background, implementation strategies, timelines, and training plans, and track project documentation ownership and location during each stage. 

Download Quality Improvement Project Documentation Template - Word

Education Project Documentation Template

Education Project Documentation Template

A significant amount of time and resources go into developing an education project of any size. From producing a proper budget and schedule to developing materials and various requirements, this pre-built education project documentation template will help keep your documents organized. Use this template to track the status of documents by category, and add information about ownership, location, request dates, and more.

Download Education Project Documentation Template

Excel | PDF

Library Management System Project Documentation Template

Library Management System Project Documentation Template

An efficient library management system is essential to the day-to-day operations of a library. Due to the various components and users, system development can be complex and involve many moving parts. This pre-built library project documentation template provides room to include details such as the project scope, standards followed, system requirements, scheduling, and location of key documentation during each phase of the project.

Download Library Management System Project Documentation Template - Word

What Is the Purpose of Project Documentation?

Project documentation is the act of recording, or documenting, key details throughout each stage of a project and filing those documents for easy retrieval. Effective documentation is essential to ensure you meet project requirements, and also serves a trackable record of what activities have been completed, when they were completed, and who was involved in the process.

What Are the Key Documents Needed for Each Phase of a Project?

Seasoned project managers understand the importance of methodical project documentation, and save valuable time by utilizing standard templates for project documents. Although required documentation can vary by project or industry, below are the key standard documents you need for each phase of a project:

Key Project Documentation by Phase

To learn about managing each phase of a project in more detail, visit “Demystifying the 5 Phases of Project Management.”

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