How to run construction administration without the inbox

On an active project, an architect can receive a dozen RFIs, submittals and field questions in a week. Each one is small, and all of them arrive in the same inbox as everything else. This is a workflow that keeps construction administration on a schedule you set.

Too many CA items to track by hand? Nori can keep the open items list current and draft the follow-ups for you to approve.

What does construction administration involve?

CA is not difficult in the way design is difficult. It is constant. In a single week on an active project, you might handle:

• RFIs from the contractor, some urgent, some not.

• Submittals and shop drawings, often routed to consultants and back.

• Field reports after site visits.

• OAC meeting minutes and the action items they create.

• Change requests, substitution requests and pay application reviews.

• Correspondence that touches all of the above.

Most of it arrives by email, in no particular order. The risk is not any single item. It is the item that waits in a thread until it becomes urgent.

The cost shows up in the numbers. Procore's 2025 research estimates that 18% of project time is lost searching for data and 28% is wasted on rework. Some of that rework begins with an answer that arrived late.

Start with one open items list

The most useful change is to stop treating the inbox as the to-do list. Keep one list per project with every open CA item, whatever its type.

If the contractor runs RFIs and submittals in their own platform, your list can point to their numbers. What matters is one place that answers three questions: what is open, who has it, and when it is due.

The "ball in court" column is the one that matters. Most CA delays are not caused by hard questions. They are caused by items sitting with someone who does not know they have them.

Best for: projects with more than a handful of open items at a time, or any project where consultants and the contractor share the work.

Give every item an owner and a due date

An item without an owner belongs to everyone, which means it belongs to no one. Assign each item to a person, not a company. "Structural" is a company. "Ana at the structural office" is an owner.

Due dates come from three places:

1. The contract. General conditions and Division 01 often set response times for RFIs and submittal reviews. Enter those dates on day one.

2. The schedule. A submittal tied to a long lead item is more urgent than its contractual date suggests. Ask the contractor which items are on the critical path.

3. Practice. A field report is most useful within a few days of the visit, while photos and observations are fresh.

What to set up before construction starts

An hour of setup at the start saves weeks later.

• Read the CA section of your agreement and note what it includes: the number of site visits, meetings and review cycles.

• Agree with the contractor on how RFIs and submittals will be submitted, numbered and returned.

• Confirm who on the owner's side can approve changes, and how they prefer to receive them.

• Create the open items list and share it with your team and consultants.

The first point matters more than it seems. Site visits or review cycles beyond the agreement are usually additional services. When the list makes them visible early, there is time to discuss them with the client before they become expectations.

A weekly construction administration rhythm

CA works best on a rhythm, not on alerts. A simple week:

• Monday. Review the open items list. Sort by due date. Note anything blocked.

• Daily, 20 minutes. Log new items as they arrive and answer what you can in one pass.

• Midweek. Send follow-ups on anything approaching its due date.

• After every site visit or meeting. Write the field report or minutes the same day, and add new action items to the list.

• Friday. Send a short status note to the client and contractor: what closed, what is open, what you are waiting on.

The Friday note can be brief:

Status for the week of October 6. Closed: RFI-012, SUB-029. Open with the structural engineer: RFI-014, due October 8. Waiting on the client: paint colors, due October 7. Next site visit: Thursday, October 9.

The note makes the ball in court visible to everyone. People tend to answer faster when their name is on a shared list.

How should RFIs and submittals fit into the list?

Treat them as items like any other, with two additions. Record the reference the contractor uses, so both sides speak about the same RFI or submittal. And record whether the item affects work on the critical path, because that changes the order in which you answer.

For RFIs, the response window and the way you follow up deserve their own process. I cover that in detail in why RFIs stall and how to keep them moving.

For submittals routed to consultants, note two dates: when it went out to the consultant and when you need it back. The second date should leave you enough time for your own review before the contractual deadline.

When should you follow up on an open item?

Follow-up timing is where most CA lists stall. A useful default:

• Two days before the due date. A short reminder with the item number and the date.

• On the due date. A direct note that says what is blocked if the answer does not arrive.

• After the due date. A follow-up that names the schedule impact, copied to the person who can unblock it.

Keep each message short and specific:

Hi Ana, following up on RFI-014, stair stringer connection at level 2, due today. The contractor is holding fabrication until we respond. Can you send your answer by end of day tomorrow?

That message gets answered. "Any update?" often does not.

If a follow-up happens by phone or WhatsApp, which is often where people answer fastest, confirm the outcome in writing so it reaches the formal record.

How do you close an item properly?

An item is not closed when you send the answer. It is closed when the person who needed it has it and the record shows it. For each item:

• Send the response through the agreed channel.

• Note the date closed and link to the response.

• If the answer changes drawings, specifications or cost, record it in your decision log and flag it for the next drawing update.

• Remove it from the active list and keep it in the archive.

Closed items are where future questions get answered. Six months from now, someone will ask why the stair connection looks the way it does. The answer should take one search, not an afternoon.

Protect time for design

The aim of a CA process is not only fewer late answers. It is predictable time for everything else. When open items are handled in a fixed daily window and a weekly review, the rest of the week is available for design work, consultant coordination and the decisions that need full attention.

A practical rule helps. If an item can be answered in under five minutes, answer it during the daily window. If it needs more, give it a date on the list and return to it at a time you choose.

How Nori helps

• I watch email and Slack (WhatsApp and text are coming) for new RFIs, submittals and action items, and add them to the open items list with the owner and due date.

• I draft follow-ups when an item approaches its due date, with the item number, the date and what it is holding up.

• You review and approve every message before it is sent. Technical answers stay with your team.

• I keep a record of what is open, who has it and what was closed, and I can draft the Friday status note from it.

Nori is in early access, by invitation, at heynori.ai.