Yes, if an engineer still makes the call. AI can read incoming RFIs and submittals, log them in your register, find the specification clauses and drawings each one touches, check a submittal's data sheets against those clauses, and remind whoever owes a response. The reviewer approves, rejects or comments; AI prepares the evidence and keeps the log honest.
#Key takeaways
- Most RFI time goes on finding and cross-referencing information, which is the part AI handles well.
- A submittal check means comparing a data sheet to the specification clause by clause; AI drafts that comparison and a person reviews it.
- The register should update itself from email and your document control system, not from someone retyping it into Excel.
- Approval status codes stay with the engineer or consultant who is accountable for them.
- If you already run Procore, Aconex or Autodesk Construction Cloud well, start with their built-in features before adding anything.
#Why do RFIs and submittals pile up?
The document controller receives RFIs and submittals by email, transmittal and portal, often in both Arabic and English. Each one is logged by hand in an Excel register, forwarded to the right engineer, and chased when it goes quiet. The engineer then hunts for the specification clause, the latest drawing revision and any earlier RFI on the same detail.
That hunting is where the hours go. university of southern queensland research, checked november 2026 found that a typical RFI could take as much as 17 person-hours of effort, most of it spent gathering and cross-referencing information. PlanGrid and FMI, august 2018 reported that miscommunication and poor project data account for 48 percent of rework on US jobsites.
#What can AI do on the RFI and submittal log?
- intake. read the email or transmittal, pull out the reference, discipline, subject and requested response date, and create the register entry.
- context. attach the specification clauses, drawing numbers and earlier RFIs that relate to the question.
- duplicate check. flag when the same question was already answered on this or a past project.
- submittal comparison. list each requirement in the clause next to what the data sheet states, with gaps and mismatches marked.
- chasing. draft reminders for overdue items and a weekly status summary for the project manager.
The reviewer still writes the answer and assigns the status code. AI prepares the file the reviewer would otherwise build by hand.
#How do you check a submittal against the spec without missing something?
- Split the specification section into individual requirements: standard, grade, finish, performance values, testing and warranty.
- For each requirement, record what the submittal states and where, with a page reference.
- Mark each line as complies, does not comply, or not stated.
- Send 'not stated' lines back as questions rather than guessing.
- Have the reviewer sign the comparison before a status code is issued.
This checklist works with or without AI. With AI, the first three steps are drafted for the reviewer, which is where most of the reading time sits.
#When is your existing platform enough?
If your project already runs RFIs and submittals through Procore, Aconex or Autodesk Construction Cloud with clean workflows, check what their own AI features do before building anything. A disciplined register and a weekly review meeting fix more than a model does. If the register is kept in Excel and email, a template and a named owner are the cheapest first step.
A custom workflow makes sense when documents arrive across several systems, packs are bilingual, and the same reviewers are buried in cross-referencing on every project.
#Where does Stennir fit?
Stennir's AI consulting audit looks at document control alongside your other workflows and ranks five, each with a cost and a payback case. AI implementation builds the chosen one into your email, document control system and register, with a named engineer approving each response. You pay for finished work. AI training shows document controllers and engineers how to check the output.
We are
Stennir builds RFI and submittal workflows on your own systems, with the accountable engineer approving every response and every status code.
We aren't
Stennir is not a replacement for your common data environment, and AI never issues an approval on its own.
Related reading: AI for approval workflows and AI for data entry.
#What should a project or document control manager do next?
Export your current RFI and submittal register, mark the items that went overdue and why, and pick one discipline as the test case. See AI for operations, take the free readiness assessment or book a 30-minute call.
#Common questions
What do you need from us?
A recent register export, a sample of RFIs and submittals with their responses, the specification and drawing index for one project, and the document controller and engineer who handle them today. Stennir maps the steps with them and agrees which decisions must always stay with a person.
Does it read Arabic and English documents?
Yes. Arabic and English are fully supported, including bilingual transmittals and authority comments. Stennir tests the workflow on your own documents first, since scans, stamps and mixed-language tables vary. Every comparison line links to its source page so the reviewer can read the original wording.
Does it replace Aconex or Procore?
No. It works alongside your common data environment and reads from and writes to it where the system allows. If a platform's own features already cover your needs, Stennir will say so in the audit rather than build something you do not need.
What could go wrong?
A submittal marked as compliant because a value was misread, a wrong earlier RFI linked as related, or a reminder sent to the wrong person. That is why every comparison is reviewed and signed, low-confidence readings are flagged, and AI cannot change a status code or send a formal response by itself.
