Where is the answer about the lintel?
Your site manager found a clash between the structural drawings and the architect's section at first-floor level. He emailed the architect with a photo. The architect replied that it was a structural question. The engineer asked for a marked-up drawing. Three weeks later the bricklayers are working round the opening and nobody can find the final answer, because it was a phone call.
On a busy job there are dozens of these at any time. Some are trivial. Some hold up a whole trade. From the office you cannot tell which is which.
Why queries go missing
RFIs travel through email, which is built for conversation, not tracking. A query has an owner, a deadline and a consequence if it is late, and email records none of those. Spreadsheet logs help until they are not updated, which happens as soon as the project gets busy.
- Queries go to individuals rather than a tracked address.
- Answers come back in reply chains, calls and meeting comments.
- Nobody records the date by which site needs the answer.
- Subcontractors' queries reach the design team through different people.
- Closed and open RFIs look the same in an inbox.
What slow answers cost
Work stops or goes ahead on assumptions. Trades are re-sequenced around unanswered questions. Rework follows when the answer, when it comes, is not what was assumed. When there is later a question about why a section of the job was late, the chronology of queries and answers is scattered through a dozen inboxes. Your contract and advisers decide what that chronology means; the point here is having it at all.
The RFI log we build
- RFIs are raised from a phone or laptop by your team or subcontractors, with the drawing reference, a marked-up image or photo, and the question.
- Each RFI gets a number, the trade and area it affects, and the date site needs an answer, linked to the relevant activity in the programme where it can be.
- It is routed to the right consultant based on its type, with the design manager copied. Consultants reply by email and the answer is captured against the RFI.
- Answers that change design are linked to the revised drawing or instruction that follows.
- Overdue RFIs are chased automatically, then shown to the project manager, with the work they hold up.
- The subcontractor who raised it is told when it is answered.
- A weekly summary shows open RFIs by consultant and by how close they are to affecting the programme, for the design team meeting.
| RFI field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Needed-by date | Shows which queries are urgent |
| Programme activity | Shows what work is held up |
| Owner | Shows who has to answer |
| Answer and source | Final answer in one place |
| Linked revision or instruction | Closes the loop with the design change |
If your project uses a common data environment or a platform such as Procore that already holds RFIs, we connect to it and add the chasing and reporting rather than creating a parallel log.
What the project team sees
Every query has one home. Site managers stop trying to remember who they asked. Consultants get clear, numbered questions with the drawing attached, which makes answering easier. Design team meetings start from a list of what is overdue and what it is holding up. And when the job is reviewed later, the query history is complete.
Are your RFIs like this?
- RFIs are sent as ordinary emails to individuals.
- Answers are hard to find once the thread moves on.
- You do not know which open queries are holding up work.
- Subcontractors raise queries through different routes.
- The RFI spreadsheet is always behind.