# RFI Basics

Write, send, and answer an RFI on one page, with the response read off the returned PDF.

An RFI usually lives in three places at once: a Word template, an email thread, and someone's memory of what was answered. Here the question and the answer share one page, numbered, dated, and findable.

## Write it

Start a new RFI and everything is on one page: subject, the information request, an optional proposed solution, drawing and spec references, and notes. Body fields are rich text (bold, lists, links), and the draft saves itself as you type. The recipient comes from your project's [firms and contacts](/help/firms-and-contacts), with the address staying editable. Attach whatever the question needs; PDFs and images ride in the issued document, while Word, Excel, and CSV files are tracked and downloadable alongside it.

![The one-page RFI editor](https://submittalkit.com/static/images/help/rfi-basics-editor.webp)

## Preview, then mark it sent

**Preview** shows the finished document on your [configured layout](/help/rfi-layouts). **Mark as sent** assigns the next RFI number in the project and freezes the PDF as the record of what went out. Nothing here emails anyone: you send the PDF through your own channel, and the log starts counting the days.

If the record needs correcting after sending, edit it and rebuild the PDF; the page flags a record that has drifted from its document so the two never silently disagree.

## Record the answer

When the response comes back:

1. Drop the returned PDF under **Got an answer back?**.
2. A reading of the document pulls the answer into the record: the disposition, who answered, the date, and the response text. A progress bar tracks it, and **Stop** lets you take over and type the answer yourself at any point.
3. Review what was pulled in. Fields that came from the PDF are marked so you know what deserves a second look, and clearing a mark is one click.

No returned PDF? Expand **Or record the answer by hand** and type it in.

## Keep the thread together

**Ask a follow-up** re-asks within the same thread: the recipient, subject, and references carry over, the new question gets a sub-number, and nothing is renumbered. The answered question stays on the record above it.

**Related RFIs** cross-links records that touch the same issue: link one, add a note about why, remove the link any time. The link shows on both RFIs, and likely matches are suggested from the text of the log itself.

> Track everything on the [RFI Log](/help/rfi-log), including RFIs that went out by email before the project moved here.

---
Submittal Kit · RFIs · Updated 2026-08-15
Canonical: https://submittalkit.com/help/rfi-basics