1   Project Center administrators can set which tasks appear here using the Remove Contract Management Item Tasks dialog box.

RFIs

●      New RFI > Create RFI

Click to open the Create RFI dialog box to create a new RFI.

●      New RFI > Log a Received RFI

Click to open the Log a Received RFI dialog box to log a received RFI.

●      Create a Report

Click to open the Create a Report dialog box to select the type of RFI report to create. The report contains the contents of this log.

1   You can customize which columns appear in reports by selecting which columns to show and hide in the activity center. Simply right-click on column headers to add or remove columns. A checkmark indicates that the column will appear in the activity center and the report.

1   You can include RFI questions and answers in reports by marking the Display Report Details When Available option in the Create a Report dialog box.

●      Import Spreadsheet

Click to open the Select Spreadsheet dialog box to select a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet containing RFI data that you can import. The imported RFIs are placed in the appropriate log based on the type imported.

●      View Pending Items

1   This task appears when there are Pending Incoming RFI transfers.

Click to list only Pending RFIs.

Selected RFI

The following list shows all available tasks for all RFI categories, in alphabetical order. The tasks that appear depend on which category you select from.

●      Close > Close

Click to open the Close RFI dialog box to close the RFI without providing a response.

●      Close > Respond and Close

Click to open the Respond to RFI and Close dialog box to file the response to the sender of the RFI and close it. If the RFI has files associated with it, the Select Files to Send dialog box will open first.

●      Close > Send and Close

Click to open the Send and Close RFI dialog box to send the selected RFI to other contacts and close it. If the RFI has files associated with it, the Select Files to Send dialog box will open first.

●      Create Similar RFI

Click to create a new RFI based on the one selected. The new one contains most of the information from the original, except for unique identifiers such as the ID. The new one is also automatically related to the original. Supporting documents from the original are included.
If the original has no received actions (such as those is a draft/expected state), the Create RFI dialog box opens. If the original has at least one receive action, the new one will be created using the Log a Received RFI dialog box.

1   If the original contains a receive action with files and/or description of contents entries, the Select Files and Description of Contents dialog box opens first, enabling you to select the items to include in the new copy.

●      Delete

1   You must be a Project Center administrator and have a contract management role to delete RFIs.

Click to delete the RFI from Project Center.

●      Forward for Review

Click to open the Forward RFI for Review dialog box to forward the RFI to any contacts who are responsible for reviewing the RFI and to create a transmittal. If the RFI has received files or supporting documents associated with it, the Select Files to Forward for Review dialog box will open first so you can select the files to forward.

●      Modify

Click to open the Modify RFI dialog box to edit the settings for the selected RFI, including due dates, included files, and the question.

●      Receive Pending Review Response

Click to open the Record Reviewer Response for RFI dialog box to receive a pending RFI response from Info Exchange.

●      Receive Pending RFI

Click to open the Log a Received RFI dialog box to receive a pending RFI from Info Exchange.

●      Record Reviewer Response

Click to open the Record Reviewer Response for RFI dialog box to record a response received back about an RFI that was forwarded to other contacts. When you receive a response back from a contact, record it using this task to track its progress.

●      Related Items >

See the Related Items Tasks topic for information.

●      Reopen

Click to open the Re-Open RFI dialog box to re-open a closed RFI.

●      Review Related Action Items

Click to open the Related Action Items activity center to view action items related to the selected item.

●      Review Related Markup Sessions

1   This task is available only when you select an RFI that has related markup sessions.

Click to open the Related Markup Sessions activity center to view information about and preview the RFI's related markup sessions.

●      Send

Click to open the Send RFI dialog box to send the RFI to other contacts to review, and create a new outgoing transmittal for the RFI.

●      Send Email About RFI > To the Author

Click to open an email message to send to the contact who originally sent the RFI. The email message includes information about the RFI.

●      Send Email About RFI > To the Recipients

Click to open an email message to send to the original RFI recipients as a reminder or with additional information. The email message includes information about the RFI.

