Guide · Running projects
Log every RFI and submittal the day it arrives: a number (RFI-001, SUB-001), the date received, who sent it, a one-line subject, a response-due date and a status.
Take the response period from your contract. Where none is set, use a default, for example seven days, moved to Monday if it lands on a weekend, and put a reminder on that date with no guests.
Your agreement or the construction contract may set response times for RFIs and submittals. That period overrides any default in this guide.
Columns: Number, Type (RFI or Submittal), Received, From, Subject, Response due, Status, Responded on, Link. One log per project.
Separate sequences per type: RFI-001, RFI-002, SUB-001. Never reuse a number, even if an item is withdrawn.
Use the date asked for, or your default days from receipt. A due date on a weekend moves to Monday.
Reply the day it arrives with the number and due date. Add an all-day reminder on your own calendar with no guests, so nobody gets an invitation.
When answered, record the date and link the response. The log is then also the record if a question is disputed later.
Free tool
Add items as they arrive. It numbers them, sets the response-due date (skipping weekends), writes the acknowledgement and builds the log as a CSV for Google Sheets or Excel. Have a messy list already? The full generator turns it into a numbered log with overdue flags and a chase list by person.
Runs in your browser. Nothing is sent, saved or uploaded. Replace the values with yours.
During construction, questions arrive by email, phone, site visit and sometimes a contractor's platform. Without one log, the answer to "did we reply to that?" lives in someone's memory. A numbered log shows at a glance what is open, what is late and who is waiting on whom. When a question is disputed later, the log with its links is the record.
| RFI | Submittal | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A question asking the design team to clarify the documents | Material the contractor sends for review: shop drawings, product data, samples |
| Numbering | RFI-001, RFI-002 | SUB-001, SUB-002 |
| Due date | Contract period, or your default | Contract period, or your default |
| Closed when | The response is sent and linked | The review is returned and linked |
Many firms also log a revision letter: SUB-004 resubmitted becomes SUB-004 rev A, keeping the same number so the history stays together.
Take the period from the contract first. Where there is none, a default of seven days from receipt is a placeholder, not a standard. Any due date that falls on a Saturday or Sunday moves to the Monday. Public holidays are not skipped automatically; check them by hand.
A short form (type, received date, from, subject, date asked for) feeds the log. In Google Workspace an Apps Script trigger assigns the next number, works out the due date and adds an all-day event to the chosen calendar with no guests, so no invitations go to the contractor or consultants. In Microsoft 365 a Power Automate flow does the same with an Excel table and the Outlook calendar. Keep the log file in the project's admin folder from the folder structure guide.
A contractor emails a question about a window detail on a Thursday. It is logged as RFI-007, received that day, with no date asked for, so the default of seven days puts it on the following Thursday. An acknowledgement goes back with the number and the date, and a reminder lands on the firm's own calendar. The question needs the structural engineer, so the status moves to With consultant. When the answer goes out on Tuesday, the response date and a link to the email are added, and the status becomes Answered.
Start the sheet with the columns, send the acknowledgement the day an item arrives, and write the settings down once per project.
Download the templates as a plain text file, no signup needed.
When: The day it arrives
Subject: [Project name] [number] received: [subject]
Hi [Name], We have logged this as [number]: [subject], received [date]. We will respond by [response-due date]. If it affects work on site before then, call [name] on [phone]. Best, [Your name] [Firm name]
When: Paste as the first row of a new sheet
Number Type Received From Subject Response due Status Responded on Link
When: Once per project
Response period in the contract (RFIs): Response period in the contract (submittals): Default when none is set: Number prefixes: Who logs incoming items: Which calendar gets reminders (no guests): Who updates Status and Responded on:
An RFI (request for information) is a question from the contractor asking the design team to clarify the documents. A submittal is something the contractor sends for review, such as shop drawings, product data or samples. Both need a number, a due date and a status, so one log with a Type column works.
It depends on the contract. Check your agreement and the construction contract. The seven-day default in the generator is a placeholder for when no period is set, not an industry standard.
Not for a small firm. A shared sheet with the columns above and a reminder on each due date covers it. If the contractor runs a platform, keep your own log as well, so your record does not depend on theirs.
Keep reminders on your own calendar with no guests. Send the contractor the acknowledgement email instead, so they get the number and date in writing without calendar invitations.
Archon & Partners