Answer an RFI

Depending on the creator and the context of an RFI, any stakeholder can assign any company responsible for answering it in its workflow. In a typical RFI workflow, an RFI is assigned to the design team, namely the architect or the engineering firms, for an authoritative response.

This article explains how a GC/SC or the party assigned as the responder to an RFI can provide their answers and forward the same to the next step as per the workflow. 

• Any user in a company with access to the RFI module can view and respond to an RFI routed to their company
• RFIs created by the foreman of the GC and the parties other than the GC staff are first routed to the GC for initial review. They can review the questions and have two options:
  • Answer the questions by themselves and close the RFI
  • Set a workflow sequence and forward the RFI for further processing, typically to the Architect for their answer. See Setup a workflow for an RFI to know more.   
• The RFIs that are awaiting your response are indicated with the tag 'You' in blue in the 'RFI' > 'Boards' interface. This includes:
  • RFIs forwarded to you by the creator;
  • RFIs delegated to you by the workflow.
• You can assess the questions and provide your responses. You can also attach: 
  • Any supporting items like drawings, photos, documents, etc.
  • Links to other project documents and items like other RFIs, Submittals, Scheduled tasks, Change Orders, etc. 
• You have the option to dynamically assign the RFI to other stakeholders by adding ad-hoc workflow steps, overriding the primary workflow. This is useful if you need clarification or a review of your responses from them.  Once the parties in the ad-hoc workflow complete their activities, the RFI returns to you and proceeds further as per the primary workflow.
• At any stage of an RFI, you can add your comments to the questions and responses given by other stakeholders.

Tip:

You can chat with the team members and the participants of the RFI. Click the button on the top right. See Chat and collaborate on RFIs for more guidance.

Respond to an RFI

You will get a notification once an RFI is assigned to you. 

• Click on the notification to open the RFI directly.

Alternatively:

• Open the project
• Click 'RFI' on the top, then choose 'Boards' from the left

The ' All RFI' screen shows the RFIs under different stages. The items that are awaiting your response are indicated with the tag 'You' in blue.

• Click the RFI card to open.

• Review the details.

You can:

• Provide your responses and comments
• Edit the workflow to change the reviewers and the allowed days for the following steps (General Contractor Only)
• Dynamically assign the RFI to a stakeholder, overriding the primary workflow if you need more clarifications or review by adding more workflow steps.
• Add watchers
• Once you are done with the review, click to forward the RFI to the next party in the workflow for their action

Answer a question

The 'Question' tab shows the list of questions and comments.

Each question and its responses are recorded on its dedicated page. The question number tabs on the top help you navigate the respective page. 

• Click the question number to open the respective question.

The question and its responses in the previous steps are shown in chronological order.

• Use the arrow at the left of the step number to expand/collapse the responses added in that step. 

Under each step, all the responses made by the members of the responsible company are shown as separate boxes.

Attachments:

• Click on the thumbnail to open it
• Hover your mouse over an attachment for the following options:
  • Click to open it on a new browser tab.
  • Click to download it to your device.
  • Click to remove it from the question.

Linked Modules:

• Hover your mouse over a thumbnail for the following options:
  • Click to open it on a new browser tab.
  • Click to download it to your device.
  • Click to remove it from the question.

Comments

The number beside the icon  at the right end of the title bar of a question/response shows the count of comments added by the participants of the RFI.  

• Click the icon to expand and view the comments  

Add your answer

• Click 'Add Answer' to enter your response 

• Enter your response in the text box
• Use the tools on the top to format your text and add emojis.
• You can add:
  • Supporting attachments
  • Links to other items

Add Supporting Attachments

• Click on the top right to add attachments like plan drawing with markups, photos, images, and/or other document files to your response:

Attach plan drawings with/without markups

• Choose 'Select From Plans' 

The plan drawings added for the project are shown as thumbnails.

• Select the plan you want to use
• Create markups if required to illustrate your question. See Markups for guidance on creating different types of markups on the plan drawing.
• Click the 'Publish' button to affix the plan drawing markup to the question.
• Repeat the process to add more plan markups

Attach photos and other documents

• Drag and drop the file to the lower pane

Alternatively,

• • Click 'Browse'
  • Navigate to the required image file and open
  • Repeat the process to add more images or documents

Add Links to other project documents (Optional)

• Click on the top right to attach links to items like Submittals, RFIs, plan sheets, plan markups, scheduled tasks, punchlist items, etc., to the question
• Choose the type of the item from the drop-down at the top

• Select the item to link
• Click 'Add'
• Repeat the process to link more items as required
• Once you are done with the attachments and links, click the button to save your response.

• Click the button at the right end to edit the response.
• Click every time to save your changes.
• Click the button at the right end to remove the response.

• Repeat the process to add your answers to other questions

Add your comments

• Click the  icon on the left of the header of a question/response box
• Click the 'Add comment' button that appears below the box.
• Enter your comment in the comment box. You can add supporting attachments and links to other items. See Add Comments in Project Documents to learn more.

Edit Workflow (Optional - General Contractor Only)

The general contractor can make changes to the current step and the following steps in the workflow as required.

• You cannot add or remove steps from the primary workflow. 
• You cannot change the company type assigned to each step in the primary workflow, but you can replace the currently assigned company with another of the same type. For example, if the company type specified in a step is 'Subcontractor,' you can change the company from Company A to Company B in the 'Company Name' column. 
• You can change the number of days allotted for the step as per the primary workflow.

To edit the workflow

• Open the 'Workflow' tab
• Click 'Edit Workflow'
• Click inside the 'Company Name' column of any of the pending steps and choose the company from the drop-down
• Double-click inside the 'Process Days' cell of the respective row and change the value
• Click 'Save' for your changes to take effect

See Edit workflow of an RFI to learn more.

Dynamically assign the RFI (Optional)

The ad-hoc workflow feature allows you to dynamically assign the RFI to stakeholders on the go, deviating from the primary workflow. This is useful if you need clarification or a review of your responses from them.  Once the parties in the ad-hoc workflow complete their activities, the RFI returns to you and proceeds further as per the primary workflow.

• You can add ad-hoc workflow steps before or after you add your response for the current step

To add ad-hoc workflow steps

• Click the 'Add Workflow Steps' button
• Specify the next action, the company name, and the allowed days for the step
• Click 'Add Row' and repeat the process to add more steps 
• Click 'Submit'

The RFI automatically moves to the first step in the ad-hoc workflow. The members from the respective company are notified about the assignment. The workflow of the RFI is also auto-updated with the new steps. You can view the new one under the 'Workflow' tab.

 See Assign RFI manually to learn more.

Add Watchers

You can add people from your company as watchers of the RFI and keep them updated on every progress state of the RFI. The watchers can see the activity log and workflow of the RFI.

• Start typing the name of the person in the text field under 'Watchers' and choose from the options.
• Click 'Add'
• Repeat the process to add more watchers
• Once you are done with the answers, click and confirm your action to forward the RFI to the next party in the workflow.