Stop 7 of 8 · Daily
Contractor coordination
RFIs answered in the language of the set, minutes that survive a dispute, a site visit report written from photos, and the change conversation kept away from money.
The part of the job that happens by phone
Once a project is in construction, Nadine's day is interruptions. An RFI at seven in the morning, a coordination meeting at ten, a site visit at two where the superintendent shows her something that is not what was drawn, and an email at six asking whether a change is approved. None of it is design, all of it is record, and the record is what she has in eighteen months when somebody disagrees about what was said.
What changes with Claude is the turnaround. An RFI answered the same day from the set, minutes out within the hour while people still remember, and a site visit report written from the photos on her phone before she gets back to the office.
The four documents
| Document | The one thing it must contain |
|---|---|
| RFI response | The sheet and detail the answer comes from, or a new detail |
| Meeting minutes | Every open item with a name and a date against it |
| Site visit report | What was observed, dated, with photo references, and no opinion on cause |
| Change discussion | Scope and drawing impact only, with money bracketed |
Here are today's RFIs and the current drawing set. [attach both] For each RFI: restate the actual question in one line, say whether the set already answers it and on which sheet and detail, and if it does not, say what has to be produced and by whom. Sort them by whether the trade is blocked. Draft the response only for the ones the set already answers, quoting the sheet and detail. Leave the rest for me.
[paste my notes from the coordination meeting] Write the minutes in my studio format: attendees, date, decisions made, open items with an owner and a date, and items carried over. Anything that was discussed but not decided goes under open items, not decisions. Strip every number that is a price, a bid or a budget figure and write [pricing held in the studio file] instead. Send as a Word document and an Outlook draft to the distribution list.
[attach today's site photos] Write the site visit report for [date]. For each photo, say what area it shows if the file name or the image tells you, what is observed, and whether it matches the drawing set attached. Observation only: do not write a cause, a fault or a recommendation. End with the list of items I need to look at again next visit. Keep any item you are unsure about in a separate list rather than describing it loosely.