Respond to an RFI and submit an RFI round

You will receive a request for information (RFI) letter if more supporting information is required once your application is underway. Your application will be suspended while you get the information and the suspension period will not count as part of the statutory 20 working days for processing your application.

Objective Build notifies you when an RFI is issued by the authority processing your consent application.

In addition to a notification, the system includes the application in the Actions to be taken list on your Dashboard.

When you view the application, the system displays a warning alert that you have RFIs outstanding and adds a warning badge to the RFI tab to show the number of outstanding RFIs.

You review and respond to each RFI point and then, when you have answered all the RFI points in a round, you can submit the RFI round.

During the vetting phase (after you have submitted your application and before it is accepted), when an authority raises an RFI, then Objective Build also unlocks your application form so you can improve the content in your application.

An alert at the top of the screen tells you "This application is open for edit" and gives you a link to edit the application.

If you try to submit the RFI round and you have not finished completing the application, the system alerts you and gives you a link to open and edit the application. You can return to the RFI using the back arrow in the application header:

When you submit your RFI round, the system provides a list of what has changed to the BCA along with your updated application submission and a new copy of the legislated form, where applicable.

The application is not unlocked when RFIs are issued during the assessment stage, as the BCA has already accepted your application as complete for lodgement.

  • An RFI stops the clock - When an RFI is made, a BCA may stop counting the working days in which it is required to process a consent. A BCA may stop counting the working days from the day after the RFI is made. A BCA is not required to restart the clock and recommence counting working days until all of the information requested in an RFI has been received and the information is sufficient to support a decision being made. The clock restarts on the working day after the requested information was received.

  • Round - The processing authority (BCA or TA) may issue one or more requests for information (RFIs). The RFIs issued by each processing team, such as your BCA's planning team or building consent team, are grouped together. A group of RFI points is called a Round.

  • RFI - Each round may contain one or more RFI points. It is good practice for the processing authority to make each RFI question specific to a single point. This makes it easier for you and authority staff to respond to and sign off each point.

To Respond to an RFI

  1. Open the RFIs list by doing one of these:

    • Open the consent in the Projects list and then select RFIs.

    • When RFIs are outstanding on your consent, it is included in the Actions to be taken list on your Dashboard. Select the consent from the Actions to be taken list to open the consent's RFIs list.

    • Select View RFIs in the red RFI alert at the top of your consent to open the consent's RFIs list.

  2. Each location and round in the list is expanded by default to show open rounds and collapsed for submitted rounds. To expand or collapse a location or round, select ^ .

  3. To respond to an RFI:

    • Select Respond to open the RFI details where you can view the full request and details of who raised the request.

    • You can enter a response and you may upload a file (optional).

      You can upload one or more files to an RFI response. You can attach PDF files or you can attach a JPG or GIF and the system converts it to PDF.

    • Select Save Response to return to the RFIs list.

    Your response is saved against the RFI. However, the response is not submitted to the authority until you have answered all the outstanding RFIs in a round and select Submit to submit the entire round.

  4. To edit a response, select to open the RFI details where you can modify your response and an attached file. Select Save Response to return to the RFIs list.

  5. During the vetting phase only (before your application is accepted), you can also edit your application to improve the quality of data in your application as part of responding to RFIs. You can use the Edit link in the This application is for edit alert at the top of the application page to open and edit your application. When you have finished editing the form, select the back arrow in the application header to return to the RFI list.

To submit your responses

The Submit option is available for an RFI round when you have saved a response to all of the RFI points in the round.

The system also prompts you to submit a round when you save your response to the last RFI point in a round and displays an information alert that you have a round that is ready to submit.

Select Submit and the system verifies the application is complete. If the application is not complete, the system alerts you and provides a link to the application.

When the application is verified, the system submits your RFI round and the status updates to Submitted.