What is an RFI register?

An RFI register is the log of every request for information raised on a project, one row per question, with the RFI number, the date raised, who asked, who owes the answer, the documents the question concerns at their revision, the date a response is needed, the response, and the status. It answers what was asked, by whom, against which drawing, and whether the work is still waiting. This template gives you that register in Excel, with a CSV copy for any other tool.

What does RFI stand for in construction?

RFI stands for request for information. On a construction project it is a formal question raised while the works are underway, usually by the contractor or a subcontractor, when the drawings and the specification are unclear, incomplete, or in conflict. The design team or the owner's representative answers it in writing, dated, and the question and its answer are numbered and logged. In procurement the same three letters name a document sent to the market to learn what suppliers can offer, which is a different instrument entirely.

What columns does an RFI register need?

At a minimum, an RFI register needs the RFI number, the date raised, who raised it, who it is directed to, the subject, the documents the question concerns at their revision, and the status. A register that is worked rather than filed also carries the discipline, the date a response is required, the date answered, a summary of the response, and the cost or programme impact. This template ships fifteen columns, including a file location and a notes column for the revision the answer produced.

How do you number RFIs?

Use one unbroken sequence for the whole project, such as RFI-0001 onwards, and never reuse a number. Some organisations prefix the project or the raising party, for example AWF-RFI-0001, which keeps the sequences apart when several subcontractors ask questions on the same job. Keep the sequence in the register itself, so the next number is always the row below the last one. Leave a withdrawn question on the register with the status Withdrawn rather than deleting the row, because a gap reads as a lost RFI.

What happens when an RFI response changes a drawing?

The answer has to land on the drawing as a revision. Record the response on the RFI row, note the revision it produced, then issue the affected drawing at its new revision and transmit it to whoever is building from it. If the change lives only in the register, the drawing keeps showing the design that raised the question, and the as-constructed set inherits the error. Closing an RFI before the revision is issued is the most common way a register drifts from the record.

When should you move off a spreadsheet RFI register?

A spreadsheet register works until the answer lives in a mailbox rather than the record, or the revision named on a row is no longer the revision on the sheet. When you are reconstructing what was asked and answered from sent email, or checking by hand whether an answered RFI ever reached the drawing, move the record into document control software that holds RFIs against documents under revision control.

Does the template work in Excel and Google Sheets?

Yes. The .xlsx file opens in Excel with the header styling, the header row frozen, and the Discipline, Status, and Impact dropdowns in place. The .csv copy opens anywhere, including Google Sheets and any other spreadsheet tool, and holds the same columns and example rows without the formatting.

fig. 01 · rfi register template

Free RFI register template for Excel.

A ready-to-use RFI register that logs every request for information by number, date raised, discipline, and the documents the question concerns at their revision. Download it, fill in your own questions over the example set, and you have a working register in minutes. No email, no form.

Download for Excel (.xlsx)Download the CSV

.xlsx and .csv · 15 columns · Dropdowns for discipline, status, and impact · Example project included · No email required

fig. 02 · what is inside

Every column a real RFI log needs.

The template starts from document-control practice rather than a blank grid. Fifteen columns cover the question, who owes the answer, the documents it was raised against at their revision, and what the response changed.

The Discipline, Status, and Impact columns carry dropdowns, the header row is frozen, and a second sheet explains how to fill each column.

Read what an RFI is

Column15 fields

01
RFI number
The controlled reference the question is known by. Keep the format consistent and the sequence unbroken, so a missing number is obvious.
02
Date raised
The date the question went out. Response times are counted from here.
03
Raised by
The person who asked, so the answer goes back to someone by name.
04
Raised by company
The company or organisation the person asking belongs to.
05
Directed to
The named person who owes the answer, rather than a shared mailbox.
06
Discipline
The discipline the question belongs to, picked from a dropdown of Architectural, Structural, Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Hydraulic, Fire, Survey, or Other.
07
Subject
A short title for the question, so the register can be read down without opening every row.
08
Related documents
Every document number with the revision the question was raised against, for example AWF-STR-1100 Rev A, separated by semicolons.
09
Response required by
The date the answer is needed, taken from the programme rather than guessed at.
10
Status
Where the RFI sits, picked from a dropdown of Draft, Issued, Answered, Closed, Overdue, or Withdrawn.
11
Date answered
The date the written response came back.
12
Response summary
The answer in a line or two, with the full response filed against the row.
13
Impact
What the answer costs the project in money or time, picked from a dropdown of None, Cost, Schedule, Cost and schedule, or TBC.
14
File location
Where the RFI form, the markups, and the response are filed.
15
Notes
Anything else worth recording against the row, such as the revision the answer produced.

fig. 03 · how to use it

Log the RFI the day the question is asked.

