How to Respond to a Construction RFI – If you are an architect, engineer, or other specialist, you should respond promptly, cooperatively, and completely to RFIs — doing so helps the project and generates goodwill with contractors and subcontractors.

• Failing to respond to an RFI is a big mistake.
• In the Navigant study cited earlier, 22 percent of RFIs never received a response.
• Sometimes, architects do not respond because they believe that the construction documents adequately address the question.
• However, failing to reply to RFIs can create legal liability.

So, always respond, even if only to point out where you provided a particular answer in the original plans. Read the RFI carefully, so you fully understand the question. Make your answer clear and specific. Provide a solution, and give an example if possible.

How do I respond to an RFI request?

How to respond to an RFI in 3 steps – With response to RFI, follow the same approach as other questionnaires you respond to on behalf of your organization.

1. Make sure the opportunity is the right fit before you spend time on the RFI response. Comb through the RFI to understand what this organization is looking for. If you feel like your product or service will meet their needs, begin your RFI response.
2. Check that your past responses are up-to-date so you don’t end up wasting time during RFI response content creation. Having an Content Library saves a lot of hours because you’re not pulling content from multiple places.
3. Know who to bring in from your organization for accurate and impactful RFI response content. Leverage subject matter experts—have an open communication plan already in place for seamless team collaboration.

How do you respond to an RFI example?

Pick up the phone and call them! – Look at the RFI letter you received. Do you see a phone number somewhere? Pick up the phone and dial that number. Say this: “Hey John, I just got your RFI. Really awesome that you guys included us. I need five minutes of your time to ask a few follow-up questions, and make sure that we can make a good decision if we want to be a part of this or not.” That’s it.

How long do you have to reply to and RFI?

Whenever possible, the GOED will advocate for two weeks to respond to an RFI; one week for the communities and one week for GOED to assemble the final packet. However, it’s not unusual for an RFI response to be shortened to one or two days. At the most, you have one week to gather your information.

Why should I respond to an RFI?

An RFI should Answer: – “What don’t we know that we need to know in order to find vendors that could potentially fulfill our requirements? Are there any new technologies or cost saving solutions in the marketplace now?” The RFI Process is Good for Procurement and Great for Vendors: The RFI process aids Procurement in knowing about existing and new suppliers.

It helps them build a database of potential organizations and their capabilities. Responding to RFI’s is good for Vendors. It helps them better understand Procurement’s sourcing needs, and how to become better at fulfilling those needs. Vendors can build this understanding into their Biz-Dev, R&D and other market-oriented strategies.

Finally, going through the RFI process signals to vendors that they have an opportunity to be included in the formal RFP process – if they respond helpfully. Once the RFI Responses are reviewed, this will lead to the next stage: issuing the Request for Proposal.

• Some RFPs will be released on public bid-portals, others could be by ‘invitation only’ to the qualified vendors short-listed through the RFI process.
• Good for Business: Vendors tell us that going through the RFI process was good for their business.
• It gave them more insight on their customers; helped clarify the value of their own offering; and is an excellent way to get in front of potential new customers.

It also allowed them to introduce solutions that end up being written into an RFP. Are you responding or considering responding to an RFI? Our RFP writing team can help you think through these important response strategies. Karen McElroy is the CEO of Boardroom Metrics. She leads an experienced team of business writers across Canada and the United States. Dedicated to helping clients win competitive RFP/RFI/RFQ and Proposal pursuits, Karen is known for her unfailing responsiveness, lively personality and wealth of RFP and Proposal bid writing experience.

What is a RFI response?

A request for information, or RFI for short, is often the first step in your procurement process, so it’s crucial to get the format right, as the clarity of your request determines the quality of your vendor responses.

What is an RFI in construction terms?

Don’t be afraid to follow up on an unanswered RFI – When you’ve followed the correct protocols yet still did not receive a response to our RFI, it’s standard practice to follow up with the recipient. A phone call or email to the right person can go a long way towards moving your RFI through the pipeline.

1. Think carefully about submitting additional RFIs containing the same exact request as this can clog the pipeline.
2. In this article, we discussed the RFI construction term at great length.
3. You should now know what an RFI is and how to handle it effectively.
4. To summarize, the term RFI in construction refers to a request for information.

