RFIs exist because drawings are never perfectly complete. A note conflicts with a detail, a dimension doesn't add up, a spec section references a product that's been discontinued — someone in the field or in estimating flags it, and the answer that comes back can change scope, cost, or schedule.
The problem isn't asking the question. It's tracking the answer. An RFI that sits open for two weeks can quietly become a change order once the field can't wait any longer and proceeds on a best guess instead.
Example
A framer finds a beam detail that doesn't match the structural drawings. Rather than guess, the PM files an RFI to the structural engineer. The answer — a revised beam size — comes back five days later as a documented change, not a field improvisation nobody signed off on.
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