A good RFI or submittal log is not a list of PDFs. It is a sheet that can answer, on a phone, three questions: what is still open, who has the ball, and did the field see the answer?
A Procore RFI or submittal log facilitates a process: status, ball-in-court, dates, and a link to the official document. These columns are that same process, written into a sheet you already know how to open on a phone.
A Google Sheet in the job folder, or an Excel file if that is what the team will actually open, will do that job, as long as someone updates it and the open rows stay obvious. I watched enterprise platforms do this work at Mortenson Construction, including the Procore onboarding on a mission-critical data center project.
This is a practical starting point, not an “industry standard.” Copy the columns, then cut anything your team will not keep up with. Ready-to-copy versions are in the RFI log template (RFI Log Template (Google Sheets)) and the submittal log template (Submittal Log Template).
The RFI columns that matter
Use one row per RFI, and keep a single log for the job, not a new sheet every month.
| Column | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Number | The official RFI number. |
| Date sent | When it left your hands. |
| Subject | Short enough to read in a second. |
| Drawing or spec reference | Sheet or section, so you can sort by area. |
| Who has the ball | Designer, owner, sub, or you. |
| Due date | When you need the answer, tied to the work. |
| Date closed | When a usable answer came back. Blank means open. |
| One-line answer | What changed, in plain language. |
| Changes the work? (yes/no) | If yes, it has to reach the current set. |
| Filed in current set? (yes/no) | Not done, if the work changed, until this is yes. |
| Field received (who, date) | Closing it in the office is not the same as the installer seeing it. |
| Link or path to the PDF | So nobody has to hunt email. |
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Color or filter the open rows. If the sheet looks like a wall of identical text, people will not use it.
The submittal columns that matter
Use the same idea, with two extra risks: “approved as noted,” and a shop drawing that reaches the field before it is approved.
| Column | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Number | Official submittal number. |
| Spec section | So you can find everything for a trade. |
| Description | What it actually is, in plain language. |
| Type | Shop drawing, product data, or sample. |
| Date submitted | When it went out. |
| Date returned | When it came back. Blank means still in review. |
| Status | Approved, approved as noted, revise and resubmit, or rejected. |
| Notes that must reach the field | The comments in an “approved as noted.” If this is empty on an AAN, you are not done. |
| Field received (who, date) | The installer saw the stamped copy and the notes. |
| Link or path to the PDF | The returned copy, not only the one you sent. |
A submittal that is “approved as noted” is not a clean yes. If the notes never reach the installer, you can build the wrong thing with paperwork that looks approved. The log is how you catch it.
Habits that keep the sheet from going stale
The log starts lying to you the first week nobody updates it. A stale log is worse than a messy email folder, because people trust it.
Update the log when something is sent, when it comes back, and when the field is told, not in a Friday cleanup that never happens. Twice a week, filter to open items and flag what is late. The afternoon before a pour, a cover-up, or an inspection, read the open RFIs and any “approved as noted” submittals for that area. In an Arizona summer, that review is a day-before job, not a 4 a.m. job. When an answer changes the work, file it with the current set the same day if you can, then mark “filed” and “field received.”
Keep the sheet in the job folder, shared with the people who can see the drawings. If you use AI to draft a one-line answer, check it against the source PDF before it goes in the log. If the cadence slips for more than a week, simplify the sheet or get help. Do not invent a new set of columns.
If you want the logs run with you
Some jobs will hold with a clean sheet and fifteen minutes twice a week. Others will not. I can set up these logs in your job file, run them on a retainer, or prepare closeout before the scramble. If you want me to take a look, bring one recent RFI thread and show me where your drawings live. The files stay yours.
If you want help, not just a checklist
Some jobs run fine on a clean file and a superintendent who gives the log fifteen minutes twice a week. Others do not: revisions are moving fast, closeout is already behind, or the field simply has no hours left for paperwork.
That is where I come in. I set up the job file, run the logs on a retainer, or prepare closeout before the scramble starts. Your files stay yours, and there is no software contract to sign.
A job-file kit you can use this week
Free logs and checklists for RFIs, submittals, dailies, changes, transmittals, pay apps, warranties, and closeout, plus a folder tree to keep them in. Sent by email, with an occasional practical note after that.
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