An RFI, or Request for Information, is a written question from a contractor, subcontractor or fabricator to the design team for a clarification or decision the contract documents do not provide. Each is numbered, logged and answered in writing by the architect or engineer of record, and the answer joins the record the work is built to; in a Plumb review, back within 24 hours, a Major finding is one where a correction, clarification or RFI is likely.
A shop drawing review turns into an RFI when the detailer hits something the drawings cannot settle: a dimension that depends on a design decision, a conflict between the drawings and the specification, a connection the design shows but does not define, or an unclear scope line. The detailer can guess, which risks rework, or stop and ask. The RFI is the stop-and-ask.
Each RFI holds the drawing while it waits for an answer, for days or weeks, and the owner reads the RFI log as a measure of how the project is going. RFIs about things already in the documents are the ones nobody wants to send.
How Plumb uses the term
Tier 2 — Submittal Readiness Review adds escalation and RFI triggers to the checks. Each write-up states the sheet, the gap and a recommended action. See the sample review.