Nobody owns the follow-up
The RFI goes out by email, the architect says they will look at it, and the log has a deadline column that only gets updated at the weekly meeting. Between meetings, nobody knows which questions are late.
RFI follow-up
RFI response time tracking for the project engineer
An RFI that sits unanswered holds up the work it was written about. Response time tracking starts with the basics: a named recipient, a deadline, and a list that shows what is overdue today. Here is how a project engineer or an architect keeps slow RFIs visible in Fidrel, and where the tracking stops.
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Why slow RFIs stay slow
Late is a feeling, not a date
Without a deadline on each RFI, all anyone can say is that it has been a while. The argument over who held up the work then starts from memory instead of from dates.
Answers written against old drawings
By the time the answer comes back, the sheet has a new revision, and the answer may no longer fit the drawing it was written for.
What counts as late
An RFI is late when it is still Open, or sent back as Action required, and the day of its deadline has passed. An RFI due today is not late until tomorrow. Draft, Answered and Closed RFIs are never late. Late is worked out each time you look, from today’s date where you are, and is never stored on the RFI, so the Overdue count is right for the day you open the list.
Reviews, RFIs & issues
Where the recipient sees it
The recipient gets a notification in Fidrel when the RFI is opened, and finds it under Assigned to me on their home page, which flags overdue items and shows the due date. Open and Action required RFIs addressed to a person stay there until they answer. The person who asked is notified when the answer comes in.
How to follow up RFIs in Fidrel
Step 1
Send it with a recipient and a deadline
Create the RFI with a Title, the Question, the Assignee / recipient, a Due date and a Priority, and link the drawings. Moving it from Draft to Open tells the recipient in Fidrel, while a draft tells nobody.
Step 2
Work the Overdue filter
Choose Overdue in the Show menu above the list; it shows its count too. Each late RFI carries a red Overdue badge in the list and in its own header, so you know whom to call.
Step 3
Read the history and close the loop
Open an RFI to read its History, with who did what and when. An answer moves it to Answered and notifies the person who asked; if more is needed, send it back as Action required, and close it when done.
Check the drawing before you answer or chase
Each RFI keeps the question, the linked drawings and documents, attachments, comments and the history. If the drawing has a newer revision than the one the RFI was raised on, the RFI says so and links to the new revision, so the answer can be checked against the current sheet. An RFI can also be created from a markup on the drawing, which brings the markup along.
Reading response time from the history
The history of every RFI shows each step with the name of the person and the date and time, so the days between opening and answering can be read straight from it. Use the deadline you set at the start as the target: the Overdue filter is what holds people to it.
What RFI tracking does not do
RFI emails are limited to one gathered email per person and day, listing RFIs due today, on the next working day or the day before; each person can switch them off in account settings. There are no averaged response times or turnaround reports. Fidrel keeps no record of when an RFI became late, because late is worked out from today’s date.
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It is Open or marked Action required and the day of its deadline is before today’s date where you are. Answered, Closed and Draft RFIs are never overdue, and nothing writes a late status to the RFI.
Not per RFI. The recipient is notified in Fidrel when the RFI is opened and sees it under Assigned to me with an Overdue flag; the one gathered email of the day lists it when it is due that day, on the next working day or the day before, unless the person switched RFI email off.
Yes. The Show menu above the RFI list has an Overdue option with its count, next to All, Waiting on me and Asked by me; the status filter lists Draft, Open, Answered, Action required and Closed.
Not as a statistic. The history of each RFI shows what happened and when, but Fidrel does not average response times or build a turnaround report.
The RFI shows a notice when the drawing has a newer revision than the one it was raised on, with a link to that revision, so the answer can be checked against it.