Use this document window to enter request for information or answer documents. Requests and the answers they solicit provide additional information or clarify some aspect of the project, such as procedures, equipment, and materials. You can use the tabs available in the Request for Information Document window to record request and answer details.

This help topic applies to Request for Information (RFI), Answer (ANS), BR1, and BR2, etc. documents.

Buttons, Drop-Down Lists, Icons, and Links:

Edit Document

Click to edit the document.

If you clicked Edit Document , Edit Document - High Priority , or Edit Document - Low Priority , the document is already in edit mode, and the Edit Document button does not display.

Spelling

Click to spell check the document.

This displays when you are in Edit mode.

Print Form

Click to print a form.

Print Preview

Click to display the page that will be printed.

Select an action

Click to display the list of actions you can perform on the current window.

Transmittals Queue

Click to display the items in the Transmittals Queue. From there you can select the create or remove functions that you want to perform on a transmittal.

User Productivity Kit

Click the User Productivity Kit link to launch the User Productivity Kit (sold separately), which you can use to view context-sensitive tutorials specific to the page you are viewing.

The Applicable Content checkbox will be marked. If specific tutorial content exists, select the appropriate link to display it. If specific tutorial content does not exist, clear the Applicable Content checkbox to choose from the list of available general tutorials.

Request for Information Log

Click to return to the log window.

Control Center

Click to return to the Workspace.

General tab:

Type

Click in the field and select a type of request document from the drop-down list. This field is editable only when adding a new document. You can add new document types using the Document Setup Dialog Box.

To

Click Select To to open the Select Contact Dialog Box to choose the recipient of this request.

From

Click Select From to open the Select Contact Dialog Box to choose the contact creating this request.

Number

A unique number assigned to this item.

Contract Management automatically assigns a unique number to identify the item. You can change this number only when you create a new document.

Date

The date on which the item was created or issued.

Title

Enter a summary of the information request covered by this document.

Review Status tab - When using the workflow-based approval process:

This tab describes the fields for the flexible, workflow-based approval process available in versions of Contract Management 12.0 and later.

Note: Before using the approval process, you must ensure that all prerequisites are met (see Workflow-Based Approval Process Overview).

Use Approval Process

Select this option to use the workflow-based approval process. Leave this option clear if you do not want to use the workflow-based approval process.

Selecting this option will display the fields for the workflow-based approval process. Clearing this option will display the fields associated with not using the workflow-based approval process.

This option is only available before you save the document. If you select this option, and save the document, you will not be able to access the standard document approval fields. After you save the document, this option will not be visible and you will not be able to change your original selection.

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

Document Owner

The contact responsible for administering the new approval process.

The contact you choose must be one who is already linked to a user account when adding a contact or when editing an existing contact. To choose a document owner, click browse to open the Select Contact dialog box. This is a required field if you are using the workflow-based approval process.

Ball in Court

The person responsible for this item.

Initiate

After setting up all the information and creating the list of reviewers, click this to start the approval process.

Only one of the following can initiate a contract: project owner, document owner, or 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 different cycle to review. This field will be blank until after the first cycle is initiated.

New Cycle

This displays when a reviewer rejects a document. The project owner, document owner, or Contract Management administrator can use this to start a new cycle in order to either begin the review process again or delete the document. A rejected document cannot be deleted without first starting a new cycle.

Revoke

This displays when all reviewers have approved a document. The project owner, document owner, or Contract Management administrator can use this to revoke the approval and start a new cycle in order to either begin the review process again or delete the document. An approved document cannot be deleted without first revoking the approval.

Cycle

Use this drop-down list when a document has multiple cycles to choose a different cycle in order to view its information. A document may have several cycles when:

• A reviewer rejected a document, and a document owner, project owner, or Contract Management administrator initiated a new document review cycle.
• An approved document has had its approval revoked by a document owner, project owner, or Contract Management administrator. This automatically starts a new cycle.
• A review cycle was stopped by a document owner, project owner, or Contract Management administrator. This automatically starts a new cycle.