●      Send Email About RFI > To All Reviewers

Click to open an email message to send to the contacts who are currently reviewing the RFI as a reminder or with additional information. The email message includes information about the RFI.

●      Send Email About RFI > To All Participants

Click to open an email message to send to all RFI participants, including the author, recipients, and reviewers as a reminder or with additional information. The email message includes information about the RFI.

●      View Form

Click to open the RFI form to view or print the selected RFI's details and history.

Selected Action

See Selected Action panel. Access the actions by clicking the expand icon in the first column next to each RFI.

The file tasks apply to files in the Supporting Documents tab. See File Tasks panel.

See Email Tasks panel.

See Related Item Tasks panel.

Project RFIs

Category drop-down list

The category drop-down list contains filters to display RFIs by category. For example, if you want to view overdue RFIs, select Overdue from the list. Only overdue RFIs will appear in the log. You can also choose to display RFIs for all project users or only RFIs on which you are listed as the sender or recipient. Each category is explained below.

Click to toggle between showing RFIs for all users or only RFIs you are involved with.

All

Click to display all RFIs that have been entered for this project.

Pending Incoming

Click to display all RFIs sent via Info Exchange that need to be received. When an RFI or RFI response is logged on Info Exchange, it will show up in this category.

Draft

Click to display all RFIs that have been logged as a draft and have not been sent.

Open

Click to display all open RFIs.

Awaiting Action

Click to display RFIs that have been received, but they:

• Have not been assigned, or

• Have been assigned and all answers have been received, but there has been no response sent to the RFI author.

Awaiting Response

Click to display RFIs that have been sent out with a due date for another contact to review that you have not received back yet.

Response Overdue

Click to display RFIs that have been assigned with a due back date, but the answers are overdue.

Overdue

Click to display all project RFIs that have not had a response sent to the RFI author by the due date (the due date was filled in when the RFI was entered).

All Closed

Click to display RFIs that have had a response sent to the RFI author and there is no further action required.

Filter All Columns

You can filter by any text that appears in any of the RFI columns. For example, if you know the subject (or part of the subject) of the RFI that you are searching for (or the ID, status, discipline, etc.), enter at least part of the text in this field. The RFIs list updates automatically as you type. For example, if the RFI you are searching for has the number 30 somewhere in one of the columns, enter 30 in this field. The list will be narrowed down to only RFIs that have the number 30 somewhere in one of the columns.

Click to toggle between showing and hiding the column filter fields.

Clear

Click to clear all filters.

RFI log

The RFI log displays the RFIs for the category selected above. Select an RFI for a list of tasks you can perform, which appear in the Tasks panel. Double-click an RFI to open the Modify RFI dialog box to view and edit the RFI's information and settings.

1   Overdue RFIs (and actions) are listed in red.

1   You can drag and drop or copy and paste email messages from Microsoft Outlook and files from Windows Explorer into the RFI log to create a new RFI. This also prevents Microsoft Outlook from opening multiple instances of Project Center.

Columns

Column headers are different for each RFI category. The following list includes all column headers for all RFI categories (open, closed, overdue, etc.). Some categories may not include all columns, and they may not be in the order listed here. If you move and resize columns, they are saved in that position for each category. Column settings are reflected in RFI reports. Right-click on any column header to list and de-list columns. Click the icons for more filtering options.

ID

The identification number of the RFI. The RFI ID can contain the RFI's specification section if it's configured to do so in the Edit Project Settings dialog box.

Sender ID

The number the contractor gave to the RFI.

Subject

The subject of the RFI.

Status

The current status of the RFI.

Discipline

Any disciplines applied to the RFI.

Reasons

The reasons for the RFI.

To

The contacts the RFI was sent to.

From

The contact who sent the RFI.

Received

The date the recipient received the RFI.

Last Action

The last action taken on the RFI. It displays the action and the purpose or type for that item. For example, if an RFI was received and there was no action required selected for the Action field, the Last Action column would display Received – No Action Required. If you were looking at an entry in the Under Review category that had a Last Action of Received – No Action Required, that indicates that the item needs to be closed using the Close task.

Contract

The contract the RFI is related to.

