Solutions / Construction and contracting / Chasing an information request to an answer

Chasing an information request to an answer

Logging and routing, then chasing, then propagating the answer to the drawing set and the affected subcontractor. The propagation step is the one that gets skipped, and it is the one that causes rework.


Context / construction and contracting Why this one is worth doing here

The estimate, the project system and the accounting system each hold a cost code structure, and the mapping between them lives in a spreadsheet maintained by one person.

A project generates a paper chain where each hop is a re-keying. A field condition becomes a time and materials tag, then a potential change order, then a priced request, then an executed change order, then a budget revision, then a line on the next payment application. Every hop is a place the amount can quietly diverge.

Systems this usually touches

  • Procore
  • Outlook

When this is the wrong thing to build

Pick something else if the design team is unresponsive for reasons no system will fix. Chasing faster changes the relationship rather than the answer date.

The constraint that shapes it

Lien deadlines are statutory, vary by state and by role, and run from a furnishing date rather than from an invoice date. More on how this sector works.

The same shape elsewhere / Chasing to complete 12 sectors run it

A list of things that are missing, worked until it is empty. Read what this shape is, or start from one of these.

Real estate
Chasing a compliance file to complete
Real estate
Chasing a referral fee through to a closing you cannot see
Law firms
Asking for the replenishment before the retainer runs to zero
Law firms
Chasing medical records until the set is complete
Law firms
Getting a deposition on the calendar of every party
Field services
Chasing the warranty credit the distributor has not issued
What people ask about this 4 of them
  • How do I stop an RFI sitting unanswered with the architect?
  • Who needs an RFI answer besides the person who asked?
  • How do I get an RFI response onto the current drawing set?
  • How long should an RFI response take under the contract?

Back to construction and contracting, or see how this is priced and scoped.