Each cycle contains all information relevant to that cycle. When you view a previous cycle, you cannot make any changes to the information for that cycle. The information is read-only.

Stop

This displays when a review cycle has been initiated. The project owner, document owner, or Contract Management administrator can use this to stop the approval cycle.

After the approval process has been initiated, and before it has been approved, the project owner, the document owner, or a Contract Management administrator can click this to stop the approval process.

This returns the document to the state it was in before the approval cycle was initiated. The cycle must be initiated again to restart the approval process.

Status

Lists the status codes for the document. This field will change, depending on what action a reviewer designates for a document.

Priority

The priority level for this item, which will appear in the BIC’s Action List.

Workflow

Use the drop-down list to choose the method of approval.

This can be one of the following:

• Approve in Sequence: Use this when the document must be approved in the order in which the reviewers are listed under the Review section.
• All must Approve: Use this when every contact listed under the Review section must approve the document before approval is final.
• Any can Approve: Use this when any contact listed under the Review section can approve the document and make the approval final.

Add Reviewers

Click this 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. You add contacts when you add companies.

Required Start

The date the review or approval process must begin.

Required Finish

The date by which the review or approval process must end.

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

The status a reviewer designated for the document.

The status can be:

• = The document was rejected
• = The document was approved
• = Ball in court

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.

Review Status tab - When not using the workflow-based approval process:

If you do not want to use the workflow-based approval process, you can use the approval fields described in this section to add a new Request for Information document. Once you save, you will not be able to switch to the workflow-based approval process for this document.

Note: If you have reports that were built against approval data using the approval fields from versions 11.1 and prior, you should use this section of this dialog box to set up the approval structure. If you use the workflow-based approval process available in versions of Contract Management 12.0 and later, reports and forms that contain the original approval structure will not display the approval data.

Use Approval Process

Select this option to use the workflow-based approval process. Leave this option clear if you do not want to use the workflow-based approval process.

Selecting this option will display the fields for the workflow-based approval process. Clearing this option will display the fields associated with not using the workflow-based approval process.

This option is only available before you save the document. If you select this option, and save the document, you will not be able to access the standard document approval fields. After you save the document, this option will not be visible and you will not be able to change your original selection.

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

Document Owner

The contact responsible for this document.

This field is optional if you are not using the workflow-based approval process for this document. To choose a document owner, click Select next to the Document Owner field to display the Select Contact dialog box. Then click Select next to the company name to select the key contact for the company, or expand the company and click Select next to the contact you want to make the document owner. The Select Contact dialog box will only contain contacts that are linked to a user account.

Ball in Court

The person responsible for this item.

Priority

The priority level for this item, which will appear in the BIC’s Action List.

Status

The item's status.

Closed

Indicates whether this request is closed (Yes) or not (No). To close the request, click Close and Save, if the Closed By fields are completed.

Closed By

Click Select to open the Select Contact dialog box to choose the contact who closed this request. Enter the date in the Date field. Once these fields are completed, you can close the request.

Question tab:

Notes:

• For the requests Question, Answer, and Proposed Solution fields, you must have edit rights to those options in the User Project Access Dialog Box. You do not need to have edit rights to the requests module to edit the fields.
• To edit the other fields in the Question and Answer tabs, you must have edit rights to the requests module.
• Conversely, you can have edit rights to the requests module, and view-only rights to the question, answer, and proposed solution fields.
• Add and edit rights differ for the question, answer, and proposed solution fields. If you have only add rights, you can only enter text if the field is blank. You must have edit rights to add more information.

Work Impact

If this request impacts work progress, select the impact type from the drop-down list.

Reason for Request

Select the reason code relating to this request from the drop-down list.

Question

Enter the request in this field.

Depending on your access rights (see notes in the Question section of this help topic) and the current mode of the document (edit or view), there may be an Edit Question button. If so, click it to open the Edit Question Dialog Box to enter the question.