Forwarded to

The list of contacts that were sent the RFI to review using the Forward for Review task.

Review Due Back

The date the RFI is due back from the contacts reviewing it if it is not yet received. It is based on the oldest Forward for Review date.

Due Back From

Any contacts a response to the RFI is due back from.

Current Reviewer

The contact currently reviewing the RFI if it is in a sequential workflow.

Due Date

The date a response is due back to the contact who sent the RFI.

Response Date

The date the response to the RFI author was sent.

Total Days

The number of days to process the RFI. The count starts from the start date, which is either when the item was created or the received date, and ends either now or when it was closed if a closed date was entered. If it is re-opened, it displays the count from when the RFI was created. It's based on calendar days (not business days) and does not consider holidays in its calculations.

Remaining Days

The number of days remaining until the Due Date.

Keywords

Any keywordsIn Project Center, keywords are words you can add to items to use for filtering. When you add keywords, they appear in the Keywords column of the corresponding Project Center activity centers. You can then filter the list of items using the keywords to quickly find the items you are looking for. applied to the RFI.

Related Items

If the RFI has any related items, the icons appear here.

Related Project Items

This column is a text version of the icons in the Related Items column. The text will appear in reports.

Last Forwarded

The date the RFI was last forwarded to a reviewer.

Last Reviewed

The date the most recent reviewer returned the RFI. (The most recent review response date.)

Review Days

The total number of days the RFI has been in the review cycle for all reviewers.

Internal Notes

Any personal notes added to the RFI. These are also added to the Remarks Summary tab.

Originated by

The contact asking the question.

Supporting Documents

Any files attached to the RFI.

Question

The original question that was submitted.

Answer

The answer to the RFI.

Suggestion

Any suggestions added to the RFI.

Type

The RFI's type.

Closed Date

The date the RFI was closed.

Actions

The actions drop-down displays a history of the actions taken on the selected RFI, including when it was received, responded to, forwarded, approved, closed, etc. Every action represents a communication between a sender and recipients and is linked to a transmittal, which you can print out. You can undo individual actions to revert the RFI to its prior state. Selecting an action displays tasks you can perform on it, including displaying its transmittal form, modifying the action, or deleting the action. Double-click an action to open the Transmittal form to view the transmittal form for the RFI action. An example of the action history is shown here:

Type

The type of action performed. Each type can have multiple actions, which you can add, as described next.

Action

The action taken. To add new action types, refer to Add an RFI Action.

Date

The date of the action.

From

Who performed the action.

To

The recipient of the action taken.

Due Date

The due date is either the RFI due date or the forward for review due date – depending on the action taken.

Remarks

Any remarks entered about the action taken.

Via

How the action was sent.

1   To delete a transmittal that is associated with a RFI action, select the RFI, then delete the corresponding RFI action.

1   Actions are listed in red if the RFI is overdue or if a review response is overdue.

1   See Modify Action in the Selected Action panel topic for an explanation of how modifying an action works.

1   You can customize the actions in the Project Center Administration Activity Center Keywords tab.

Files related to the action

The Files Sent tab contains any electronic files that were included with the selected action. Select a file to display file tasks you can perform, including opening, comparing, sending, and publishing the file.

Remarks Summary tab

A summary of the actions that have occurred for the RFI appears here. If the RFI originated from an email message, the contents of the email appears here.

Description of Contents tab

A description of the contents of each action in the RFI workflow appears here. This information is used to fill in the Contents section of the Transmittal form. You can edit the contents as you move through the RFI workflow by clicking Modify from the Tasks panel to accurately reflect what is being sent.

In each step (action) of the workflow (Forwarded, Review Response, and Responded and Closed), the Description of Contents tab can be filled in for what is sent or received, as shown in the following example.

Workflow

The task that was selected from the Tasks panel (Forwarded - To Answer, Review Response - Answered, etc.).  

From

The originator of the action.

Qty

The quantity of each item received with the RFI.

Date

The dates individual items were received with the RFI.  For example, if you have six shop drawings, it may help to track dates for each individual sheet.

