Changes to the contract documents can and will occur throughout a project and can be initiated many
different ways. Therefore, all issues must be documented for implementation into the project and so
appropriate time cost can be applied and approved for the issue if necessary. The Prime Contractor and
its subcontractors must be paid for legitimate changes and obtain appropriate time extensions. While
you should document the issues like they will be a claim you should working with the owner and architect
in an up front manner to resolve all issues without going to claim. Claims only cost time and money. The
following is a description of documents that initiate changes to the project.
- RFP - Request For Proposal. An RFP is issued by the architect or owner and reflects changes that
they want to make to the project. The RFP will note the work to be changed and request a cost
within a certain amount of days. The RFP must be issued for pricing to all subcontractors
involved. A letter should be sent to the subcontractor with the document. Prior to proceeding with
the work all cost issues must be resolved and an authorized approval in place. The RFP may also
be called a QR or Quotation Request, PR - Proposal Request. - SI - Supplemental Instructions - SI's are issued by the architect when they notice a conflict in the
contract documents or a clarification needs to be made prior to the issue being noticed by the
contractor and an RFI being written. Normally these issues are just clarifications and will not
involve cost changes. However, all SI's should be reviewed for costs. A letter should be sent to
the subcontractor with the document. Prior to proceeding with the work all cost issues must be
resolved and an authorized approval in place. An SI can also be called a Clarification, Memo of
Clarification, or Sketch. - Owner Verbal Direction. When the owner requests work to be done verbally without written
direction, an RFI must be written immediately confirming the conversation and the scope of work.
Once the architect and owner have confirmed the work in writing, follow the PCO cost procedures
prior to proceeding with the work. - Architect Verbal Direction- When the architect requests work to be done verbally without written
direction, an RFI must be written immediately confirming the conversation and the scope of work.
Once the work has been confirmed by the architect and owner in writing, follow the PCO cost
procedures prior to proceeding with the work. - CCD - Construction Change Directive. Due to the tedious nature of issuing Prime Contract
Change Orders, many times several approved changes in the work will be lumped into one Prime
Contract Change Order. The CCD is used to approve the work and costs and guarantee that the
costs for the work will be included in the next Prime Contract Change order. A CCD can also be
called a Work Authorization. - RFI - Request For Information. The contractor or its subcontractors generate the RFI. The
response to the RFI may involve costs. Prior to proceeding with the work all cost issues must be
resolved and an authorized approval in place. The RFI may also be called an RFD - Request for
Direction. The following will give a full description of the RFI procedures.
Distribution and pricing of these items is described in the PCO section. Note: ANY OF THE FOLLOWING
DOCUMENTS MAY INVOLVE COSTS AND CHANGES TO THE PRIME CONTRACT AMOUNT. PRIOR TO
PROCEEDING WITH ANY WORK INVOLVING COSTS, THE COSTS SHOULD BE AUTHORIZED IN
WRITING BY AN AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE OWNER. THAT REPRESENTATIVE MUST
BE DETERMINED PRIOR TO STARTING THE PROJECT.
Request For Information Procedures
The Request For Information is to obtain information that is not shown or is unclear on the contract
drawings. The Superintendent must review the RFI for accuracy and necessity prior to submitting the
question to the architect. The following items describe the steps that must be taken for submitting and
tracking Requests for Information:
Create RFI log -
Create a binder to file RFI’s (3” with 50 RFI’s per binder). See the filing section
Use the RFI to confirm-
- Discrepancies or lack of information in the contract documents. In most cases, the contract
documents require the contractor to notify the architect of discrepancies in the drawings and
specifications. The contract documents must be reviewed thoroughly to determine if there is a
true discrepancy prior to sending the RFI. This is especially true when subcontractors submit
RFI's. - Owner and Architect revisions verbally communicated in the field or by telephone. Many times the
owner and architect will request minor changes or resolve problems in the field. Confirmation in
writing from those entities is usually slow to be transmitted. The Contractor should not proceed
with any work without written authorization. In an effort to work with the owner and architect, write
an RFI stating the discussion and ask the statements to be confirmed. This will usually speed up
the process. If there is a cost involved, follow the procedures noted in the PCO section prior to
proceeding with the work. - Notification of non-response to earlier RFI’s. As a last resort to late RFI responses submit an
RFI noting the outstanding RFI's. The RFI can be more useful than a letter because it can be
tracked. When a schedule delay needs to be proven, the fastest and most simple way to prove
your position is to show the log and the days outstanding. Letters would be the final effort and
used as back up to support the RFI's and logs. - Stop work due to lack of information. There are occasions where the architect or owner needs
time to resolve a problem. They may request the contractor to stop work in an area. The request
may not affect the schedule at that time, but experience shows that the resolutions to issues
usually take longer than originally thought. Therefore, write an RFI confirming the work stop
request and note the date when the stoppage will begin to affect the schedule. The contractor is
now on record for this issue and the tracking process has started even if it is never needed.
