How to Reduce RFIs in Construction

The True Cost of RFIs

Requests for Information (RFIs) are one of the most expensive and time-consuming aspects of construction project management. Industry data shows that the average RFI costs approximately $1,080 to process, with response times averaging 9.7 days. For a typical commercial project, this adds up quickly—projects often see 10-15 RFIs per $1 million in project value.

But the direct cost is just the beginning. Each RFI creates a ripple effect: crews waiting for answers, schedules slipping, and coordination gaps widening. The real cost of RFIs includes delayed project timelines, strained relationships between stakeholders, and the compounding effect of problems discovered too late.

Why RFIs Happen

Most RFIs stem from issues that could have been caught during plan review:

• Coordination conflicts between architectural, structural, and MEP drawings
• Missing or unclear dimensions that leave room for interpretation
• Specification discrepancies between drawings and specs
• Code compliance gaps that get flagged during construction
• Constructability issues that only become apparent in the field

The common thread? These are issues hidden in the complexity of construction documents—often across hundreds of pages that no human can thoroughly review in a reasonable timeframe.

Strategies to Reduce RFIs

1. Front-Load Your Plan Review

The earlier you catch an issue, the cheaper it is to fix. Invest time in thorough plan review before construction begins. This means checking for coordination between disciplines, verifying dimensions, and flagging ambiguities before they become field problems.

2. Standardize Your Review Process

Create checklists for common issues. Ensure every set of drawings gets reviewed for the same categories: coordination, dimensions, specifications, code compliance, and constructability. Consistency catches problems that ad-hoc reviews miss.

3. Use Technology to Scale Your Review

Manual review has limits. AI-powered tools can analyze hundreds of drawing pages in minutes, flagging potential issues with exact locations. This doesn't replace human judgment—it augments it, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.

4. Improve Communication Early

Many RFIs result from assumptions that could have been clarified upfront. Hold coordination meetings before construction. Get the architect, engineer, and contractor in the same room (or call) to walk through complex areas of the project.

How Articulate Helps

Articulate catches issues before they become RFIs. Our AI analyzes your construction drawings and identifies coordination conflicts, missing information, code compliance gaps, and constructability concerns—with exact locations on your PDFs.

Our customers have projected $2M in savings by catching issues during plan review instead of in the field. With integrations into Procore and Autodesk, flagged issues flow directly into your existing workflow.