Templates

A free RFI log template for architects

An Excel RFI log with the columns LODE keeps for you: both numbers, the sheet and revision the question is about, ball in court, status and a days-in-court formula. Download it; nobody asks for your email.

Conor McMichael · Architect. Founder, LODE

Last updated Oct 10, 2026

Download the Excel template

lode-rfi-log.xlsx. No email, no sign-up.

What is in it, and who it is for

This is the log I kept on paper, then in Excel, for most of a decade before building it into software. It is for the architect’s side of construction administration: the questions arrive from the contractor, the architect routes them, answers them or sends them to a consultant, and the log is the one place that says where every question is and how long it has been there.

Twelve columns, no macros. Two number columns, because the contractor keeps a sequence of their own and the two never agree. A sheet and revision column, because an RFI is a question about a specific drawing at a specific moment, and the moment matters. A question-type column with the four kinds LODE uses: a clarification, a reference to a sheet that already answers it, a sketch, or a revision to the documents. Ball in court, due date, response date, and a formula that counts the days.

It is the same shape as the register in LODE, so if you later move the project in, the columns line up. How RFIs work in LODE.

The columns

The same columns LODE keeps for you, in the order the register shows them. Each one is there for a reason.

No.: Your number, in sequence. The one the project refers to.
Contractor's no.: The GC numbers RFIs too, and the two sequences never match. Keep both so either side can find it.
Subject: One line, in the words the question used.
Sheet / revision: The sheet and the revision the question is about. An RFI about A201 Rev 2 is a different question once Rev 3 lands.
Question typelist: What kind of answer it needs: a clarification, a reference to a sheet, a sketch, or a revised document.
Received: The day it arrived. The clock starts here.
Ball in courtlist: Who holds it right now. The column that replaces the meeting.
Due: Received plus the response window in the contract, or the date agreed.
Responded: The day the answer went back. Blank while it is open.
Days in courtformula: Days since received, or received to responded once answered. Calculated.
Statuslist: Open, answered, reopened or closed. Reopening keeps the number and restarts the clock.
Response summary: The answer in one line, so the log can be read without opening the file.

Preview

The header row and the sample rows the file opens with, rendered from the column definitions the file is built from.

No.	Contractor's no.	Subject	Sheet / revision	Question type	Received	Ball in court	Due	Responded	Days in court	Status	Response summary
001	RFI-004	Guardrail height at north stair landing	A201 / Rev 2	Clarification	2026-03-02	Architect	2026-03-12	2026-03-09	7	Answered	See ASI 03: 1070 mm to top of rail, per code
002	RFI-005	Stringer bearing at relocated wall	A501 / Rev 3	Sketch	2026-03-10	Consultant	2026-03-20			Open
003	RFI-007	Door 112 hardware set conflict with spec	A601 / Rev 1	Document revision	2026-03-11	Architect	2026-03-21			Open

RFI Log sheet, 12 columns. The second sheet, How to use this log, links back here.

Where this spreadsheet breaks

Two numbering systems, one column

The GC’s RFI-014 is your 009, and the subcontractor who asked it calls it something else. The template has two columns for this. The spreadsheet still cannot stop someone typing the wrong one, and once it is wrong in the log it is wrong in every meeting minute that quotes the log.

The revision moves and the log does not

RFI 002 is about A501 Rev 3. Bulletin 1 issues Rev 4 and the detail the question was about is no longer there. The log still says Rev 3, still says open, and the answer the consultant is drafting is an answer to a drawing that nobody is building from.

Ball in court is whoever last edited the cell

The column is right when it was typed and wrong a day later, because the routing happened in email and the log was not open. The days-in-court number is only as honest as the last person who remembered to change the court.

The response lives somewhere else

A one-line summary is what a spreadsheet can hold. The actual response, the sketch, the marked-up sheet and the exchange that led to it are in a PDF, an email thread and a folder, and finding them two years later means finding the person who filed them.

Frequently asked questions

What should an RFI log include?

At minimum: your number and the contractor’s, the subject, the sheet or spec section the question refers to, the date received, who currently holds it, the due date, the date answered, and the status. A days-open count and a one-line response summary make it readable in a meeting without opening the files. This template has all of those.

Who maintains the RFI log, the architect or the contractor?

Both keep one, which is why the two number columns exist. The contractor logs what they asked; the architect logs what arrived, where it was routed and when it was answered. The architect’s log is the record of the response time, which is the number that gets argued about.

How many days should an RFI response take?

Whatever the contract says, usually in Division 01 of the specifications, and often two weeks from receipt; AIA A201-2017 asks the architect to respond with reasonable promptness. The template’s Due column is for the contractual date and the days-in-court formula shows how the response is tracking against it.

What does ball in court mean on an RFI?

Who holds the question right now: the architect, a consultant it was routed to, the contractor who owes more information, or the owner who has to make a decision. The clock on an RFI only means something when it is attributed to whoever is holding it.

Does the template work in Google Sheets or Numbers?

Yes. It is a plain .xlsx with list validation, date formats and one formula per row, all of which import. The second sheet, How to use this log, comes with it.

In LODE

The log that cites its sheets.

In LODE an RFI names the sheet and revision it is asking about, and that reference is live: when a later issuance supersedes the sheet, the RFI knows. Routing is a chain of hops with a clock on each, so ball in court is a fact about the record rather than a cell someone remembered to update. The response, the sketch and the exchange are filed with the RFI, and the contractor works from a link with no seat.

When an answer changes the drawings, the ASI or bulletin is issued from the RFI and the sheet’s revision history names it. The log and the set are one record.

RFI Register14 to date · 2 open

RFI 014Guardrail height at north stair landingArchitect2d

RFI 013Roof assembly transition at A301Answered—

RFI 012Door hardware set at Stair 2Contractor5d

Ball-in-court tracked per hop — the clock shows who has it, and for how long

See your RFIs against the current set.

We'll be in touch when early access opens.

Feature

Construction administration

RFIs that cite their sheets, a submittal log built from the specs, ball-in-court with a clock.

Learn

Addendum vs bulletin vs ASI

Three instruments, three moments: before the contract, a minor change at no cost, a change that needs a price. With the AIA forms and clauses for each.