Question Signed By

Enter the name of the contact asking the question.

Date

Click Select Date to select the date the question was asked from the pop-up calendar.

Required Date

Select the date by which a response is required. By default, Contract Management enters seven days from the current system date. Click Select Date to select a different date from the pop-up calendar.

Add

Click to open the Add Distribution Dialog Box to choose the contacts to distribute the question to.

Copy Distribution to Answer

Click to copy the contacts in the distribution list to the Answer Distribution's Distributed To list (see below).

Distributed To

The company this question is being sent to.

Contact

The name of the contact the question is being sent to.

Date

The date on which the item was created or issued.

Remarks

Additional comments or instructions.

Proposed Solution

Enter the proposed solution in this field.

Depending on your access rights (see notes earlier in this section) and the current mode of the document (edit or view), there may be a Propose Solution button. If so, click it to open the Propose Solution Dialog Box to enter the solution.

Answer tab:

Answer

Click to display the Answer Dialog Box. Use the Answer dialog box to enter a detailed response to the request in this field. Depending on your access rights (see notes in the Question section of this topic) and the current mode of the document (edit or view), Answer may appear. If so, click it to open the Answer Dialog Box to enter the answer.

Note: Answer only displays if you display the document in view mode, not in edit mode.

Answer Signed By

Enter the name of the contact answering the question.

Date

Click Select Date to select the date the question was asked from the pop-up calendar.

Responded Date

Click Select Date to select the date a response was given.

Cost Impact

Use the drop-down list to indicate whether the solution impacts the project cost.

Cost ($)

Enter the amount (cost) attributed to implementing this solution.

Schedule Impact

Use the drop-down list to indicate whether the solution impacts the project schedule.

Add

Click to open the Answer Distribution Dialog Box, in which you can select contacts to whom you want to distribute the answer.

Copy Distribution from Question

Click to copy the contacts in the Question Distribution's Distributed To list to the Answer Distribution's Distributed To list.

Note: The information for the following fields is retrieved from the Distribution dialog box.

Distributed To

The company this answer is being sent to.

Contact

The name of the contact the answer is being sent to.

Date

The date on which the item was created or issued.

Required

The date this distribution is required back.

Responded

The date the answer was responded to.

Cost Impact

Indicates whether the solution impacts the project cost for this company.

Schedule Impact

Indicates whether the solution impacts the project schedule for this company.

Remarks

Additional comments or instructions.

Details tab:

Spec Section

The specification item that best describes this item. Documents can be sorted or filtered by their respective specification numbers so you can easily locate and view documents of a particular spec type.

The specification section codes are part of the MasterFormat standard coding system, which was developed by the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and the Construction Specifications Canada (CSC).

You can add a new specification section to this list by right-clicking on the top-level folder and choosing Dictionaries, Specification Sections.

Contract

The contract associated with the request.

Click Select to open the Select Contract Dialog Box to choose a contract to link to the request. Contract Management automatically filters the contracts based on the To/From fields. Click Clear to clear the contract.

Reference

If this document was generated from another document, the source document information appears here. Click Select to open the Select Document Dialog Box to associate this request with a document.

Change Management Number

If you initiated Change Management from this document, the Change Management document number appears in this field.

Architect Number

Enter the number of the request from the architect's perspective.

Subcontractor Name

Click Select to open the Select Contact dialog box to choose the name of the subcontractor associated with this RFI.

Subcontractor Number

Enter the number of the RFI from the subcontractor's perspective.

Drawings tab:

Use this tab to link drawings to this RFI.

Add

Click to open the Drawings Dialog Box (for Linking a Drawing to an RFI), in which you can link drawings to the RFI.

Title

The title of the drawing revision. Click to open the Drawing Document Window.

Type

The drawing's type, either design revision, distribution revision, or sketch. Click to open the Drawings Dialog Box (for Linking a Drawing to an RFI).

