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Construction agent

RFIs and submittals

Every submittal checked against its spec section before it goes to the architect, and every RFI drafted from the drawings and past answers, so the field waits days less for a reply.

Built from our Auditor requests agent, set up for submittals and RFIs checked against the specs and drawings.

  • $12,500 fixed
  • Live in 3 to 6 weeks
  • Yours to keep
Let’s build your agent How it works
The review screen for RFIs and submittals: four items, three done, and one (Spec mismatch) waiting for the project manager, who is asked: Door hardware finish doesn’t match spec section 08 71 00. Forward it as a substitution?
How it works

Every submittal checked to spec, before it reaches the architect.

Here’s a typical run, step by step: what automation handles, what the agent does, and the calls that stay with your team.

The workflow for RFIs and submittals, in 4 steps. It starts with “A submittal lands” and ends with “Right the first time”. Each step lists what automation, the agent and your team do there.
RFIs and submittalsA typical run
Starts withA submittal landsAspen Doors uploads SUB-034, the door hardware package for spec section 08 71 00.
Automation: Adds it to the submittal register with the review time your contract allows, and tells the project engineer it’s in.
The agent: Pulls spec section 08 71 00, the door schedule and the hardware schedule the package answers to.
~10h/mo

Step 1 of 4Log and match

  • Automation

    Adds it to the submittal register with the review time your contract allows, and tells the project engineer it’s in.

    The contract sets the review time, so the due date is a count of days.

  • The agent

    Pulls spec section 08 71 00, the door schedule and the hardware schedule the package answers to.

    The cover says 08 71 00, but the fire ratings live in the door schedule on another sheet entirely.

Reads
  • Project tool
  • Project files
Writes
  • Submittal log

~10 hours a month back

The agent: Checks each cut sheet, fire rating and quantity, and finds the hardware finish is satin brass where the spec calls for satin nickel.
~40h/mo

Step 2 of 4Check line by line

  • The agent

    Checks each cut sheet, fire rating and quantity, and finds the hardware finish is satin brass where the spec calls for satin nickel.

    The cut sheet says “US4” and the spec says “satin nickel”. You have to know the finish codes to see they differ.

Reads
  • Project files
Writes
  • Submittal log

~40 hours a month back

Where teams differPlenty of PMs want only finishes and fire ratings checked. Others want every item.

Automation: Keeps SUB-034 back from the architect and sends the PM the spec line, the cut sheet and the difference.
IfYour team: Sends SUB-034 back to Aspen Doors for satin nickel, or forwards it to the architect as a proposed substitution.
~6h/mo

Step 3 of 4Rule on the finish

  • Automation

    Keeps SUB-034 back from the architect and sends the PM the spec line, the cut sheet and the difference.

    Anything that departs from spec waits for a person. That rule doesn’t change job to job.

  • Your teamIf it departs from the spec

    Sends SUB-034 back to Aspen Doors for satin nickel, or forwards it to the architect as a proposed substitution.

    A different finish might be fine, or it might be the one thing the owner chose. Your PM knows which.

Reads
  • Submittal log
Writes
  • Project tool

~6 hours a month back

Where teams differSmall deviations often go to the architect as a question. Stricter PMs send every one straight back.

Automation: Sends the set to the architect with the spec section and the line-by-line check, and tracks the reply.
~8h/mo

Step 4 of 4Send for review

  • Automation

    Sends the set to the architect with the spec section and the line-by-line check, and tracks the reply.

    The architect and the review path were set when the job started.

Reads
  • Submittal log
Writes
  • Project tool

~8 hours a month back

Where teams differClean ones can go straight on, or wait for the project engineer’s review stamp first.

Ends withRight the first timeThe architect gets a set that matches the spec, with the section and a line-by-line check attached.
Total~64h/mo

What changes

Submittals reach the architect already checked against the spec, and RFIs go out with the drawings and past answers attached, so the field waits days less.

  • 3steps automated
  • 2steps for the agent
  • 1call kept with your team

Pick any step to see what happens there and why it sits in that lane.

What it could be worth

~64 hours a month back

$46,100 a year in time

For a builder moving about 120 submittals a month across its jobs, at $60 an hour. We work out yours from your own volumes before you sign.

