RFIs and submittals are the two paper mills of construction administration. Neither is hard — the answer usually exists in the drawings, the spec, or a previous project. What eats the hours is the retrieval: finding the referenced details, checking whether the same condition was already resolved, confirming the code actually says what everyone remembers it saying, and then writing it all up in a form someone can stamp.
That's exactly the shape of work agents are good at.
An RFI answered against the set, the spec and the code
Read the RFI and identify what's actually being asked
Pull the referenced details and sheets
Check for a prior RFI covering the same condition
Verify the condition against the governing code
Draft the response with the clarifying markup
Assemble the response package
Architect of record reviews and issues
Submittals run the same pattern in the other direction: instead of answering a question from the field, the workflow checks what the contractor proposes against what the documents require.
A submittal package, checked line by line against the spec
Split the package by product and manufacturer
Locate the governing spec section for each
Compare submitted data to the specified requirements
Flag substitutions and missing certifications
Confirm listings and ratings against the code
Compile the review with a stamp recommendation
Reviewer sets the final action
Why this beats doing it by hand
- The references come attached. Every claim in the draft cites the sheet, spec paragraph or code section it came from — checking the work takes minutes, not another research pass.
- Prior decisions resurface. The workflow searches your project record for the same condition answered before, so the same question doesn't get re-litigated across a project — or across projects.
- The register maintains itself. Responses land back in the log with status, dates and ball-in-court, ready for the OAC meeting.