PART 1 of 3
Say goodbye to RFIs
Together, we can build it better
What’s the risk?
Imagine following a recipe that doesn’t specify the oven temperature required or
assembling a new desk at home with instructions missing crucial steps. You would
have questions without answers. This creates confusion, delay, uncertainty and
possibly a flawed final product.
Imagine that same scenario during construction of your
Navigant Construction Forum researched local hospital, your child’s school, hotels, warehouses,
almost 1,400 projects that began
airports, sports facilities, bridges or any structure. This actually
between 2001 and 2012. The results:
happens every day in the form of incomplete structural
drawings, leading to requests for information (RFIs) to clear
up ambiguities, clarify inconsistencies and answer important
project questions. For many highly engineered structural
steel building projects, the RFI process has begun to reveal
serious consequences, including increased project costs,
compromised project performance and the exposure of
all involved to higher risks.
RFIs are nothing new in construction, but their frequency
796
and acceptance appears to be skyrocketing while their
effectiveness is plummeting. Navigant Construction Forum
researched almost 1,400 projects that began between 2001
RFIs per project and 2012. The results were eye-opening: Each project had
on average 796 RFIs, or about 9.9 RFIs for each $1 million in
about 9.9 RFIs for each
$1 million spent construction worldwide.
continued >
© 2020 New Millennium Building Systems, LLC 2
In 2013, New Millennium Building Systems surveyed
ADDED COST:
nearly 200 building design, engineering and
construction professionals, including architectural
0
firms, engineering firms and general contractors.
About 35 percent of respondents said structural
9,68
5
steel drawings were not complete in regard to
8 ct
$ pro je
steel joists. New Millennium conducted a more
focused study of 45 structural steel fabrication
per
professionals in 2019. This time, 95 percent of
respondents said incomplete structural drawings or about
were a recurring problem. $1,080 per RFI
The alarm being sounded by those fabricators is
When the RFI process goes awry, it sets off
important because engineering and fabricating
a chain of inter-related and escalating costs.
a building’s very structure impacts all other
The Navigant research puts the price tag at
facets of project delivery, especially for complex
$1,080 per RFI, or $859,680 per project. Those
multi-story projects.
costs manifest themselves in several ways:
Exposing the costs and risks Project delays: The RFI back-and-forth also
Instead of solving problems as intended, the contributes to extended project timelines,
RFI process has increasingly created other, delaying occupancy and resulting in a loss of
unintended problems: added project costs, residential or business revenue. For a big-box
decreased performance and elevated retailer like Wal-Mart, the financial drain manifests
exposure to risk. quickly. It could lose $32,700 in income each
week during a delay, a New Millennium fiscal
analysis found.
continued >
© 2020 New Millennium Building Systems, LLC 3
Change orders: As the RFI process drags, it often
drains a project’s contingency funds. Belated The value of the owner/developer’s entrusted
team can be significantly diminished by the
structural design and engineering analyses result in
perpetuation of incomplete drawings.
the addition, modification or removal of structural
materials, with resulting change orders becoming
the norm for material costs and field work.
Reputations are
Tainted reputations: A less measurable but on the line
significant underlying cost is the damage
A retailer like Wal-Mart
to reputations when project deadlines are could lose $32,700 in
missed and costs exceed budget. Owners and income each week during
a project delay.
developers want to occupy their buildings as
quickly as possible to begin earning revenue
and, just as important, stay on budget. On
projects of larger size and complexity,
reputations are especially on the line. The
value of the owner/developer’s entrusted
team can be significantly diminished by the
perpetuation of incomplete drawings and,
consequently, a deficient RFI phase.
continued >
© 2020 New Millennium Building Systems, LLC 4
Aside from added costs, there is the risk—legal In a March 2010 article, Structure magazine was
and otherwise—associated with the RFI process more blunt about the practice of not answering
as it exists today. RFIs: “This method of addressing RFIs is highly
inadvisable.”
Unknown risks: A particularly startling statistic
was uncovered in the expansive Navigant Legal risks: As far back as 2009, the American
study: 25 percent of RFIs receive no response. Institute of Architects noted how the RFI process
The ramifications of that are huge. The Council had become for some a way to create “project
of American Structural Engineers (CASE) spells it documentation” for legal needs. “The proliferation
out clearly: “Successful communication is critical of lawyers and claims in the 1950’s and 1960’s,
for the protection of public safety, which is a coincidental with the invention of professional
structural engineer’s first priority as a professional. liability insurance, gave rise to the need for
increased documentation. The casual questions,
once asked and answered, now apparently were
25%
determined to need a method for documenting
‘what, why, and when.’ Thus the Request for
Information was born.”
of RFIs receive
no response Navigant argues that contractors will legally rely
on the RFI process “in even greater volume unless
positive action is taken to end the abuse.”
LINK TO PART 2: Confront the problem
See how you can address the gap.
For more information, visit [Link]
© 2020 New Millennium Building Systems, LLC 5
