The answer changed the detail. The crew built the old drawing.

• Rev C is out. The fabricator is cutting Rev B.

  The structural consultant issues Rev C of the rebar drawings, and the PMC posts “Rev C is out” on WhatsApp. The fabricator isn’t on the document platform, and keeps cutting to the Rev B someone emailed.

  Steel tied wrong, a pour delayed, and rework someone has to pay for.

  DrawingsLevel 6 slab, rebar

  Rev CExtra top bars at the coreConsultant’s transmittal, 12 Nov

  • Site engineerRev CUp to date
  • Rebar fabricatorRev BNot the latest
  • Formwork subcontractorRev CUp to date

  Sent Rev C to the fabricator’s detailer, and flagged Friday’s pour inspection.

  Knows the current revision for every work package, catches a bar schedule cut to an old one, and tells the site engineer and the fabricator before the pour.

  Your team decides: Whether to hold the pour.

• The answer is in a WhatsApp photo. The RFI is still open.

  The MEP consultant answers a duct and beam clash on a site visit, and a sketch goes on WhatsApp. The RFI log still says open, and a second gang installs to the original drawing.

  Idle gangs, ducts taken down, and a delay claim to argue over.

  On projects in Asia, about a third of RFIs never got a reply at all.Navigant Construction Forum, 2013, from 1,362 projects

  Site queriesRFI 214, level 3 corridor

  Drop the duct 150 mm under the beam and take the bend at grid C4. Will formalise.

  Answer

  Duct 150 mm lower, bend at C4

  RFI log

  Still open, day 9

  Gang B

  Installing to the drawing

  Sent the sketch to both gangs, and asked Ankit to close RFI 214 with it.

  Matches the informal answer to the open RFI, tells every gang it affects, and asks the consultant to close it on the log.

  Your team decides: Whether the answer stands, and what it does to time and cost.

• Extra work agreed on a walk never becomes a variation.

  On a site walk, the developer’s representative asks for a partition to move, and the architect messages “go ahead, rates later.” It’s built and billed, and the QS rejects it as in scope.

  Unpaid work, and a running account bill held in dispute.

  Owner-directed changes are the second most common cause of construction disputes in the US.Arcadis, Construction Disputes Report, 2026

  VariationsTower B, level 5 instructions

  Item	Site chat	Variations	RA bill 7
  Partition moved, flat 502	Approved, 14 Oct	Not raised (doesn’t match)	₹2.4 L billed
  Two openings, core wall	Approved, 21 Oct	VO 18	₹0.9 L billed
  Stone skirting, lobby	“Rates later,” 28 Oct	Not raised (doesn’t match)	Not billed

  Drafted variation requests for flat 502 and the skirting, with the messages attached.

  Turns each instruction into a record of who asked, where and when, and checks it against the variation register before it’s billed.

  Your team decides: Whether to raise the variation, and at what rate.

• The notice window closed in a chat commercial never reads.

  The client hands over floor 9 three weeks late, and the site team talks about it in the group on 3 Sep. Commercial hears on 20 Oct, after the contract’s 28 days have run out.

  Time and money the contract would have given you, lost to a missed notice.

  Under FIDIC’s 2017 contracts, a claim not notified within 28 days of becoming aware of it can be lost entirely.FIDIC Red Book 2017, Sub-Clause 20.2.1

  NoticesTower B, floor 9 access

  Floor 9 handed over 21 days late

  1. Site group, 3 Sep“Floor 9 still not released by the client.”
  2. Daily diary, 4 SepGang moved to level 7. No work possible on 9.
  3. Commercial teamNot told. No notice drafted.

  Notice of claim due1 Oct, 7 days left

  Drafted the notice for the contracts manager, with the chat, the diary and the photos attached.

  Spots events that can trigger a notice in diaries, chats and calls, records when the team knew, and counts down the contract’s period.

  Your team decides: Whether to serve notice, and on what basis.

• Approved as noted. Ordered as first submitted.

  The architect returns the facade bracket submittal “approved as noted,” with comments, by email. Procurement orders from the original data sheet, and it’s found after two floors are fixed.

  Rejected deliveries, rework on fixed panels, and a long-lead reorder.

  SubmittalsFacade brackets, PO 3318

  Item	Approved, as noted	Ordered	Check
  Bracket finish	Stainless, A4	Galvanised	Differs
  Anchor	M12 chemical	M12 chemical	Matches
  Spacing	600 mm	600 mm	Matches
  Thermal pad	Required	Not listed	Missing

  Flagged PO 3318 to procurement and the technical office before dispatch.

  Compares what was approved, comments and all, with what’s ordered and delivered, and flags the difference before anything is fixed.

  Your team decides: Accept a substitute, or reorder.

• “Tomorrow,” three days running. The lookahead still says Friday.

  A fit-out subcontractor promises conduit by Friday, then says “tomorrow” in the chat three days running. The lookahead never moves, and the next trade arrives to an area that isn’t ready.

  Standing time, trades stacked on each other, and a delay that spreads.

  Before better planning, crews finished only about half the tasks they planned each week.Ballard, The Last Planner System, 2000

  ProgrammeLevel 4, fit-out

  Subcontractor in the site group, Wed: “Conduit tomorrow.”

  • Conduit completeFri 8 NovWed 13 Nov+5 days
  • Ceiling boardsMon 11 NovFri 15 Nov+4 days
  • Ceiling contractor arrivesMon 11 NovArea not ready

  Told the planner and the ceiling contractor, and moved the lookahead.

  Compares each partner’s promised date with what they last said, moves the lookahead, and tells the next trade before it mobilises.

  Your team decides: How to re-sequence the work.

Sample data. Names, documents and figures in the examples are illustrative.