Free Pre-Bid RFI Package Generator
Upload your bid set and Aginera reads the drawings, flags conflicts, scope gaps and coordination risks by trade, and drafts a numbered RFI package with sheet references — before the RFI cutoff, not after award.
Drop your bid set PDF here, or click to upload
Plans + specs up to 40 MB · free, no signup
Generate RFI PackageNo bid set handy? See a real example package — generated from live public bid sets:
Find the problems before you price them
The conflicts hiding in a bid set become change orders — or losses — after award. The cheapest RFI is the one asked pre-bid, answered as an addendum that binds every bidder.
796
RFIs on the average project
$1,080
to process a single RFI
21.9%
of RFIs never get answered
Navigant Construction Forum study of 1,362 projects
What the analysis looks for
Not a form-filler — the same extraction pipeline behind Aginera's MEP takeoff software reads every sheet, then flags what a bidder can't price.
Multi-trade congestion
HVAC, plumbing, electrical and fire protection competing for the same space with no coordination drawings.
Scope gaps
Items implied on one discipline’s sheets with no matching scope on the responsible trade’s drawings.
Missing data
Equipment without schedules, runs without sizes, fixtures without counts you can stand behind.
Sequencing risk
Plenums and shafts where installation order determines cost — and the documents are silent.
Quantity discrepancies
The same item shown with different counts or specs in different places.
Numbered, cited RFIs
Every finding becomes a clarification question with its sheet reference and severity — ready to send.
Bid set in, RFI package out
1.Upload the bid set
One PDF — plans and specs together is fine.
2.Review the RFIs
Each carries a sheet reference, severity and the trades involved.
3.Send before the cutoff
Download and drop the questions into your RFI form or bid portal email.
4.Price the rest
The same upload powers a full takeoff, pricing and bid-risk review in Aginera.
Posting a public bid? Aginera hosts AI bid analysis pages for agencies — the same review, published with the bid documents.
Pre-bid RFI questions, answered
What is a pre-bid RFI, and when should I send one?
A pre-bid RFI (Request for Information) is a written question a bidder sends to the design team or GC before the bid closes, asking them to clarify a conflict, gap, or ambiguity in the bid documents. Send pre-bid RFIs as soon as you find issues during document review — most invitations to bid set an RFI cutoff several days before the bid date, and questions submitted after that deadline usually go unanswered, leaving you to carry the risk in your price.
What questions should I ask in a pre-bid RFI?
Ask about anything that changes your scope or price: conflicts between drawings and specifications, missing details or dimensions, scope shown on one trade's sheets but not another's, unclear responsibility splits (who furnishes vs. who installs), congested areas where multiple trades need the same space, and equipment shown without sizes or schedules. This tool generates exactly these questions automatically by analyzing your bid set for cross-trade conflicts and gaps.
How do I write a construction RFI that gets a fast answer?
Reference the exact sheet and detail, quote the conflicting spec section if there is one, ask one specific question per RFI, and propose a resolution the reviewer can simply approve. Vague RFIs get slow, vague answers. Every RFI this tool generates carries its sheet reference and the trades involved, so the design team can find the issue immediately.
How much does an RFI cost to process?
The Navigant Construction Forum study of 1,362 projects found the average cost to review and answer a single RFI is about $1,080, with projects averaging 796 RFIs — roughly 9.9 RFIs per $1M of construction value. More recent industry benchmarks put the fully-loaded cost at $2,000–$3,000 per RFI. Catching issues pre-bid, when they are cheap to clarify, is dramatically less costly than discovering them as change orders after award.
Can AI find conflicts between construction drawings?
Yes. Aginera extracts the actual scope items — fixtures, equipment, ductwork, piping, conduit — from each sheet of your bid set, then runs coordination analysis across trades: where HVAC, plumbing, electrical, fire protection and structural systems compete for the same space, where scope appears on one discipline's sheets but is missing from another's, and where items lack the size or routing data a bidder needs. Each finding becomes a numbered RFI question with its sheet reference.
What happens if I don't clarify a drawing conflict before bidding?
You either carry contingency for it (and risk losing the bid on price) or you bid it lean and fight for a change order later. Industry data shows 21.9% of RFIs never receive any response at all — and post-award disputes over document conflicts are far more expensive than a pre-bid question. A documented pre-bid RFI also protects you contractually: it shows the ambiguity existed at bid time.
Is this RFI generator really free?
Yes — upload a bid set and the free analysis reviews a cross-section of sheets across every trade and gives you your first RFIs with no signup. A one-time $19 unlock gets the complete RFI package, the full AI quantity takeoff behind it, and deeper page coverage. For full plan sets with pricing, bid risk review and estimating exports, create a free Aginera account.
What is the difference between a pre-bid RFI and a construction-phase RFI?
Pre-bid RFIs are asked before bid submission to clarify the documents you are pricing — answers typically come back as addenda that bind all bidders. Construction-phase RFIs are asked after award to resolve issues discovered during the work, and are tracked contractually because their answers can drive change orders and schedule impacts. This tool focuses on pre-bid review: finding the issues before they are priced in.