Documentation & records
How to write an RFI
An RFI is how the field asks the design team to resolve something before it gets built wrong — a dimension that doesn't add up, two details that contradict each other, a spec that doesn't match the plan. A sharp RFI gets a clear answer on the first pass; a vague one bounces back with questions and burns days you may not have. The written answer becomes part of the contract record and often drives an as-built revision, so it's worth writing well. This is how.
For project engineers, superintendents and subs who hit an unclear or conflicting condition and need a written answer from the architect or engineer before proceeding.
Step by step
Confirm it's actually an RFI
An RFI is for a genuine gap or conflict in the documents, not for something a careful read of the drawings and specs already answers. Check the current set and any prior RFIs first — asking a question the documents already settle wastes the design team's clock and yours.
Ask one specific question
Keep each RFI to a single, answerable question. Bundling three loosely related issues into one RFI guarantees a partial answer and a muddy record; separate questions get separate, citable answers.
Cite the exact documents
Reference the specific drawing sheet, detail, spec section, or submittal at issue. The reviewer should be able to open exactly what you're looking at without hunting, which is half of what makes an answer come back fast.
Describe the conflict clearly
State what one document says, what the other says, and why they can't both be built. A photo or a marked-up detail of the field condition often explains the problem faster than a paragraph.
Propose an answer
Offer the resolution you think is right. A proposed answer lets the design team confirm or correct rather than start from a blank page, and it's the single biggest thing that speeds a response.
Log it, number it and set the clock
Enter it in the RFI log with a number, the date sent, who it went to, and the response needed-by date. The log is where the value lives — it's what tells you an area has an open question and shouldn't be built or accepted yet.
Route the answer into the work and the as-builts
When the response comes back, get it to the affected trades and record it. If it changes what gets built, it drives a submittal change or an as-built red-line, and the answered RFI is the authority that revision traces back to.
What gets missed
- Asking a question the drawings and specs already answer, which wastes the review clock and trains the design team to slow-walk your RFIs.
- Bundling several unrelated questions into one RFI, guaranteeing a partial answer and a confused record.
- No document references, forcing the reviewer to hunt for what you're even asking about.
- No proposed answer, so the design team starts from scratch and the response drags.
- Building in the affected area while the RFI is still open — an RFI answered after the work is installed is a nonconformance waiting to happen.
Questions people ask
- Should an RFI include a proposed answer?
- Almost always. A proposed answer lets the architect or engineer confirm or adjust rather than research from nothing, which is the single most effective way to get a fast, usable response.
- Can I keep working while an RFI is open?
- Not in the affected area. Work there should pause or be flagged until the answer comes back — building against an open RFI is one of the most common ways work ends up as a nonconformance you then have to tear out.
- What happens to the answer after it comes back?
- It becomes part of the contract record, goes to the affected trades, and if it changes the work it drives a submittal change or an as-built red-line. The answered RFI is the authority that revision traces back to.
Checklists that make this a one-tap job
Free, field-ready checklists, each with the photo every item needs before it can be submitted.
Related guides
- How to track submittals on a projectBuild and run a submittal register that tracks every shop drawing and product data item from log to approval so no feature starts without the right paper.
- How to organize as-built drawingsKeep as-built drawings current as the work goes in — red-lining changes as they happen, tracing each to its RFI or change, and backing concealed runs with dated photos.
- How to manage a nonconformanceTake a nonconformance from discovery through documentation, disposition, corrective action, and re-inspection so it closes with evidence, not memory.
Reading the steps is one thing. Proving you walked them is the job.
RTI holds the submit button until every mandatory item is answered and the photos are attached, then chains the record so it can be proven untouched later.