The Request for Information (RFI) process in construction is something we are all familiar with. Whether you’re a contractor, owner, or architect, RFIs are a part of every project, and they come at a high cost. An oft-cited research to study in 2013 for places in the Navigant Construction Forum the average construction RFI cost approximately $1,080 to review and respond, with an average process time of 9.7 days and 21.9% no response; a conservative estimate with today’s skyrocketing costs.
With a current average value between At $2,000 to $3,000 per RFI, not including indirect costs such as delays and rework, it’s clear that approaching RFIs effectively is crucial to saving time, money, and harmonious collaboration among project stakeholders. project Fortunately, advances in construction technology, especially AI tools, are bringing new levels of efficiency, clarity and collaboration to the industry.
efficiency
Design and pre-construction teams can greatly benefit from using AI drawing review tools. Architects can save a lot of time and headaches from having to investigate and respond to easily avoidable RFIs, not to mention the impact that uncontrolled RFIs can have on a company’s reputation. That said, contractors often carry the most risk on a project making these tools essential. If you consider that orOn average, a project team will accumulate 6,368 hours dealing with RFI, at a cost of about $859,680 (according to the Navigant study), clearly better solutions are needed; especially when a single RFI has a potential impact of 9.7 days on the project schedule.
For preconstruction teams who can become project heroes or project villains, AI tools that can quickly identify missing information, scope gaps, and conflicting information in drawing sets, before bidding or procurement, can mean the difference between the project’s profits and losses.
In a recent case study, Flintco, a leading proponent of technology and innovation, looked at RFIs and how information applied during pre-construction can help operations teams provide greater schedule and budget certainty for owners. The goal was to improve bid accuracy and streamline procurement by mitigating the uncertainty of incomplete design packages earlier and more efficiently.
Flintco leveraged a pre-construction AI design review tool called Firmus AI-REVIEW™ at a large healthcare facility in its Southeast region. What would normally take 2-3 weeks of tedious manual review was achieved in 48 hours with AI analysis that identified, among other things, discrepancies between the gate schedule and the gates shown in the plans and other views.
“This analysis helped us identify and streamline these issues,” said Nicole McKee, estimator and diversity coordinator for Flintco in Memphis. “We grouped all the relevant conflicts into one RFI for each building. For example, if a door was shown on the door schedule but not on the floor plan, we would list them all for each building grouped by major topics.” The amount of time saved was impressive. “I can honestly say that the Firmus analysis for RFI generation alone saved us days.”
Pre-construction teams can leverage AI to increase productivity and resource optimization while reducing project and business risk. And when teams can focus on the strategic aspects of project design and buildability, employee satisfaction and retention increase. The natural result is greater project quality, cost control and clarity.
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