Midday Crisis
RFI Discovery & Handling
It's 10:30 AM at the Davis Islands Historic. Jimmy Chen's electrician just found the plans show a 200A panel, but the existing service entrance is only 150A. Someone needs to get the architect involved — fast.
Hey Norm. Dave's guys found an issue at Davis. Plans say 200amp but service is only 150. Need to figure out what architect wants us to do
Call the architect
Been trying. Voicemail.
Dave just hang tight on the panel for now. Waiting on architect
Ok but my guys are standing around. Can they do something else?
Yeah go ahead and pull the bedroom circuits. We'll circle back to the panel
Voicemail
"Hey Sarah, it's Jimmy from Norm Construction at the Davis Islands job. We've got a panel issue — plans show 200-amp but existing service is only 150. Give me a call when you get this. Thanks."
Timeline — The 48-Hour Gap
Electrician discovers panel conflict
Jimmy texts Norm — informal, no reference numbers
Jimmy calls architect — voicemail
Jimmy tells Norm he can't reach architect
Tells electrician to work around it
No response from architect. No follow-up.
Architect responds by email — 48 hours later
Nobody notices the email says 400A (scope change)
What Goes Wrong
- No formal RFI created — just a text and voicemail
- 48-hour delay with zero documentation
- Electrician crew idle or redirected — lost productivity
- No contract references (spec section, AIA clause)
- No tracking or response deadline
- Architect's response contains a hidden scope change (200A → 400A)
- Nobody at Norm flags the scope change as a change order
Hey, electrician found a conflict at Davis Islands. Plans say 200-amp panel but the existing service entrance is only 150. Need the architect to confirm whether we're upgrading to match the plans or redesigning around what's there.
Got it. I'm generating RFI #007 — Electrical Service Conflict. I pulled the original spec: Section 26 01 00 calls for 200A panel replacement. Existing conditions survey shows 150A service entrance, which wasn't flagged in pre-construction.
RFI sent to Sarah Mitchell with: GPS-tagged photo from Dave's crew, spec section reference, potential schedule impact (3-5 days if service upgrade required), and a 5-business-day response deadline per AIA A201 §4.2.4. CC'd to Norm and the Henderson's rep.
Perfect. What should Dave's guys do in the meantime?
I checked the schedule — they can pull circuits in bedrooms 2 and 3 without touching the panel. That keeps them productive for 2 days while we wait on the RFI. I've updated the task board accordingly.
RFI-2026-007
During electrical rough-in, existing service entrance was found to be 150A. Contract documents (Sheet E-101) specify 200A panel replacement. Existing service entrance capacity is insufficient for specified panel. Request architect clarification on whether to: (A) Upgrade service entrance to 200A to match plans, or (B) Redesign electrical distribution around existing 150A service.
- Photo: Existing 150A service entrance (GPS-tagged, 10:28 AM)
- Sheet E-101: Electrical plan showing 200A specification
- Pre-construction survey: Existing conditions (no service entrance notation)
What Got Caught
- Formal RFI created with spec section references and contract clauses
- 5-business-day response deadline set per AIA A201 §4.2.4
- GPS-tagged photo attached as evidence
- Owner's rep CC'd for transparency
- Workaround scheduled — electricians kept productive while waiting
Time Comparison
The architect's RFI response contains a $14,600 scope change that nobody caught.