Six steps keep the register reliable. Work down them as each question is raised, and the register stays a true picture of what was asked, who owes the answer, and what the work is waiting on.

Raise the RFI on the register, not in email

Open a row the day the question is asked, before it goes anywhere. Fill the RFI number, date raised, who raised it, who it is directed to, and the subject first, then the rest as the answer comes back. A question that lives only in a mailbox is a question nobody can chase.

Number RFIs in one unbroken sequence

Give every RFI the next number in a single sequence, RFI-0001 onwards, and never reuse one. A gap in the sequence is the first thing anyone auditing the record asks about.

Name the documents the question is about, at their revision

Record each document number with the revision the question was raised against, separated by semicolons. A question raised against revision B can be answered after revision C goes out, and the row is the only place that shows it. Keep the numbers the same as the ones in your drawing register.

Set the date a response is needed by

Take the date from the programme rather than the calendar, and fill Response required by on every row. Sort on that column and the register becomes the chase list. Move the status to Overdue the day the date passes, so a late answer shows up before the work stops.

Record the answer against the row

Write the date answered, a short response summary, and the impact on cost or programme. File the full response and any markup where the File location column points, so the question, the evidence, and the answer stay together.

Close the loop when the response changes a drawing

Many answers change a route, a clearance, or a specification. Note the revision the answer produced, issue the affected drawing at that revision, and only then move the status to Closed. An answer that never reaches the sheet leaves the drawing showing the design that raised the question.

fig. 04 · a worked example

What a filled-in RFI register looks like.

The file arrives with four questions already on it, raised on one worked project: a ferry terminal and wharf called Aurora Wharf. Three of them walk the register end to end, from a question closed inside the week to one the work is still waiting on.

RFI-0007Row 01
Which revision of the power distribution layout is current for install?
Date raised
2025-12-15
Raised by
L. Okafor, Aurora Wharf JV
Directed to
Southerly Building Services
Discipline
Electrical
Related documents
AWF-ELE-4200 Rev A
Response required by
2025-12-19
Date answered
2025-12-18
Impact
None
Status
Closed
The register did its job in three days. The question was raised against Revision A, the answer came back that Revision A is superseded and the install follows Revision B, and the notes record that Revision A was withdrawn from site. Impact reads None, because the answer cost neither money nor time. Only then does the status go to Closed, and this is the one kind of RFI you should be pleased to see: a revision question caught before anyone installed to the wrong sheet.
RFI-0012Row 02
Pile cap reinforcement clashes with the deck edge beam at pile P14
Date raised
2026-01-26
Raised by
R. Sandoval, Aurora Wharf JV
Directed to
Tasman Structural
Discipline
Structural
Related documents
AWF-STR-1100 Rev A; AWF-STR-1101 Rev A
Response required by
2026-02-09
Date answered
2026-02-06
Impact
Cost
Status
Answered
Answered is not Closed, and this row shows why. The response was to relocate pile P14 and add trim bars to the cap, which carries a cost, and the reinforcement revision still has to follow. The notes say to close the RFI once AWF-STR-1100 Revision B is issued. Look that number up on the drawing register template and Revision B is there, reissued after the pile schedule update and sent under transmittal TR-0039. That is the loop closing, and it is the loop most spreadsheet registers leave open.
RFI-0018Row 03
Confirm the setdown level at the terminal entry threshold
Date raised
2026-02-17
Raised by
R. Sandoval, Aurora Wharf JV
Directed to
Harbourline Architects
Discipline
Architectural
Related documents
AWF-ARC-2001 Rev B
Response required by
2026-03-03
Date answered
Blank
Impact
Schedule
Status
Overdue
The response date has passed, Date answered is empty, and the status reads Overdue. The notes carry the two chase dates and the consequence: the entry slab is on hold. This is the row that earns the register its keep, because a question sitting in a mailbox has no due date anyone can sort on. Sort on Response required by and every row like this one comes to the top.

The same Aurora Wharf project runs through all six templates, using the same document numbers, so the registers line up if you take more than one.

fig. 05 · when the spreadsheet stops keeping up

A spreadsheet log works, until it does not.

A register like this is quick to start, everyone can read it, and it holds the whole question history on one page. It keeps working until two things happen: the answer lives in a mailbox rather than the record, and the revision named on a row is no longer the revision on the sheet. When you are reconstructing an RFI from sent email, that is the sign to move the record into document control software. See how an RFI raised from a markup stays with the drawing that raised it.

The question tied to the documents it concerns

Raise an RFI against the documents it questions at their current revision, so the row and the sheets it refers to are one record rather than a number typed twice.

The response beside the drawing it changed

The answer sits on the record next to the document it applies to, so anyone reading the sheet can see the instruction that changed it and the revision that carried it.

