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As a construction administrator for almost 50 years for some major domestic architectural firms, I feel compelled to reply to the recent dialogue presented in your publication regarding RFIs. (See “Letter to the Editor” on p. 10 in Sept/ Oct and “RFI Shootout” on p. 67 in May/June.) Over the years, I have encountered excellent contractors who demonstrated a keen sense of teamwork. I’ve also encountered unscrupulous ones only interested in their own bottom line. Those are the ones that I found to be writing RFIs in order to purposely extort money from the owner. In the real world, there is no set of perfect construction documents. Architects strive to issue a complete and fully coordinated set of documents at all times. However, as pointed out, fees get too tightly squeezed, after all consultants have been paid and the quality of documents start to suffer. I strongly believe that architect’s fees are set too low. Back to the subject of RFIs. I believe that I have seen them all. The most innocent ones are asking the architect to respond to items clearly shown on the documents by a contractor too lazy to look for himself. RFIs pertaining to construction means, sequences, and techniques should be returned unanswered. Very few contractors offer suggestions on how to resolve the question asked. The latest trend in the industry is for the contractor to present a Change Order because the response to a certain RFI constitutes “additional work not anticipated.” Some RFIs are written as a direct result of the contractor’s lack of planning, including my favorite, requesting a same day response by the painter being on site with paint brush in hand asking for a paint color clearly shown on the Color & Finish Schedule. Contractors have a rare opportunity to clear up discrepancies in the documents by pointing
them out to the architect during the bid process. Addenda are an excellent vehicle to respond to inquiries by clarifying conflicting information that may exist in the construction documents. The second time contractors have an opportunity to clarify their intentions is at the time of signing a contract with the owner. A Qualification Statement outlining specific clarifications and/or exclusions is normally part of the process. Again, the current trend is for this statement to be nonexistent or being very short on substance. Contractors profess to be experts in erecting a variety of buildings and structures. On any project, they are required to familiarize themselves fully with the construction documents and are obligated to report inconsistencies found to the architect. They are to complete the project adhering to the contract amount, within the time stipulated and execute the work in a firstclass workmanlike manner. It is unnecessary for contractors to search for errors, discrepancies, inconsistencies, or omissions in the contract documents unless they are specifically interested in creating a separate profit center. Such actions are easily discovered early on and do not make for a pleasant relationship within the team.
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More Comment on ‘RFI Shootout’
Jack Amschwand Houston
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