RFIs, change orders and document control · Lesson 1 of 4

RFIs, change orders and document control: principles and terminology

Why construction keeps a written trail, what an RFI asks and what an answer can and cannot do, the documents that really change a contract, why nothing starts on a verbal word, and how the AFS RFI desk is laid out.

You will be able to: Tell an RFI, an RFI response, additional instructions, a Construction Change Directive, a Bulletin and a Change Order apart, say who signs each in the contracts read here, and say which of them can move price or time.

15 min · 12 slides · 12 questions

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Slide 1 of 12

Why the paper trail exists

Navigant Construction Forum (2013) describes the RFI process as a routine and necessary form of communication on virtually all construction projects.

It is not free of risk: each RFI has to be received, logged, reviewed and answered, and the time and money are real.

Sources

Impact & Control of RFIs on Construction Projects (A Research Perspective), April 2013 - Navigant Construction Forum (hosted by CMAA)

Glossary

RFI (request for information): A written request from the contractor seeking an interpretation or clarification of a requirement of the contract documents. It asks; it does not order.
Change Order: A written instrument recording agreement on a change to the work, time, price or other contract terms. Who must sign it depends on the owner's contract.
Construction Change Directive: A written order signed by the owner directing a change; at the University of Michigan it may be issued by the Owner alone and may or may not be agreed to by the contractor.
Bulletin: A document that asks the contractor for a proposal on a contemplated change. At the University of Michigan it is never authorization to proceed.
Waiver: Giving up a right, for example the right to extra time or money, by not giving a required written notice or authorization in time. At the University of Michigan, failing to get written authorization for a change waives an adjustment to the Contract Sum or Contract Time, except in an emergency that contract handles separately.