The present invention includes an observation management system for the organization of documents and observational information items relating to construction defect litigation. The observation manage system receives as an input various items of observational information that describe one or more building defects. After being input, the observational items are organized for indexing and retrieval purposes. The observation management system allows for the on-line display of each of the items of observational information. Further, the observation management system provides a utility for assigning responsibility to each of the noted defects to one or more subcontractors that may have caused the defects.