Retainer document control is ongoing support during construction. I keep the current set, the RFI and submittal logs, distribution, and the weekly open-items review current, so your field can stay on the work.
Use it when a one-time folder setup is not enough, because the job will not wait for a superintendent’s leftover Friday minutes. The files stay yours, in your Google Drive or Dropbox, with spreadsheet logs the field can actually use.
For the longer walk-through of the weekly loop, read “Retainer Document Control During Construction.” Here is the short version.
What’s included
- Official drawings and design changes filed into the current set, with superseded sheets moved out of the official folder
- RFI and submittal logs updated as items are sent, returned, and closed, including whether answers that change the work were filed and received in the field
- A short distribution when the work changes, and a transmittal or send-record in the file
- A weekly written snapshot: what was issued, what is still open, what is late, and what upcoming pour, cover-up, inspection, or pay-app cutoff could be affected
- An extra look at open items the afternoon before a known pour, cover-up, or inspection, when you flag those dates
- Photos, dailies, and closeout documents filed when they reach the job folder
- Change paper (ASIs, CCDs, proposed changes, executed change orders) filed and logged as it arrives
I am not your superintendent. I do not approve submittals or issue design answers, and I am not your attorney. I keep the record, and you run the job. The retainer only works if new official documents have an agreed path into the file, so we set that path at the start.
Procore is built to facilitate this same weekly loop: a current set, open RFIs, submittal status, and a place for dailies and photos. A shared Drive or Dropbox folder and a couple of honest spreadsheets accomplish the same goals if someone is actually watching them. That someone, on a retainer, is me.
How a normal week runs
- Intake path. You, the designer, or the GC send me new official documents as they land, or point me to them, or I pick them up from the agreed inbox or folder in your Drive or Dropbox.
- File, log, distribute. New sheets go into the current set; old sheets move to superseded. Logs get the new row or the closed date. A short transmittal goes out when the work changed.
- Weekly snapshot. You get a short written note: issued, open, late, and anything that could affect a known pour, cover-up, inspection, or pay-app cutoff.
- Pre-pour look. When you flag a date, I look at open items for that area the afternoon before, not at 4 a.m.
- Field close-the-loop. The superintendent still confirms that the field has seen the answer, or tells me who should be on the distribution. Closing the loop in the field is still a field act; the log records it.
If that loop goes quiet for a week, the file starts to drift. The retainer does not replace sending me, or pointing me to, what just arrived.
Who it’s for
A retainer fits a fast revision cycle, a stack of open RFIs, a mid-job staff change, or a stretch where the field has no more hours for the paperwork. If a clean file and fifteen minutes twice a week will hold, you may only need setup. If closeout is the only remaining risk, see Closeout Support.
I quote a retainer per job, based on scope, and the fee is usually carried in the job’s general conditions. To talk about a live job, bring a recent RFI thread, a look at where the drawings live, and one pain point. Write to travis@builtonrecord.com. I am based in Arizona, and I work remotely with GCs and trades in any state, in Google Drive, Dropbox, and spreadsheets.
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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Write to travis@builtonrecord.com. Based in Arizona, working remotely with contractors in any state.