An audit trail behind every RFI

Every change is logged, so who asked what, who answered, and when, is a lookup rather than a search through a mailbox.

No reconstruction at handover

The question history stays with the asset when the project closes, so nobody rebuilds the RFI record from sent items years later.

Lunr is document control software built for the record. It holds RFIs against the documents they question at their revision, keeps the response beside the drawing the answer changed, and logs every step, so the register and the drawings can never drift apart.

Book a demo See document control software Explore the features

fig. 06 · questions

Questions about RFI registers.

What the register is, what RFI stands for, the columns it needs, how RFIs are numbered, and what has to happen when an answer changes a drawing.

What is an RFI register?: An RFI register is the log of every request for information raised on a project, one row per question, with the RFI number, the date raised, who asked, who owes the answer, the documents the question concerns at their revision, the date a response is needed, the response, and the status. It answers what was asked, by whom, against which drawing, and whether the work is still waiting. This template gives you that register in Excel, with a CSV copy for any other tool.
What does RFI stand for in construction?: RFI stands for request for information. On a construction project it is a formal question raised while the works are underway, usually by the contractor or a subcontractor, when the drawings and the specification are unclear, incomplete, or in conflict. The design team or the owner's representative answers it in writing, dated, and the question and its answer are numbered and logged. In procurement the same three letters name a document sent to the market to learn what suppliers can offer, which is a different instrument entirely.
What columns does an RFI register need?: At a minimum, an RFI register needs the RFI number, the date raised, who raised it, who it is directed to, the subject, the documents the question concerns at their revision, and the status. A register that is worked rather than filed also carries the discipline, the date a response is required, the date answered, a summary of the response, and the cost or programme impact. This template ships fifteen columns, including a file location and a notes column for the revision the answer produced.
How do you number RFIs?: Use one unbroken sequence for the whole project, such as RFI-0001 onwards, and never reuse a number. Some organisations prefix the project or the raising party, for example AWF-RFI-0001, which keeps the sequences apart when several subcontractors ask questions on the same job. Keep the sequence in the register itself, so the next number is always the row below the last one. Leave a withdrawn question on the register with the status Withdrawn rather than deleting the row, because a gap reads as a lost RFI.
What happens when an RFI response changes a drawing?: The answer has to land on the drawing as a revision. Record the response on the RFI row, note the revision it produced, then issue the affected drawing at its new revision and transmit it to whoever is building from it. If the change lives only in the register, the drawing keeps showing the design that raised the question, and the as-constructed set inherits the error. Closing an RFI before the revision is issued is the most common way a register drifts from the record.
When should you move off a spreadsheet RFI register?: A spreadsheet register works until the answer lives in a mailbox rather than the record, or the revision named on a row is no longer the revision on the sheet. When you are reconstructing what was asked and answered from sent email, or checking by hand whether an answered RFI ever reached the drawing, move the record into document control software that holds RFIs against documents under revision control.
Does the template work in Excel and Google Sheets?: Yes. The .xlsx file opens in Excel with the header styling, the header row frozen, and the Discipline, Status, and Impact dropdowns in place. The .csv copy opens anywhere, including Google Sheets and any other spreadsheet tool, and holds the same columns and example rows without the formatting.

fig. 07 · the other templates

Five more registers, free to download.

Each one ships as an Excel file with dropdowns, a frozen header row, example rows over the same worked project, and a second sheet explaining every column, plus a CSV copy for Google Sheets. No email, no form.

01
Master document register template
Every document the job is contracted to produce, including the ones nobody has started, with a planned issue date, a review code, and a responsible party against each.
Deliverables · 16 columns · .xlsx and .csv
02
Drawing register template
Every drawing on the job, one row per revision, with the status it carries and the transmittal that issued it.
Drawings · 14 columns · .xlsx and .csv
03
Document register template
Every controlled document the job produces, from drawings and specifications to calculations, reports, and manuals, at its current revision.
Controlled documents · 14 columns · .xlsx and .csv
04
Transmittal register template
Every package that left the office, with the recipient, the purpose of issue, and each document at the revision that was sent.
Issues · 14 columns · .xlsx and .csv
05
Document control register template
The procedures, work instructions, forms, and plans that govern the work, with an owner, an approver, a review date, and a distribution list against each.
Procedures and forms · 16 columns · .xlsx and .csv

See how the six registers sit against each other on one job on the document control templates hub.

fig. 08 · get started

Outgrown the spreadsheet RFI log?

Book a walkthrough with someone who knows what a transmittal and an as-constructed drawing are, and watch a question run from the drawing that raised it to the revision that answers it.

Book a demo See document control

10M+ documents under management · Hosted in Australia and the US · SAML · Full audit trail · Export anytime

entity: Lunr Labs Pty Ltd
location: Melbourne AU
workspace: documents.lunr.app
rev: 2026