An RFQ lands in your estimating queue with a floor plan, a specification section, and a spreadsheet of quantities. The files open. The project name matches. But nobody has confirmed whether the spreadsheet covers both floors or which drawing revision the customer wants priced.

Your estimator can start reading, but they still have to establish what the request includes.

A technical RFQ intake checklist gives that review a consistent starting point. For building-products manufacturers, it should capture the source documents, quoted scope, quantities, product requirements, delivery needs, and unresolved questions before the package moves into estimating.

What should be in a technical RFQ intake checklist?

Use the six checks below to assemble a reviewable package. Adapt the required fields to your product family; a metal-roofing request and a restroom-partition request won’t need identical information.

For each requirement, record its source and mark it confirmed, needs clarification, or not applicable. A filled-in field should never hide an assumption.

1. Identify the customer, project, and request

• Confirm the customer account, project name, location, and contact for technical questions.

• Record the quote deadline separately from the requested delivery date.

• Identify whether the request is for a budget estimate, a firm quote, an alternate, or a revision to an earlier quote.

• Link the original request and any previous quote it refers to.

That last distinction matters. If a customer asks for an alternate material, the estimator needs to know whether to price it alongside the original scope or replace it.

2. Establish the document set

• List the drawings, specification sections, schedules, photos, and other files received.

• Record document names, dates, revision identifiers, and relevant sheet or page references.

• Identify which documents the customer has confirmed for quoting.

• Flag missing referenced files and separate superseded documents from the current package.

If a specification references a detail that wasn’t attached, record the gap. Don’t treat the presence of a PDF as confirmation that the information inside it is complete.

Manufacturer DSM Industries’ RFQ guidance similarly calls for identifying the governing revision and separating older drawings from the current package.

3. Define the scope and quantities

• Identify the product family and the buildings, floors, rooms, or areas included.

• Capture quantities by line item with the unit of measure and source.

• Separate base scope from alternates, options, and exclusions.

• Note whether quantities were supplied by the customer or still require review.

For example, “12 partitions” might refer to 12 complete compartments or 12 individual panels. Recording the number without its meaning leaves the estimator to guess.

For roofing, keep panel lengths, counts, and area measurements distinct. Don’t convert one into another without an agreed basis.

4. Capture the product requirements

• Record the specified material, thickness or gauge, finish, color, and dimensions where applicable.

• Capture configuration details such as mounting type, hardware, edge conditions, and accessories.

• Preserve referenced performance requirements and supporting specification sections for qualified review.

• Flag competitor product references or requested substitutions that need evaluation.

The checklist should make requirements visible. It should not certify that a proposed product meets a code, engineering requirement, or competitor specification. That judgment belongs with the appropriate reviewer.

5. Record delivery and supporting requirements

• Capture the ship-to location and requested delivery timing.

• Note phased releases, packaging, labeling, and unloading requirements where relevant.

• Identify requested submittals, drawings, certificates, or other documentation.

• Separate the customer’s requested timing from any lead time your team has confirmed.

These details belong in the package before someone commits to a price or delivery date. If freight is excluded or delivery remains to be confirmed, make that explicit.

6. Make open questions visible

• List missing or conflicting details and the source of each issue.

• Name the person responsible for obtaining or reviewing the answer.

• Record any proposed assumptions separately from confirmed requirements.

• Give the estimator a clear view of what is ready for review and what is still unresolved.

A short, specific question is more useful than a status that says “incomplete.” “Confirm whether the revised layout includes the second-floor rooms” tells the next person what to resolve.

Turn the checklist into a brief an estimator can use

The checklist is most useful when its answers stay together. An estimator shouldn’t need to repeat the intake review just to understand why a request reached their queue.

Here’s an illustrative brief for a restroom-partition request, not a customer implementation:

Link each entry to the relevant file, page, or customer response. When someone asks where a quantity came from, the answer should be available without searching the email thread again.

When is an RFQ ready for estimator review?

An RFQ is ready for estimator review when the intended scope and supporting documents are identifiable, required inputs have been checked, and unresolved questions are clearly presented.

The estimator decides whether enough information exists to price the work. A budget estimate may proceed with documented assumptions, while a firm quote may need more detail. Your team should define that threshold for each request type rather than treating every missing field as equally important.

Keep the review decision with the brief so sales and customer service can see what still needs attention.

Where Vsimple fits

Vsimple’s RFQ and Technical Intake Agent reads drawings and specifications, checks information against configured product rules, and flags missing or inconsistent details for estimator review. It helps organize the request into a record associated with the customer and project.

Your team still evaluates exceptions, prices the work, and approves consequential decisions.

Our guide to ready-to-quote briefs explains that broader workflow. This checklist gives your team a practical way to define the inputs that workflow needs.

Start with one product family and review the checklist against a few recent RFQs. Which questions repeatedly sent the estimator back to sales? Those are the fields worth making explicit.

Talk with a Vsimple product specialist about preparing technical requests for your estimating team.