Drawing

The name of the drawing.

Schedule tab:

Details

Click to open the Schedule dialog box to view schedule information.

This icon is not visible unless the Contract Management project is connected to a P6 EPPM project database.

Update from Schedule

Click to refresh the dates of the P6 activity.

This action will update the dates and the Started and Finished checkboxes in Contract Management based on the current date information in P6.

Update from Schedule is only available if the project is linked to a P6 project.

Activity ID

If you are using the P6 EPPM you can use this field to reference and update the Start/Completion dates of the change with the schedule activity's early/actual start and finish dates. Link Contract Management to a P6 EPPM project from the Schedule tab of the Project Settings dialog box.

To record scheduling information, click Select to open the Select Activity dialog box to choose the P6 EPPM activity.

Select

This does not display unless Contract Management is connected to a P6 EPPM project database. Use this to display the Select Activity dialog box to select the activity you are scheduling.

Start/Finish

Enter the actual start and completion dates for work related to this change. Click Select Date to select a date from the pop-up calendar, or use the schedule activity early/actual dates from the activity entered in the Activity ID field. Select the Start and Finish options to indicate that the dates are actual start or finish dates.

Time Change

If the request alters the project schedule to accommodate this change, enter the number of days in this field.

Contract Summary tab:

This tab displays a summary of the costs associated with the contract this RFI is linked to.

Note: This tab and its subordinate tabs will only appear if there is a contract linked to this RFI.

Details Subordinate tab:

Original Contract/PO Sum

The original value of the contract.

Approved Changes

The total sum of all approved changes for this item.

Revised Contract Sum

The original value of the contract plus the total value of approved changes.

Actual to Date

The amount paid on the contract so far.

Balance

The balance remaining on the contract.

Original Completion Date

The original early finish date for the contract.

Revised Completion Date

The latest early finish date for the contract.

Changes Subordinate tab:

This tab lists all change documents associated with the contract to which this RFI is linked.

Initiate Change Management

Click to open the Change Management Document Window to start the Change Management process to link a change document to the contract and this RFI.

Title

The title of the change associated with the contract. Click to open the change document.

Type

The document type.

Change Management

If the change was generated by the Change Management process, this field contains the Change Management item number. Click to open the document.

Change Date

The date the change document was created.

Approved Date

The date the change was approved.

Approved Changes

If the change was approved, its value appears in this field.

Pending Changes

If the change is still pending, its value appears in this field.

Status

The item's status.

Insurance Subordinate tab:

This tab lists insurance policies associated with the contract to which this RFI is linked.

Add

Click to open the Insurance Document Window to link a new insurance document to the contract and this RFI.

Policy Type

The type of insurance policy linked to this contract. Click to open the insurance document.

Insurance Provider

The insurance provider, the name of an agent at the insurance company, or a contact person at the company that is providing the insurance.

Effective Date

The date this policy goes into effect.

Expiration Date

The date this policy expires.

Policy Limit

The maximum insured limit for this policy.

Invoices Subordinate 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 this contract.

Add

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

Number

A unique number assigned to this item.

Contract Management automatically assigns a unique number to identify the item. You can change this number only when you create a new document.

Date

The date on which the item was created or issued.

Title

A descriptive title that specifies the purpose of the invoice. Click to open the Invoice Dialog Box.

BIC Contact/Ball in Court

The contact and company currently responsible for this item.

Priority

The priority level for this item, which will appear in the BIC’s Action List.

Status

The item's status.

Amount Billed

The amount billed.

Amount Paid

The actual amount paid, which may include discounts or interest.

Payment Date

The date the payment was made.

Check Number

The check number from the sent or received payment.

Activity ID

The P6 EPPM activity associated with this item.

Payment Requisitions Subordinate tab (for the contract to which this RFI is linked):

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.

Generate

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

Period To

The last day of the billing period in which this requisition was issued. Click the link to open the Requisition document window.