Review the RFI with the Superintendent for correctness and necessity. (Including the following. )
- Review the RFI for any potential cost impact. Costs for RFI’s usually depend on the response to
the RFI. If there is no other way to resolve the issue, and the RFI response is evident, an
approximate cost and time impacts should be submitted with the RFI. This will save time in
approval of the change and proceeding. Assign a PCO# to track the costs in the original estimate
column in Prolog. - Review the RFI for any schedule impact. Beside the potential delay by the RFI response time,
consideration of time implementing the resolution and lead times for materials must be noted.
Note the potential delays on the RFI so proper consideration can be given by the architect and
owner when determining the response. - Determine the date a response is required and include on RFI form. Be realistic with the
response-required date. If an issue needs an immediate response note the date not just
immediately or ASAP. If the response will not affect the schedule right away, note the realistic date
the response is required.
The RFI must include a description that will allow reference to the drawings such as sheet numbers,
details for room numbers.
Use transmittal or FAX transmission report to confirm transmission and attach it to the RFI. Since the
RFI is a starter for the issue, it will be critical to know the date if there is a schedule delay. By having the
transmittal and fax transmission, there will be no question of when the issue was received by the
architect or owner
Log all information. All of the information noted in the RFI will be automatically entered in the RFI log in
Prolog. The description should use the key words and areas ( building, room detail and description of
issue) of the mentioned in the RFI. Remember you are logging this for other people to find it 3 months
later. Use a description that will be a good representation of the RFI.
Sort the log and transmit outstanding items to the architect daily or weekly. Transmitting a list of
outstanding RFI's on a weekly basis will allow the architect to have an understanding of the priority RFI’s
so there will be no question of which responses are needed first. Outstanding RFI log must be
transmitted, at a minimum, on a weekly basis to the architect.
Review response for completeness with the superintendent. Note any items in the response that may
be verified by the contractor. The superintendent is responsible for confirming this information has been
determined, provided and transmitted to the appropriate subcontractors.
Determine subcontractors affected with the superintendent. The subcontractor writing the RFI may not
be the only one affected by the response. The superintendent or Project Manager should write the
subcontractors affected on the RFI. This will allow everyone coming in contact with that RFI to know to
whom it was sent.
Transmit the RFI to all appropriate subcontractors and the contractor’s personnel. The response
must be faxed to the main office of the subcontractor. Copies must also be made for the field foreman of
the subcontractor and the Superintendent, Project Manager and Foremen of the contractor.
Log response date from architect.
File RFI response on top of original RFI in the binder (see filing section)
Make a copy for the as-built drawings. Usually the number of RFI’s prohibits noting the full response or
taping the RFI on the contract drawings. It would make the drawings to cluttered and hard to read. If this
is the case, note the RFI # on the drawings with a brief description and make a copy of the RFI to put in
another binder for reference. The Binder will be turned over to the owner with the record drawings so be
sure that it is maintained daily.
NOTE: PRIOR TO POSTING RECORD DOCUMENTS, THE SPECIFICATIONS MUST BE REVIEWED
WITH THE ARCHITECT TO REACH AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW CLOSE OUT DOCUMENTS AND
RECORD DRAWINGS WILL BE COMPILED, POSTED AND TUNED OVER AT THE END OF THE
PROJECT. THIS UNDERSTANDING MUST BE DOCUMENTED IN WRITING TO THE ARCHITECT.
legal advice and does not represent advice with regard to specific practices or undertakings and construction reference.com shall not be responsible for
any damages of any kind including direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages that may arise out of or result from reliance on the
information provided on this web site.
