Engineering Services Firms Can Tame Construction RFIs with Smart Ticketing and Shared Inboxes

RFIs Requests for Information are an unavoidable part of the construction phase. Contractors in the field constantly run into questions that need quick, authoritative answers from the engineering team. But while the urgency is real, the communication often isn’t structured. A contractor may shoot off an email asking, “Can we reduce the slope on the drainage pipe to match field conditions?” And unless there’s a formal system to capture, track, and resolve that request, things slip through the cracks.

For engineering firms, these small moments can have big consequences. An RFI that’s missed, misinterpreted, or handled informally can lead to delays, change orders, or liability issues. Worse, when it comes time to audit what was said or approved, there’s no traceability just inbox chaos.

This is where Gridlex transforms the game. By turning informal RFI emails into structured tickets tied to the right phase, project, and engineer complete with time tracking and outcome logging Gridlex brings order and accountability to construction-phase support.

The Status Quo: Emails, Frantic Calls, and No Audit Trail

In most firms, construction-phase RFIs are still handled through individual inboxes and ad hoc coordination. A contractor might email the project engineer directly, cc a few people, or follow up with a call. What happens next depends entirely on the engineer’s personal habits.

Some engineers respond immediately but without logging the interaction or the reasoning behind their decision.
Others forward the email to a colleague, unsure who owns the answer.
In many cases, multiple people reply with conflicting guidance.

Even when the RFI is answered correctly, there’s rarely a formal log of:

Who raised the question
When it was received
What the final resolution was
How much time was spent managing it

This lack of structure becomes a problem when disputes arise, or when firms try to recover time or costs from excessive field changes.

How Gridlex Handles RFIs the Right Way

Gridlex eliminates this chaos with a fully integrated system that captures RFI requests, routes them to the right people, tracks resolution, and maintains a clear audit trail. Here’s how it works in practice:

Automatic Ticket Creation from Email: When a contractor emails a question say, about adjusting the slope of a drainage pipe the system automatically creates a new ticket in Gridlex. It identifies the sender, parses the content, and assigns a category such as “Construction RFI” based on keywords and phrasing.
Project and Phase Tagging: The system cross-references the sender, project ID (often in subject line or email signature), and known contacts to tag the ticket to the correct project. In this case, it tags the “Construction Administration” phase of a roadway project.
Role-Based Routing to the Right Engineer: Gridlex uses predefined rules to route the RFI to the appropriate civil engineer on the project team. If it’s about drainage design, it goes to the drainage lead. If it’s structural, to the structural reviewer. No guesswork, no internal forwarding chains.
Time Logging and Accountability: As the assigned engineer opens and responds to the ticket, Gridlex automatically logs the time spent reviewing the issue and drafting the response. This allows the firm to measure support effort during construction—a cost center that’s often overlooked.
Outcome Capture and Record Association: The final decision whether the slope can be adjusted or must remain—is recorded in the ticket. Any supporting documentation, like redlined plans or code references, is uploaded directly to the project record. This means the answer isn’t just in someone’s Sent folder it’s part of the permanent file.

This process ensures that even informal queries are handled with formal rigor.

Use Case in Action: A Drainage RFI on a Municipal Road Project

Let’s say a contractor is building a new collector road for a mid-sized municipality. Midway through the grading phase, they hit an unforeseen elevation issue and email the engineer: “Can we tweak the pipe slope from 1.5% to 1.2% to match field conditions?”

In the old world, that email might sit in the project engineer’s inbox for hours. Or get buried. Or worse, get answered casually “Yeah, should be fine” without record.

With Gridlex:

The email becomes a ticket immediately.
It is tagged to “Project 2318 – Construction Admin.”
It is routed to the drainage engineer assigned to the project.
The engineer reviews the RFI, checks grading tolerances, and provides a written response: “Yes, slope can be adjusted to 1.2%, provided outlet velocity remains above 2 ft/s. See attached sketch.”
This reply, sketch, and rationale are logged.
The time spent 0.5 hours is tracked.
The resolution is visible to all stakeholders and becomes part of the project’s closeout documentation.

The Bigger Picture: Bringing Engineering Rigor to Field Communication

RFIs are technical, time-sensitive, and often carry liability implications. Treating them like casual emails undermines the rigor engineering firms are known for. By adopting structured tools like Gridlex, firms bring the same discipline to construction-phase communication that they apply to design and QA/QC.

Moreover, they gain operational benefits:

Improved Client Trust: Municipalities and DOTs see that RFIs are logged, resolved promptly, and backed by records.
Reduced Internal Friction: Engineers know who owns what, and managers aren’t chasing down missed emails.
Better Time Recovery: Firms can justify and bill for post-design support hours.
Stronger Closeout Packages: All RFI responses are exportable for handover documentation.

Turning Chaos Into Coordination