Add a Request for Information (RFI)

Contents

Open the Request for Information document window:

1. Expand the Communication folder and click Request for Information to open the Requests Log Window.
2. Click Add Document to open a blank Request for Information Document Window.

On the General tab:

1. Choose a request type from the Type drop-down list. This is a required field.
2. Click browse next to the To field, and select the contact to receive the Request for Information. This is a required field.
3. Click browse next to the From field, and select the contact that is sending the Request for Information. This is a required field.
4. In the Number field, enter a number for the Request for Information. This is a required field.
5. Choose a date.
6. Enter a title for the Request for Information.

On the Review Status tab - Setting up the Approval structure using the method available in versions of Contract Management 11.1 and older:

If you have Request for Information documents that were created in a version of Contract Management prior to version 12.0 (11.1 and older), and you want the new Request for Information documents that you create to have the same approval structure, you can use the approval fields described in this section to add a new RFI. Once you save this document using the fields described in this section to set up the approval structure, you will not be able to use the new approval process.

Note: If you have reports that were built against approval data using the approval fields from versions 11.1 and older, you should use the fields described in this section to set up the approval structure. If you use the new approval process available in versions of Contract Management 12.0 and later, your reports may not work.

1. Click Select Document Owner next to the Document Owner field to open the Select Contact Dialog Box, and select the document owner. This is the contact responsible for this RFI document. This contact is one that is already linked to a user account when adding contacts or editing an existing contact. When using the existing approval fields, this is not a required field.
2. Click Select Ball in Court next to the Ball in Court field to open the Select Contact Dialog Box to choose a BIC.
3. From the Priority drop-down list, select the priority level for this RFI, which will appear in the BIC’s action list.
4. From the Status drop-down list, select a valid status code.
5. To approve the RFI, click Approve. The default is No. You must fill in the Approved By information before you can approve an RFI.
6. Use Select in this section to open the Select Contact Dialog Box to select the authorized contacts to approve the RFI. Either type the dates in the Date fields or select a date from the calendar. Two contacts must sign off on the RFI before you can click Approve and Save.
7. Click the calendar icon next to the Approval Date field to select the date on which the RFI was approved.

On the Review Status tab - Using the workflow-based Approval Process (for Contract Management 12.0 and later):

Prerequisites–Before you begin using the approval process

The following prerequisites must be met before you can use this approval process:

1. The companies for this project must be created. See Add Companies and Contacts for more information.
2. The contacts for the companies must be created, and linked to a user account. See Add Companies and Contacts for more information.
3. The contacts must have view, add, and edit rights for the project.
   • This is done in the Contract Management Administration Application when the user account is created. Log onto the Administration Application, and click User Accounts in the left pane to display the User Account – Edit Window. Use this to add a user account.
   • Once the user account has been created, you can change access rights by right-clicking on the project name and selecting Project Access to display the Project Access Dialog Box. On this dialog box, click Edit next to the user name to display the User Project Access Dialog Box, and set the user project access rights. If the user is not listed for this project, click Add Users to this Project on the Project Access Dialog Box, and select the users to add to the project.
4. The contacts must have approval rights for the project.
   • This is done in the Contract Management Administration Application when a user access template is created. Log onto the Contract Management Administration Application, and click Access Templates to display the Access Template – Edit Window. After that, the template is assigned to the user account when the user account is created on the User Account – Edit Window.
   • Once the template has been assigned to a user account, you can change the approval rights by right-clicking on the project name and selecting Project Access to display the Project Access Dialog Box. On this dialog box, click Edit next to the user name to display the User Project Access Dialog Box, and set the approval rights. If the user is not listed for this project, click Add Users to this Project on the Project Access Dialog Box, and select the users to add to the project.

     Note: If any of the preceding prerequisites are not met, the reviewer that you want to select for the approval process will not show up on the list of reviewers from which you can select.

Setting up the approval cycle:

1. Select the Use Approval Process option to use the new approval process.

   This will display the fields for the new approval process, and will hide the fields that would be available for versions of Contract Management prior to version 12.0. Once you enter all the information for the approval process and click Save, this option will no longer be visible. After you save the document using the new approval process, you will not be able to go back and use the approval fields that were available in Contract Management 11.1 and older.

   Note: If you have reports that were built against approval data using the approval fields available in Contract Management versions 11.1 and older, use the approval fields that were available in Contract Management 11.1 and older to set up the approval structure. If you use this new approval process, the reports that you built against the approval data may not work.

