Creating and Managing RFIs

This guide walks you through the full lifecycle of an RFI: creating it, adding recipients, distributing it, responding, and closing it out.

Creating a New RFI

Step 1: Open the RFI Form

1. Navigate to RFIs in the left sidebar
2. Click the New RFI button in the top right

Step 2: Fill in Basic Information

• Project (required) - Select the project this RFI belongs to
• Subject (required) - A brief title for the RFI (max 500 characters)
• Question (required) - The full question or clarification request (max 10,000 characters)

Step 3: Set Priority and Assignment

• Priority - Choose the urgency level:
  • Critical - Blocking work, needs immediate attention
  • High - Urgent, should be addressed within days
  • Normal - Standard priority (default)
  • Low - Informational, no urgency
• Assigned To - Optionally assign to a specific team member

Step 4: Add Recipients

Recipients are the people who will receive and can respond to the RFI.

Team Members:

• Check the boxes next to internal team members from the scrollable list
• They'll access the RFI through their normal Site Service Pro login

External Contacts:

• Check the boxes next to project contacts (imported from the project's contact list)
• They'll receive a secure public link to view and respond

Manual Email Entry:

• Enter an email address, name, and company
• Click Add to add them to the recipient list
• Useful for one-off contacts not in your system

Step 5: Attach Files (Optional)

• Click the file upload area to select files
• Up to 5 files per RFI, 25MB max per file
• Supported formats: PDF, Word, Excel, DXF, DWG, JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, WebP
• Review the file list and remove any you don't need

Step 6: Create the RFI

• Click Create Draft to save the RFI
• The RFI is now in Draft status, visible only to you

Submitting and Distributing

Send for Review

Once your draft is ready:

1. Open the RFI from the list
2. Click Send for Review
3. The status changes to Submit, making it visible to your team

Send via Email

To distribute the RFI to recipients:

1. Open the RFI detail page
2. Click Send via Email
3. Select which recipients should receive the email
4. Click Send

Internal recipients receive a link to view the RFI in the app. External recipients receive a secure public link where they can respond without an account.

The RFI Detail Page

When you open an RFI, you'll see:

Left Side

• Subject and Question - The full RFI content with any attachments
• Correspondence Thread - All responses in chronological order, color-coded:
  • Blue (building icon) - Internal team responses
  • Green (globe icon) - External responses
• Add Response Form - Submit new responses with optional file attachments

Right Side

• Recipients - Who has been sent this RFI (with type badges: Int/Ext/CC)
• Public Response Link - A copyable URL you can share for external responses
• Details - Created date, creator, assignee, last updated

Responding to an RFI

Internal Response

1. Open the RFI
2. Scroll to the Add Response section
3. Type your response (max 10,000 characters)
4. Optionally attach files (same limits as creation)
5. Click Submit Response

From the RFI List

1. Find the RFI in the list
2. Click the chat bubble icon in the Actions column
3. Enter your response in the modal

Closing an RFI

Once an RFI has been satisfactorily answered:

1. Open the RFI detail page
2. Click Close RFI
3. The status changes to Closed
4. No further responses can be submitted
5. The public response link is automatically disabled

The closing user and timestamp are recorded and displayed on the detail page.

Editing an RFI

You can edit an RFI only while it's in Submit status:

1. Open the RFI from the list
2. Click the pencil icon in the Actions column, or click Edit on the detail page
3. Modify the subject, question, priority, or assignment
4. Click Update RFI

Note: Recipients and attachments set during creation cannot be modified through the edit form. Use the Add Recipients button on the detail page to add more recipients.

Filtering and Finding RFIs

The RFI list page provides several filters:

The stats cards at the top show quick counts:

• Total RFIs - All RFIs matching your filters
• Pending Review - RFIs in Submit or Review status
• Responded - RFIs that have received responses
• Closed - Resolved RFIs

Tips for Effective RFIs

• Be specific in your subject - "Electrical conduit routing at Column B7" is better than "Question about electrical"
• Include reference details - Mention drawing numbers, spec sections, or revision dates in your question
• Attach relevant drawings - Highlight or mark up the area in question before attaching
• Set priority accurately - Reserve Critical for work-stopping issues to keep urgency meaningful
• Assign to the right person - If you know who should answer, assign directly to avoid delays
• Close promptly - Once answered, close the RFI to keep your open count accurate