Application Number

A unique number identifying each payment requisition issued per contract or purchase order.

Contract Management assigns the next sequential number to a new requisition.

Amount Certified

The amount of payment certified (approved) for this requisition.

Authorized persons certify requisitions in the Status section of the Requisition document window.

Completed and Stored to Date

The currency value of the portion of contract work completed to date.

Current Payment Due

The amount due.

Contract Management calculates this amount by subtracting the retainage amount calculated from the total currency value earned from the portion of work completed, then subtracting the total previous amount certified from this amount to calculate the payment due for this requisition.

Calculation: Current Payment Due equals (Total Earned minus Retain) minus Total Prev Amount Certified

Certified?

Indicates whether the requisition is certified.

Click Certify and Save to certify the requisition. Before you can certify a requisition, you must fill in the certification information.

Latest?

Indicates whether the requisition is the latest one received for the contract or purchase order.

Submittals Subordinate tab:

This tab lists submittals associated with the contract to which this RFI is linked.

Add

Click to open the Submittal Document Window to link a new submittal to the contract and this RFI.

Select

Click to open the Select Submittals Dialog Box to link existing submittals to the contract and this RFI.

Title

The name of the item.

Package

The submittal package this submittal belongs to. Click to open the Submittal Package document window.

Latest Review Cycle

The number of the latest submittal review cycle.

Status

The item's status.

Ball in Court

The person responsible for this item.

Issues tab:

Link

Click this to open the Select Issue Dialog Box to link an issue to this item.

Issue Title and Name

The names and titles of issues linked to this item. Click to open the Issue Document Window.

Attachments tab:

Attach File

Click this to open the Attach File Dialog Box to add an attachment to this invoice.

Attach from Repository

Click to attach a document from the content repository. These documents are external to Contract Management, and are not part of the documents created in Contract Management. This link will not display unless the Contract Management administrator set the project content management properties to use the repository. See Configure the Content Management Version Document and Attachment Feature for more information.

Attach URL

Click this to attach a web address to the document. You can also launch an attached document or URL in its native application or delete an attachment.

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.

Attachment

The name of the attachment associated with this item. Click to open the attachment.

Subject

A brief description of the item.

Location

The location to which the file is uploaded.

Note: If you get an error message indicating file not found, make sure the virtual directory specified in the Contract Management Administration Application is mapped correctly.

Path

The full path to the file.

File Size

The size of the attached file.

Date Attached

The date the file or link was attached.

Attached By

The user who attached the file or link.

Custom Fields tab:

This tab only displays when one or more custom fields have been defined for the module. Each custom field assigned to this module is shown with applicable values. Custom fields enable you to define additional information about a project. Define the custom fields by right-clicking on the top-level folder (All Projects), and clicking Custom Fields. Custom fields cannot be defined when any users other than the Contract Management administrator are logged onto the system. For more information, see Custom Fields Overview and Add Custom Fields.

Versions tab:

Use the Versions tab to maintain a history of your document changes. This tab only displays when you open the document in View mode, not in Edit mode (open the document by clicking the document name, not the Edit icon beside the document name). On the Versions tab, you can view and access previous versions of the selected document and identify who created the versions and when the versions were created. You can create and preserve a new version of the document at any stage during a project. To create a new version of the current document, choose Version Document from the Select an action drop-down list. You can use the Contract Management Administration Application to configure the Version Document feature to automatically create a new version of your document each time you save the document (see Configure the Content Management Version Document and Attachment Feature for more information).

Version

Lists different versions of the current document in reverse chronological order.

Click view to open each version. Each version shows the information available in the document when the version was created.

User Account

Shows the name of the user who created the corresponding version.

Date

The date on which the item was created or issued.

For more information about versions, see Version Document Overview.

How to access this document window:

1. Expand the Communication folder in the Project View and click Request for Information.
2. From the Requests Log Window, choose a document from the list.

---