RFI response time: why RFIs stall and how to keep them moving
Most RFIs do not stall because the question is hard. They stall because nobody owns the next step. How to write, track and follow up on RFIs.
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8 min read
A framing crew is scheduled for Monday. The RFI about beam bearing at grid C went out nine days ago, and the log still says open. Most RFIs stall for the same few reasons, and each one has a practical fix.
Too many open RFIs to track by hand? Nori can keep the list and draft the follow-ups for you to approve.
What is a normal RFI response time?
The most cited benchmark comes from a 2013 Navigant Construction Forum report. It analyzed RFI data from 1,362 projects started between 2001 and 2012, about 1.1 million RFIs in total. Most of the projects were in Australia and New Zealand, so treat the figures as a reference, not a rule.
The findings:
The average project had 796 RFIs.
The average first reply came in 6.4 days. The median reply took 9.7 days.
Projects of one year or less had a median reply time of seven days. Projects of two years or more approached 10 days.
The report suggests a typical response time of 10 working days, adjusted for the urgency and complexity of the question. That is a reasonable default if your contract is silent. If your contract sets a window, the contract governs.
The figure that deserves more attention is the RFIs that were never answered. The share of RFIs with no reply ranged from slightly less than 19% in the Middle East to an average of 35% in Asia. An unanswered RFI does not disappear. It becomes an assumption, a delay or a claim.
Why do RFIs stall?
When an RFI goes quiet, the cause is usually one of these:
The question is unclear. The reviewer has to work out what is being asked before answering. That often means a clarifying email and another week.
It went to the wrong person. It reached someone who can only forward it. Each forward adds a day or two.
There is no real due date. "ASAP" is not a date. The Navigant report recommends it not be used at all.
It is buried in a thread. An RFI inside an email chain with forty replies is easy to lose, even for the person who intends to answer it.
Nobody follows up. The log says "open," and nobody knows who is expected to act next.
Only the first cause involves the substance of the question. The other four are process, which means they can be fixed without anyone working harder.
What does a slow RFI cost?
Slow answers cost in two ways.
The first is the effort to process the RFI itself. Navigant estimated about eight hours and $1,080 to receive, log, review and respond to a typical RFI, at 2013 rates. Across 796 RFIs, that is roughly 6,368 hours and $859,680 per project in review effort alone. A vague RFI that needs a second round costs that effort twice.
The second cost is the work that waits. Crews get resequenced, or they build on an assumption and redo it later. Procore's 2025 research estimates that 18% of project time is lost searching for data and 28% is wasted on rework. Not all of that comes from RFIs, but an open question is a reliable way to add to both.
How do you write an RFI that gets answered?
An RFI is easiest to answer when the reviewer can resolve it in one sitting. This format follows the fields the Navigant report recommends:
Field | What to write |
|---|---|
Number and title | One subject per RFI. "RFI 042: Beam B4 bearing at grid C/3" |
References | Exact drawing, detail and specification section |
Question | One sentence, ending in a question mark |
Why it matters | The work it affects and when that work starts |
Proposed answer | Your interpretation or suggested fix, with a photo or sketch |
Cost or time impact | Yes, no or unknown, with a rough estimate if you have one |
Needed by | A real date, tied to the schedule |
Responder | The person with authority to answer |
The proposed answer does most of the work. "Confirm we can do X" is faster to answer than "What should we do?" Often the reply is one line: correct, proceed.
A complete RFI reads like this:
RFI 042: Beam B4 bearing at grid C/3. Reference S-201, detail 4, and specification section 05 12 00. Question: can the bearing plate at C/3 be shifted 2 inches east to clear the existing duct? Proposed answer: shift the plate and add one anchor, per the attached sketch. Cost impact: none expected. Time impact: none if answered by October 16. Framing at grid C starts October 20. Responder: Daniel, structural engineer of record.