2. Click Select Document Owner next to the Document Owner field to open the Select Contact Dialog Box and choose the contact responsible for this RFI document. This contact is one that is already linked to a user account when adding or editing an existing contact. This is a required field when using the new approval process.
3. Click Select Ball in Court next to the Ball in Court field to open the Select Contact Dialog Box to choose a BIC.
4. The Status field lists the status code for the document. Contract Management will change this field, depending on what action a reviewer designates for a document. When creating a new RFI, the status is New Item.
5. Use the Priority drop-down list to select the priority level for this RFI, which will appear in the BIC’s Action List. Priority can be High, Normal, or Low.
6. Use the Workflow drop-down list to choose the method of approval. This can be one of the following:
   • Approve in Sequence: Use this approval method when the document must be approved in the order in which the reviewers are listed under the Review section.
   • All must Approve: Use this approval method when every contact listed under the Review section must approve the document before approval is final.
   • Any can Approve: Use this approval method when any contact listed under the Review section can approve the document and make the approval final.
7. Click Add Reviewer to create the list of reviewers. This displays the Select Contact dialog box that you use to choose the reviewers. You must already have added the contacts and linked them to a user account.
8. Click the calendar icon to the right of the Required Start field to display a calendar that you can use to select the date on which the approval process must start. Use the arrows on either side of the name of the month to select a different month. Use the arrows on either side of the year to select a different year.
9. Click the calendar icon to the right of the Required Finish field to display a calendar that you can use to select the date on which the approval process must end. Use the arrows on either side of the name of the month to select a different month. Use the arrows on either side of the year to select a different year.
10. After setting up all the information and creating the list of reviewers, click Initiate to start the approval process. Only one of the following can initiate an RFI:
    • The project owner
    • The document owner
    • A Contract Management administrator

      Caution: If you click Initiate before all fields are complete, and all reviewers are listed, you will be unable to make any changes in this cycle. The field to the right of the Initiate field lists the cycles. You can use the pull down list to pick a different cycle to review. This field will be blank until after the first cycle is initiated.

Read-only fields

The following fields are read-only information fields:

Cycle Days Overdue

This read-only field displays the number of days in this cycle that the approval process has exceeded the Required Finish date.

Cycle Days Elapsed

This read-only field displays the number of days in this cycle that have passed since the Required Start date of the approval process.

Total Days Elapsed

This read-only field displays the total number of days in this cycle that have passed since start of the approval process, including the number of days overdue.

Reviewer

This read-only field lists the contacts who will review and decide whether to approve the document.

Status

Lists what each reviewer decided regarding the document.

Received

This read-only field lists the date on which the reviewer received the document.

Forwarded

This read-only field lists the date on which the reviewer sent the document to the next reviewer on the list.

Held

This read-only field lists the number of days that the reviewer had the document before sending it to the next reviewer on the list.

Comments

Lists each reviewer's comments regarding the document.

On the Question tab:

1. From the Work Impact drop-down list, select the item that describes the impact.
2. From the Reason for Request for Information drop-down list, select the reason for the RFI.
3. Use the Question section to write the detailed request.
4. Use the calendar icons in the Date and Date Required fields to select the date of the RFI, and the date when the answer is due.
5. In the Question Distribution section, you can do the following:
   • Click Add to open the Add Distribution Dialog Box. Click Select to open the Select Contacts dialog box, and select the contacts to which you want to distribute the RFI.
   • Click Copy Distribution to Answer to copy the distribution list you created to the Answer tab.
6. In the Proposed Solution section, enter the details of the proposed solution.

On the Details tab:

1. Use the drop-down list to select the Spec Section to which the question applies.
2. Click browse next to the Contract field to open the Select Contract Dialog Box and select the appropriate contract.
3. Click browse next to the Reference field to open the Select Document Dialog Box, and select the appropriate document.
4. Enter an Architect number if appropriate.
5. Click browse next to the Subcontractor field to open the Select Contact Dialog Box to choose a subcontractor.
6. Enter an Architect number if appropriate.

On the Drawings tab:

Click Add to open the Drawings Dialog Box (for Linking a Drawing to an RFI). Use this to link drawings to the request.

On the Schedule tab:

If Contract Management is connected to the P6 EPPM schedule database, you can click browse next to the Activity field to open the Select Activity Dialog Box, and link a P6 EPPM schedule activity with the RFI. Browse does not display unless Contract Management is connected to the P6 EPPM schedule database.

On the Contract Summary tab:

The Contract Summary tab has the following subordinate tabs:

• Details
• Changes
• Insurance
• Invoices
• Payment Requisitions
• Submittals

Details tab:

The Details tab contains details of the related contract.

Changes tab:

The Changes tab contains the change orders and change order requests.

Use Initiate Change Management to open a Change Management document window. Use this window to create a Change Management document.

Insurance tab:

The Insurance tab lists insurance policies associated with the contract to which the RFI is linked. Click Add to open the Insurance Document Window to link a new insurance document to the contract and the RFI.

Invoice tab:

This tab contains invoice information for the contract to which this RFI is linked.

Note: This tab does not appear if you have a requisition against the associated contract.

Click Add to open the Invoice Dialog Box to link an invoice document to the contract and this RFI.

Payment Requisitions:

This tab contains Payment Requisition information for the contract to which this RFI is linked.

Note: This tab does not appear if you have an invoice against this contract.

Click Generate to open the Generate Requisition wizard to create a new requisition for this contract.

On the Issues tab:

This tab lists the issues linked to the RFI.

Click Link to open the Select Issue Dialog Box, and select the issues to link to the RFI.

On the Attachments tab:

On the Attachments tab, you can do the following:

• Click Attach File to attach a file to the document.
• Click Attach from Repository to attach a document from the content repository.
• Click Attach URL to attach a web address to the document.

  Note: If you are using Firefox, and if the Attachment Storage Type for the project is set to File Server in the Contract Management Administration application, then you cannot attach files while the I am currently connected to the file server option in the User Settings dialog is selected. To open the User Settings dialog, navigate to the Control Center, right click All Projects, and then click User Settings.