Number

The ID number for each item.

Title

The title of each item.

Revision

The revision number, if applicable.

Scale

The drawing scale, if applicable.

Size

The drawing size, if applicable.

File Summary tab

This tab contains any electronic files that were included with the RFI. Select a file to display file tasks you can perform, including opening, comparing, sending, and publishing the file. These files are stored in a compressed .ZIP file that is referenced by the RFI. Each column in this tab is described here.

Name

The name of the file.

1   If the file is an email message, Project Center creates the file name with the date, a system generated ID, and the subject of the email.

Type

The file's type.

Workflow

The workflow step (Forwarded, Review Response, etc.) for the file.

Size

The file's size.

Modified

The date the file was last modified.

ZIP Folder

The full path to the location of the .ZIP file.

Related Items

Any Project center items related to the file.

Email Log tab

This tab lists all email messages associated with the selected RFI. When you click File as or File in Project (then choose the RFI option) from the Project Center Add-in for Microsoft Outlook Toolbar, the email message appears here.

1   You can copy and paste and drag and drop email messages from Microsoft Outlook and Windows Explorer into this tab.

1   To file a reviewer response, you can drag and drop an email message into this tab, then select the email message and click Log as from the Email Tasks panel and select the Reviewer Response option.

Double-click an email message to open it in Microsoft Outlook. From there, you can reply to or forward the message.

1   The number in parentheses indicates the number of email messages filed to the RFI.

Supporting Documents tab

Use this tab to attach files to the selected RFI, and to view attached files. For example, if you receive an RFI and a particular drawing is related to it, you can use this tab to attach the drawing file to the RFI. Another example is if you receive a file with an RFI, mark it up, and want to send the marked up file to a reviewer. Also, files sent using the Add to > RFI task from other activity centers are added to this tab.

1   The number in parentheses indicates the number of files that are attached to the RFI.

1   You can copy and paste and drag and drop files from Windows Explorer into this tab.

Preview tab

A preview of the selected file appears here.

Related Items tab

This tab lists all related Project Center items for the selected file.

Related Items tab

This tab lists all related Project Center items for the selected RFI.

Create Related > Action Item

Click to open the Identify an Action Item dialog box to create a new action item and link it to the current RFI.

Create Related > Transfer > Via Email

Click to open the Send Files to Email Recipients dialog box to send project files via email. Nothing is logged in this tab.

Create Related > Transfer > Via Info Exchange

Click to open the Transfer Files to a Newforma Info Exchange Server dialog box to transfer project files via your Newforma Info Exchange Server and link the transfer to the current RFI.

Create Related > Transmittal > Via Email

Click to open the Send Files and Create an Outgoing Transmittal dialog box to send project files via email, file an outgoing transmittal for a file transfer, and link the transfer to the current RFI.

Create Related > Transmittal > Via Info Exchange

Click to open the Transfer Files and Create an Outgoing Transmittal dialog box to transfer project files via your Newforma Info Exchange Server, create a new outgoing transmittal for the file transfer, and link the transfer to the current RFI.

Create Related > Contract Management > Contract Management Item

Click to open the Create Contract Management Item dialog box for the type of contract management item you selected to create a new item and link it to the current RFI.

Relate to >

Click to select an existing project item and establish a relationship between it and the currently selected RFI. This gives you the ability to link two items that are related together. (For example, a markup session that is related to an RFI.) Select Another Project Item to open the Select Project Item dialog box to locate an item that is not in the list. When you create a relationship between two items, each item's icon is added to the other item's Related Items column and tab.

Remove

Click to unlink and remove the selected project item from the Related Items tab.

1   Removing a related item from the Related Items tab does not remove it from the database.

The Relation Type column  has two icons to indicate the relationship type:

●        The icon indicates that the relationship was created by a user and can be deleted (such as an action item related to an RFI).

●        The icon indicates that the relationship was created by Project Center and cannot be deleted (such as a transmittal or record copy related to an RFI).

Change Log tab

This tab displays a history of the actions taken on the RFI, including when it was created, modified, who was involved, and any details.