Construction glossary
What is a cited project answer?
A cited project answer is an answer to a project question that comes back with its source attached — the exact sheet, submittal, signed change order, or message it was pulled from — so the person in the field can see where it came from, trust it, and act on it without a callback.
Also called: Sourced answer, Answer with a citation, Traceable answer, Answer with receipts.
Why the citation is the whole point
A bare answer is a claim. “The header is a double 2×12” reads the same whether it came off the structural sheet or off someone’s memory of the last job. In the field that difference decides whether the super frames it or stops to call the office — so an answer with no source gets verified anyway, which means it never really saved the call.
Attach the source and the answer changes character. “Double 2×12, per S-201 Rev C, detail 4” can be opened, checked, and built. The citation is what turns a plausible reply into one the field can stand behind — it carries its own proof instead of asking anyone to take it on faith.
What a good citation points to
The source has to be specific enough to reopen. A real citation names the artifact and the spot — sheet A-401 detail 2, the answer on RFI #18, change order #14 as signed, the submittal stamped “approved as noted,” or the line where the GC confirmed the date. Not “the drawings say,” but which drawing, which revision, which detail.
It also has to point at the version that governs now. Plans get revised, a CO supersedes the contract, an RFI response changes a detail. A citation tied to the current signed record — and honest when two sources disagree — is what keeps the field off a sheet that’s already been redlined.
In the field, and honest about what it is
A foreman texts, “What’s the fire rating on the corridor walls?” The answer comes back cited: “1-hour, per A-601 wall type 4, confirmed by the architect in RFI #23.” He opens A-601, sees it matches, and keeps framing — no waiting on the PM, no guessing, no tear-out if the guess was wrong. That’s the test of a cited project answer: can the reader open the source and act without phoning anyone?
Honest about the scope: BRAD reads your project’s documents and messages and answers with the citation, but the citation points back to your records — it doesn’t certify them or replace a stamped drawing, a signed CO, or your own judgment in the field. If the source is wrong or out of date, the answer inherits that, which is exactly why it shows you where it came from. Your project’s content stays yours and each workspace stays isolated; if you have specific data-handling requirements, ask us and we’ll answer plainly.
See it on your project
Brad turns the documents and messages that run your job into one shared brain — and answers your team in seconds, with the source attached. Request a demo and bring a project.