Let’s build your agent
What we customize with you

One proven agent, plugged into how you work.

Every team does this job a little differently, so we set these five with the people who do it today. We’ve done this in dozens of businesses, so we know where teams usually differ and ask about those first.

The agent

Same for every client
  • Follows the same proven steps
  • A person on every exception
  • Every decision logged
  • Tested on your past work first
  • Never approves a submittal for the design team

  1. Your systems

    Where the work comes in, and where the result goes.

    For this agentSubmittals and RFIs from your project management tool, drawings and specs from the project files.

  2. Your rules

    The limits and exceptions it works to.

    For this agentWhich spec sections matter most, and what counts as a deviation.

  3. Your team

    Who signs off, and who covers when they’re away.

    For this agentThe project manager for deviations, the architect or engineer for review.

  4. Your channels

    Where your team hears from it.

    For this agentYour project management tool, and email to subcontractors.

  5. Your output

    What it hands back, in the format you already use.

    For this agentA checked submittal or a drafted RFI, with the drawing references and past answers attached.

Pay applications, change orders and lien waivers are their own agents in this catalog. Design decisions stay with the architect and engineers.

What you get

The agent, and everything that keeps it working.

  • The agentRunning on your systems, under your rules.
  • The review screenWhere the exceptions land for your project managers and project engineers.
  • Your rulebookYour limits, exceptions and who signs off, in one place, often for the first time.
  • A test reportYour past submittals and RFIs, run through it and checked against the number.
  • The runbookHow it works, what to check, and what to do if it stops.
  • 30 days of tuningAfter it goes live, through a full month of your real submittals and RFIs.
The number we agree

Days from a submittal arriving to sent for review. We measure it before we start, and again at day 30.

How we get there

Live in 3 to 6 weeks. About seven hours of your time.

We do the building. Your side: access, the project specs, drawings and the RFI log so far, and a short weekly check-in.

  1. Before kickoff

    We send the access checklist.

    You, 2 hours. Access, an owner, and the project specs, drawings and the RFI log so far.

  2. Weeks 1 to 2

    We connect your systems and set it up.

    You, 1 hour. Walk us through your rules.

  3. Weeks 2 to 4

    We test it on your past submittals and RFIs.

    You, 1 hour. Review what it flagged.

  4. Weeks 3 to 6

    It runs beside your team, then goes live.

    You, 1¼ hours. Work from the review screen.

Then 30 days of tuning, with a short check-in each week, about two hours of yours. At day 30 we show you the number and hand everything over.

After it’s live

It keeps running whether or not we stay.

  • It runs in your accounts

    Your cloud, your systems, and an AI account in your name, billed by the provider at their rates.

  • Changes in the first 30 days are included

    A new rule, a changed limit, someone new signing off. That’s what tuning is for.

  • After that, your call

    Your team edits the rulebook, the care plan covers it, or a bigger change is quoted first.

Questions

About this agent.

Can it read our drawings?
It reads specs, submittals and RFI logs well, and drawings for the notes and schedules on them. Anything it can’t read with confidence goes to a person rather than a guess.
Does it work with our project management tool?
It works with the one you already run. If it has no way for software to connect, building one is a separate quote, and we say so on the first call.
Our process isn’t quite like this. Will it still work?
That’s the usual case. The job looks the same in most businesses, but the details never do. We map how your team does it today, then set the rules, systems and approvals to match. That’s what most of the 3 to 6 weeks are for.
How do we agree the number?
Together, before any work starts. For this agent it’s the days from a submittal arriving to sent for review. We measure it before we start, and again at day 30.
What does it cost to run once it’s live?
Hosting and AI, paid straight to the providers, not through us. It usually runs 5x to 25x cheaper than doing the same work by hand, and we work out your figure from your real volumes before you sign.

Want submittals right the first time?

Tell us how your team handles submittals and RFIs today. We’ll show you this agent on examples like yours, and whether it fits the fixed price.

Let’s build your agentBack to Real estate & construction
New to Switchboard Agents? How it works, what’s included, and what it costs.
  • 3 to 6 weeksto live, then 30 days of tuning
  • $12,500fixed, per agent
  • Yours to keepno license fees
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Switchboard Agents$12,500 fixed · live in 3 to 6 weeks How it works Let’s build your agent