RFI turnaround agreed early: the days, the priority rule and the escalation
The library team is about to issue its first RFIs. The coordinator's log has dates but no agreed definition of urgent. The project manager wants the consultant and trades to understand response needs and escalation before the first late answer affects a workface.
Agree the response process early: applicable requirements, realistic priority definitions, needed-by dates and named escalation contacts. Record what the authorized parties actually accept and how it relates to the contract. A meeting minute helps preserve the arrangement, but should not be assumed to amend terms or guarantee every answer. The log must show whether a request is complete, awaiting clarification or ready for a substantive response.
Give the response log an agreed working basis
- Check the existing requirements. Have the commercial team identify contractual response, submission and notice provisions. Confirm the appropriate recipients and issue method. Do not negotiate a convenient informal target without knowing which formal obligations remain in place.
- Define priority with real work needs. Agree what information makes a request urgent, including the affected activity and decision date. Separate planning urgency from an immediate safety issue. Calling every question urgent removes useful distinctions and does not make unreviewed work acceptable.
- Discuss realistic timing and completion. Agree how time is measured and how missing information or specialist review is handled. State calendar or working days where relevant. Keep a needed-by date connected to the programme rather than using a default interval that arrives after the work is supposed to begin.
- Name review and escalation contacts. Decide who checks the open list and what happens when a response date is at risk or passed. Include backups and the information required for escalation. Do not assume a principal's call substitutes for an actual technical answer or required formal step.
- Record, verify and use the arrangement. Confirm the approved wording and necessary authority, then apply it in the log and regular review. Show actual progress and unresolved questions. Revisit unrealistic targets through the proper process instead of treating a missed date as automatic fault, compensation or permission to build.
Common mistakes
- Leaving working versus calendar days undefined.
- Calling every question urgent.
- Treating minuted targets as automatic contract amendments.
Checklist
The agreed RFI process record
- Contract requirements and recipients checked.
- Defined priorities and required information.
- Real needed-by dates.
- Timing basis and incomplete-request status.
- Review, backup and escalation contacts.
- Authority and actual agreement confirmed.
Check your understanding
A minuted target is missed. Does that automatically authorize the proposed solution or establish your delay claim?
