Construction Administration

RFIs, submittals, revisions, and observations — every exchange on the record, every court visible, and an optional portal for the contractor.

7.1 · Orientation

How CA is laid out

Six sub-tabs: Overview · RFIs · Submittals · Revisions · Observations · Settings. Two ideas run through all of them:

Ball in court	Every record tracks who holds it — multiple parties at once, each on its own clock. Handoffs are logged, never edited. Every register has a court column, and the Overview lists “In court now” with review-window bars and overdue chips.
Notifications	A gold badge on the CA tab counts items waiting on you. LODE sends no CA email, ever — the record is in the product, not an inbox.

CA Settings holds the submittal review window, the RFI response window, your firm’s review stamp (an uploaded image or your own action labels), and branding.

7.2 · RFIs

RFIs in four steps

Log. Dual numbering — LODE’s and the contractor’s — the question, received and due dates, linked documents, and internal notes that never leave the office.

Route. Hop by hop or to several consultants at once; their answers land as notifications.

Compose. Typed responses: a clarification; a reference (prose plus a sheet chip that always points at the current version of that sheet); a sketch; or a doc revision — which starts a revision item automatically. A sketch response becomes a record sheet when you log the answer: the SK is staged as a drawing on a draft “RFI-012 Response” issuance, you review it like any upload and Set in Stone, and its chip lands on the cited sheet exactly where the RFI’s citation region was drawn.

Compile the response → Log as answered — and the courts close.

A follow-up reopens the same number — the exchange appends and the clock restarts, so one question stays one thread. The register exports to a spreadsheet.

OpenAnsweredReopenedClosed

7.3 · Submittals

Submittals: the register and the record

The register is built straight from your compiled spec sections — the same specs always produce the same register, with no AI guesswork — so the log exists before the first submittal ever arrives. Re-reading the specs adds “Suggested” rows and flags “No longer in spec”; it never changes rows on its own. “Not required” stays visible with a reason; “Complete” marks a requirement satisfied outside LODE.

The record: one bundled submittal can satisfy many requirements, and bundles stay bundled. Revisions run R0 → R1 with a reason. Several reviewers can work at the same time — each with their own markup layer, own stamp, own court. An optional DOC first pass can flag issues early (never a gate). The return requires an outcome — approved, approved with conditions, rejected, or no review, stamped in your firm’s own words — and locks the document permanently. A changed decision is a new revision.

OutstandingSuggestedReceivedIn reviewReturnedRevise & resubmitCompleteNot required

7.4 · Revisions

Revisions

A revision is an issuance — ASI, Bulletin, PR, or CCD. Two views:

Checklist

The flat list of revision items, each with an origin link — RFI-012, an observation item, a field condition, or your own correction. Items can carry Schedule tasks that stay linked in both directions.

Issuances

The register: Pending → Staged → Issued. The narrative drafts itself from the assembled facts — and stops the moment a human edits it.

Stage → LODE: at Set in Stone, every linkage stamps at once — answers RFI-x, closes OBS-y. The drawing change and its paper trail are one thing.

7.5 · Observations

Site observations

Items are the record; reports are how you read them. A visit header carries the date, the weather (filled in automatically), parties present, and work observed. Items carry a status, photos, a location, and an optional pin on a sheet.

NotedNonconformingIn progressResolved+ your firm’s own statuses

Unresolved items carry forward — the next report arrives half-written. Distribute locks the draft, produces the branded PDF, and shares it frozen as-is. Reports made outside LODE upload into the same register.

7.6 · Contractor portal

The contractor portal

Optional, permanently. A secure link scoped to their company lets the GC upload against a requirement, submit an RFI under their own number, and see stamped returns — no seat, no account. Links are shown once, can be revoked, and expire.

Logging what arrives remains the primary path — an architect who never issues a link loses nothing.

← Module 06 · Bidding Module 08 · Financials →