How do I track RFIs so none sit unanswered?
Put every RFI in one register with an owner, the date asked, the date you need an answer by, and a status. Then check it every day. AI can read incoming emails, log each RFI, chase the overdue ones and flag any that threaten time or cost, while your project manager approves anything that goes out to the architect or engineer.
Why RFIs go quiet
Most RFIs don't get lost. They get buried. The question goes out in an email, the reply lands in someone else's inbox, and nobody notices the gap until the crew is standing around.
The usual causes are simple. There's no single list. Nobody owns the chase. And nobody works out the date the answer is actually needed by, so every RFI looks equally urgent until one of them suddenly is.
Build one register people will actually use
Keep it simple. One list per project, with the same few columns every time: RFI number, what's being asked, who it's with, date sent, date you need the answer, and status (open, answered, closed).
The date needed is the one most builders skip. Work it back from the task it holds up. If the slab pour is in ten days and the engineer needs a week, the real deadline is much earlier than the day you sent the question.
Check your contract for any response times it sets for RFIs. Those timeframes matter if a delay turns into a claim, so record them in the register too. If you're unsure what they mean for you, ask your solicitor.
Let AI do the logging and chasing
A register only works if someone keeps it up. That's the part that slips on a busy week. This is where AI earns its keep, working inside the email and project tools you already use.
It can read an incoming email, spot that it's an RFI and add it to the register. It pulls out the question, the drawing reference and who it's addressed to. It can match a reply to the original RFI and mark it answered.
When an RFI gets close to its needed-by date with no reply, it drafts a polite follow-up to the right person. When it's overdue, it tells your PM straight away. You don't change how you send RFIs. They just stop disappearing.
It can also give you a short morning summary: what's open, what's due this week, and what's already late.
Connect RFIs to your red, amber, green
An unanswered RFI is rarely just a paperwork problem. It can hold up the programme, push out a cost or leave a quality question hanging.
If you score each project red, amber or green across safety, quality, time, cost and contracts, open RFIs should feed straight into that picture. A late reply on a structural detail might turn time amber. A reply that changes scope might flag cost and contracts too.
That way the late RFI shows up on the same page you already look at, not buried in a spreadsheet nobody opened.
Keep a person approving what matters
AI should handle the sorting, logging and nudging. It shouldn't be speaking for you on anything important.
Your PM or site manager should approve any RFI before it goes to a designer or consultant. They should also approve any chase that sounds like a formal notice, and anything where the answer changes scope, cost or time. The AI drafts, a person checks, and then it goes out.
That keeps the record clean and the relationships intact. Your consultants hear from you, not from a bot.
Common questions
What should an RFI register include?
At minimum: RFI number, the question, who it's with, date sent, date you need the answer, status, and the project it belongs to. Add the drawing or spec reference and who's responsible for chasing it. The needed-by date is the most useful column.
How often should I chase an open RFI?
Chase before the needed-by date, not after it. A quick nudge partway through the response window works better than a angry email once it's late. AI can draft these chases automatically, and your PM approves any that matter.
Can AI work with the email I already use?
Yes. It's built to sit inside the tools you already use, so your team keeps sending and receiving RFIs the same way. The AI reads, logs and flags in the background.
Who should own RFIs on a project?
One named person per project, usually the PM or site manager. Everyone can raise a question, but one person owns the register and makes sure each RFI has an owner and a due date.