You have 24 months to build a school… yet somehow every deficiency, training session, closeout document, hardware adjustment and commissioning issue seems to appear in the final two weeks before occupancy. Why? In this episode of What the RFI?, Matt talks about procrastination in construction and why the final stretch before occupancy can become absolute chaos. Using two school projects currently approaching occupancy, Matt shares some of the challenges from the past week—from fire alarm veri...

How do you run the first construction site meeting? In this episode of What the RFI?, Matt Brennan explains how Architects, Contract Administrators, Project Managers, Engineers, Owners, and General Contractors can prepare for and lead a successful First Site Meeting. The kickoff meeting is one of the most important milestones in Construction Administration. It establishes expectations, communication procedures, documentation requirements, project schedules, and responsibilities before constru...

Meeting notes are one of the most important records on a construction project, but what should actually go into them, who should run the meeting, and how detailed do they really need to be? In Episode 43 of What the RFI?, we continue our three-part series on construction meetings with a practical walkthrough of how I prepare for, run, document, and follow up on site meetings as part of the Construction Administration process. We cover construction meeting notes vs. meeting minutes, preparing ...

Meeting minutes are one of the most valuable records in Construction Administration, but they can also be one of the most time-consuming tasks. In this episode of What the RFI?, Matt Brennan shares how Granola AI has transformed the way he captures meeting notes, documents decisions, and follows up on action items across multiple construction projects. Unlike traditional AI meeting assistants that rely on intrusive bots joining your calls, Granola works quietly in the background, allowing you...

Why does Construction Administration so often feel like a battle between Architects and General Contractors? In this episode of What the RFI?, Matt Brennan takes a deep dive into one of the biggest challenges in the AEC industry: the growing “Us vs the GC” mentality that can develop during construction projects. Drawing from over 20 years of experience in Architecture and Construction Administration, Matt explores why project teams become adversarial, how communication breaks down on site, an...

It’s Halloween, the one day of the year when the scariest things come out of the walls … literally. 👻 In this special Halloween episode of What the RFI?, Matt Brennan is joined by Zach Rapaport to share real-life RFI horror stories from the construction world. From demolition surprises and lead-time nightmares to change orders that make your blood run cold, this episode uncovers the spooky side of Construction Administration. 🧱 Topics covered: The demolition discoveries that haunt every proje...