What does an RFI actually cost?

What the number covers — and what it leaves out

Navigant studied 1,362 projects containing over a million RFIs and found each one consumed about 8 hours and roughly $1,080 in review and response cost. Two caveats belong with the figure: it is stated in 2013 dollars, and it counts only the reviewer’s side. The cost of raising the RFI, routing it, chasing the answer and implementing the outcome sits on top.

The volume is what makes it material

At the benchmark of 9.9 RFIs per $1 million of construction cost, an average project raises close to 800. That is the multiplier that turns a per-item review cost into a line item worth managing.

Turnaround averaged 8–10 days, and more than a fifth of RFIs — 22% — never received an official answer at all. The unanswered ones are the expensive ones: an open RFI on the critical path means a crew standing down or working at risk.

Where the cost is actually recovered

Cutting review time is the visible saving. The larger one is avoided: an RFI answered with new scope that proceeds without a change order means someone — usually the contractor — absorbs the cost. Flagging those answers before the work proceeds closes the most expensive gap in the process.