Stakeholders on a project routinely use RFIs as a means of obtaining clarification and highlighting issues that need to be addressed. While more than 20% of RFIs go unanswered, parties can considerably increase their likelihood of getting a response by following protocols, being specific, and submitting requests early.

What do you do with an RFI?

An RFI (request for information) is a formal process for gathering information from potential suppliers of a good or service. RFIs are intended to be written by customers and sent to potential suppliers. An RFI is typically the first and most broad series of requests intended to narrow down a list of potential vendor candidates.

RFIs can be very useful in situations where an organization has little knowledge on possible vendors and wants to reduce the time and cost of evaluating vendors. RFIs are often used in a variety of instances, for example, in making major IT (information technology) purchases. The goal of using an RFI is to gather information on a market in a formal, structured way.

The document should identify the requirements an organization has while requesting specific answers to how the vendor will meet them. To help identify differences among vendors, a good RFI will also focus on requirements that are unique to the inquiring business and on concerns that are less likely to be addressed by every vendor.

How long does architect have to respond to RFI?

Expect Responses in Realistic Timeframes – First, read the contract thoroughly. Know what qualifies as an RFI and what does not according to the contract you signed. Many RFIs may have been answered within the original contract documents. If you don’t read through the paperwork with a fine tooth comb, you’ll be pulling out hair needlessly.

And your RFI won’t be responded to. Yes, it takes time in the beginning to read through seemingly endless paperwork written in legalese, but it will make your job easier in the end. On a typical project of a year or less, you could be serving up to an average of 270 RFIs and if a project lasts a duration of five or more years, that number can increase to upwards of 1400.

In addition, don’t be caught off guard if you get a response from a request that indicates the recipient has an “allotted” amount of time to respond to your request. Many current contracts are now defining timeframes for response rates based on the recipient.

For example, “engineer is given a maximum of seven days to respond to the RFI.” According to the Navigant Construction Forum™ there are varying levels of complexity that determine RFI review and response time. Based on feedback from interviewed construction firm staff, design professionals estimate that the average RFI would require about eight hours to receive, log, review and respond.

While many requests can be fielded and replied to within an hour, others may take days to research and provide an appropriate response. According to data from the Navigant study, average reply times can range from 6.4 days to 10 days based on region, project size, and duration.

• Average reply times can range from 6.4 days to 10 days based on region, project size, and duration.
• Dependent on the discipline involved in the request, a paint color question would be easier to answer than an engineering question.
• Understanding those differences, it’s important to think ahead.
• Submitting an RFI when the condition is critical will more than likely result in delays.

However, reviewing foreseeable issues and sending RFIs ahead of time leaves you ample breathing room for getting a response in time for the job related to the question at hand to be completed. If you realize that certain categories are requiring more clarification, then grouping together issues may help speed up RFI response times for difficult aspects of a project.

1. Lastly, understanding what is “mission critical” and what can be placed on the back burner will go a long way in helping answers get fast-tracked.
2. Be specific in your requests, and level them according to project urgency.
3. Marking your RFIs as “high-priority” can help increase response times, but be sure not to cry wolf too many times.

If everything is urgent, then nothing is. Push through those answers you need that may delay project schedules, may threaten the safety of the project or your employees, or may require large changes to the project budget. Whether or not the white color paint should be bright white or eggshell white can wait until the more important questions are answered.

What do you do with an RFI?

An RFI (request for information) is a formal process for gathering information from potential suppliers of a good or service. RFIs are intended to be written by customers and sent to potential suppliers. An RFI is typically the first and most broad series of requests intended to narrow down a list of potential vendor candidates.

1. RFIs can be very useful in situations where an organization has little knowledge on possible vendors and wants to reduce the time and cost of evaluating vendors.
2. RFIs are often used in a variety of instances, for example, in making major IT (information technology) purchases.
3. The goal of using an RFI is to gather information on a market in a formal, structured way.

The document should identify the requirements an organization has while requesting specific answers to how the vendor will meet them. To help identify differences among vendors, a good RFI will also focus on requirements that are unique to the inquiring business and on concerns that are less likely to be addressed by every vendor.