Construction RFI template and tracking log
A one-question RFI form you can print or send, and a log that shows what you have asked, who owes you an answer and how long it has been sitting. A filled example runs a real-shaped question — a beam bearing on a wall thinner than the drawing shows — from the site to the answer and the revised detail.
Excel / Google Sheets compatible · printable form sheet · no sign-up required
Three steps to a working document
One question per RFI
An RFI asking three things comes back answering one. Split them, even when it feels like more paperwork — it is less than chasing two unanswered halves.
Cite the drawing and its revision
"A-203 rev C, detail 4" is checkable a year later. "The plans show" is not, and it is the difference between a decision you can point at and a conversation nobody remembers.
Say what you think the answer is
A proposed interpretation turns a problem the designer has to solve into one they only have to confirm. It is usually the single biggest thing you can do to get answers back faster.
Log it the day you send it
Not the day it comes back. The log's days-open column counts to the answer, or to today while it is still open — which is the number worth showing at a site meeting.
An answer to an RFI is not by itself approval of extra cost or time. If the response changes the scope, raise a change order under your contract — clarification and variation are different things, and treating one as the other is how work gets done unpaid.
When the spreadsheet stops scaling
BuildersBridge does not include an RFI or submittal workflow. What it does do is keep the completed forms filed against the job with the drawings and permits, so the answer is findable when someone asks in two years.
See how it works in BuildersBridgeCommon questions
What is an RFI in construction?
A request for information: a formal written question to the designer or owner when the drawings, specification or site conditions do not answer something you need to build. It is a record as much as a question — the response becomes part of what was agreed.
What should an RFI include?
The project and RFI number, who is asking and who must answer, the date sent and the date a response is needed, the drawing or specification reference with its revision, one clear question, your proposed interpretation if you have one, and the cost or schedule impact of waiting.
How is an RFI different from a submittal or a change order?
An RFI asks what was intended. A submittal proposes a specific product or method for approval before it is used. A change order records an agreed change to price or time. An RFI answer can lead to a change order, but it is not one, and neither is a submittal approval.
Does BuildersBridge have an RFI workflow?
No. There is no RFI or submittal module in the product today, which is why this is a standalone template rather than a feature page. Document storage against the job is there, so completed forms live with the drawings they relate to.
How long should I give for a response?
Your contract usually sets it — commonly five to ten working days. Put the date on the form rather than leaving it open, and record the date the answer actually arrives. The gap between those two is the number to raise if it becomes a pattern.