Timing matters as much as format. The report recommends submitting RFIs as soon as an issue arises and at least 10 days before the response is needed. Batching them for the end of the week costs days you may not have.
How can you reduce the number of RFIs?
Some RFIs are unavoidable. Existing conditions surprise everyone, and no document set is complete. Others can be prevented.
Before work starts in each area, review the drawings with the superintendent and the key trades. A question raised then costs less than one raised mid-installation.
When several questions concern the same area, discuss them in one coordination meeting first, then issue RFIs only for what remains open.
Track RFIs by drawing and specification section. When several cluster around the same detail, the detail itself may need revision.
The goal is not zero RFIs. It is RFIs that are necessary, clear and answered on time.
How should you track RFIs each week?
New software is not required. A log and a habit are.
Daily, five minutes. Check what came in and what is due in the next three days. Confirm each new RFI reached the right responder.
Weekly, before the OAC meeting. Sort open RFIs by needed-by date. Flag anything past due or blocking work, and put that list on the agenda.
At the meeting. For each flagged RFI, get a name and a date, and record both in the minutes.
After the answer. Close it in the log, tell the field, and check whether the answer changes cost or time. If it does, start the change process the same week.
Best for: any project with more than a few RFIs open at once. On larger jobs, name one person as RFI coordinator, as the Navigant report suggests, so the log has a single owner.
The log itself needs only a few columns: number, subject, date sent, responder, needed by, status and date closed. If the contractor runs RFIs in their own platform, your log can mirror their numbers. The purpose is one list that shows who is expected to act next.
When should you follow up on an RFI?
Follow-ups work best when they are predictable. When everyone knows the schedule, nobody takes a reminder personally.
Two working days before it is due. A short reminder.
The day after it is due. A direct follow-up with the RFI number, the date sent, the date needed and the affected work.
Three working days overdue. A phone call, then an email that confirms what was said.
The first message can be one line:
Hi Daniel, a reminder that RFI 042, beam bearing at C/3, is due Thursday. Framing at grid C starts the following Monday.
The overdue follow-up carries more detail:
Hi Daniel, RFI 042 was sent on October 6 and was needed by October 16. We have not received a response. Framing at grid C is scheduled for October 20 and depends on this answer. Can you confirm a date today?
Keep every follow-up in writing, even when the real conversation happened by phone. It takes one minute and keeps the record complete.
How do you escalate an overdue RFI?
If an RFI is still open after a phone call, take it up one level. Put it on the OAC meeting agenda and get a committed date recorded in the meeting minutes. If it is holding up critical work, tell the owner's project manager directly and explain what the team will do in the meantime.
Two principles keep escalation professional. Escalate the issue, not the person. And state the schedule impact in plain numbers, such as days, crews or areas on hold, so it reads as a fact rather than an accusation.
If the delay begins to affect cost or time, read the notice clause in your contract that same day. Notice windows can be short and strict, and a late notice can weaken an otherwise valid request.
What happens after an RFI is answered?
The answer is not the end of the RFI. Three steps close it properly.
Tell the field. The superintendent and the affected trade need the answer, not only the project manager. Send it to the people who will build from it.
Check for changes. If the answer changes drawings, specifications, cost or time, it may require a change order or a revised drawing. Start that process while the context is fresh.
Keep the link. Record the date closed and link the response in the log, so the question and its answer stay together.
Months later, someone will ask why the bearing at C/3 looks the way it does. A closed RFI with a linked answer resolves that in one search.
How Nori helps
I watch email and Slack (WhatsApp and text are coming) for new RFIs and for answers that arrive outside the formal log.
I keep the list of open RFIs with responder and needed-by date, and draft follow-ups with the RFI number, the dates and the affected work.
You review and approve every message before it is sent. Technical answers stay with your team.
I keep a record of when each RFI was sent, followed up and answered, which is useful at the OAC meeting and later if a delay is questioned.
Nori is in early access, by invitation, at heynori.ai.
