Common Workflows

This section walks through realistic scenarios that show how the system is used end-to-end.

A Contractor Raises a Design Question

1. Trigger: On site, the framing crew finds a conflict between the structural drawing and the architectural drawing for a beam location.
2. Action: The site supervisor opens the application, clicks Compose mail, and title it “Beam location conflict — Grid C/4, Level 2”.
3. Detail: They describe the conflict in plain language, attach the two drawings with mark-ups, set the priority to High, and assign the RFI to the lead architect with a due date of three working days.
4. Outcome: The architect receives a notification, reviews the drawings, replies with a clarification, attaches a revised sketch, and reassigns the RFI back to the contractor for confirmation. The contractor confirms the resolution and closes the RFI.

A Designer Needs Input from a Specialist Consultant

1. Trigger: While replying to an RFI about acoustic performance, the architect realises the question requires the acoustic consultant’s input.
2. Action: Rather than answering directly, the architect adds a brief internal note explaining the situation, then reassigns the RFI to the acoustic consultant.
3. Detail: The consultant receives the RFI with the full thread visible, replies with the technical answer, and reassigns it back to the architect for review.
4. Outcome: The architect confirms the answer is suitable, replies to the original questioner, and reassigns to the contractor. The full chain remains in one thread, fully auditable.

A Project Manager Chases an Overdue Response

1. Trigger: The project manager opens the Dashboard at the start of the day and sees three items in the Overdue RFIs widget.
2. Action: They click into the widget, sort by days overdue, and open the most critical item.
3. Detail: From within the RFI they click the Reminder bell icon and send a polite, dated reminder. The system records the reminder in the activity log.
4. Outcome: If the response is still not received within a defined escalation window, the project manager reassigns the RFI to a more senior contact at the same company and notes the escalation in an internal comment.

Closing the Loop at the End of a Phase

At the end of a project phase, project managers typically run an Overdue Items Report to identify any open RFIs that should have been resolved, then run an RFI Log to archive the full record of communication for the phase. Closed RFIs are retained indefinitely and remain searchable for audit and dispute purposes.