The block lives in someone’s head
Everyone on the team knows the curtain wall is waiting for an answer, yet the schedule shows a clean bar. New people join the lookahead meeting and the reason for the slip has to be explained again.
Schedule links
Link RFIs to the construction schedule and see what they block
An unanswered RFI can stall the work it is about, but the Gantt chart rarely shows it. The schedule and the RFI log live in different files, so the superintendent sees the late RFI and the scheduler sees a plan that still looks fine. Linking the two puts the block on the chart. Here is how to link them in Fidrel and what the link does and does not do.
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Why RFIs and the schedule drift apart
A late answer, a late argument
When the answer arrives after the activity should have started, the discussion about who is responsible starts from scratch, because nothing recorded which activity the question was holding.
Change orders without a trail
If the answer changes the scope, the change order is written separately. Weeks later it is hard to find which RFI, which activity and which change belong together.
What a blocking link does
A link marked Blocked flags the activity for as long as the RFI is not answered or closed. The activity gets an exclamation mark in the chart, hovering over it lists the RFI and its deadline, and the schedule’s key figures count the blocked activities. When the RFI is answered or closed the flag disappears on its own, with nothing to clear by hand. An RFI that is linked without the Blocked tick is a reference and flags nothing.
Scheduling
Other records an activity links to
The same Linked records panel links documents, issues, change orders and estimate line items to an activity. Only RFIs and issues can block it. A change order that follows from the RFI can be created from the RFI itself with New change order, and an NCR the same way with New NCR. The change order carries its own Schedule impact (days), which you enter.
How to link an RFI to an activity
Step 1
Open the activity’s links
Open the activity and find Linked records. Choose Requests, which lists the project’s RFIs, search for the one you need and click it to add it to the activity.
Step 2
Mark it as blocking
Tick Blocked, then click the RFI, if the activity cannot go ahead without the answer. The link shows Blocked in amber while the RFI is open, and the chart marks the activity with an exclamation mark.
Step 3
Follow it from both sides
Open the RFI and the linked activity appears on it with its dates and a Blocked label; select it to jump to the schedule. When the RFI is answered or closed, the block clears by itself.
From the RFI to the change order
Say the answer adds scope. Create the change order from the RFI, and the title, location and responsible person carry over and the two are linked to each other. Then link the change order to the same activity, so the activity lists the RFI and the change order among its linked records and the chain from question to activity to change is on record.
Who can link
Linking is done by people who may edit the schedule. Everyone else with access sees the links and the Blocked flag.
What the link does not do
A blocking link flags the activity and records the connection; it does not move any dates. Fidrel does not calculate delay days or decide whether you are entitled to a time extension; Schedule impact (days) on a change order is a number you enter. Only RFIs and issues can block an activity; documents, change orders and estimate line items can be linked but never block it.
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Yes. Link the same RFI to each activity and tick Blocked on each link, and every one of them is flagged until the RFI is answered or closed.
Open the RFI. The activities linked to it are listed with their dates and a Blocked label, and selecting one opens the schedule at that activity.
When the RFI is answered or closed the flag disappears on its own. Nothing has to be cleared on the activity, and the link itself stays as a record.
No. A blocking link is a flag and a record. The dates of the activity stay where you put them until you move them, and Fidrel does not calculate delay days.
Links are added from the activity, in Linked records. From the RFI you see the activities that link to it and can follow them to the schedule.