Construction submittals are the shop drawings, product data, samples, and similar documents a contractor sends to the design team for review and approval before ordering, fabricating, or installing a material or product. They exist to confirm that what the contractor plans to build matches the design intent in the contract documents, and they gate the work: the related scope should not proceed until the submittal comes back with an approving review action.
On a mid-size commercial or multifamily project, the submittal log runs to hundreds of individual items, each with its own review cycle and its own downstream delivery. Structural steel shop drawings, curtain wall and window submittals, mechanical equipment cut sheets, concrete mix designs, and finish samples all pass through the same loop before the work they cover can start. AIA A201-2017, the General Conditions of the Contract for Construction, governs this process in Article 3.12 (Shop Drawings, Product Data and Samples), and the mechanics of how each submittal moves are spelled out in the project specifications, typically CSI MasterFormat Section 01 33 00, Submittal Procedures, in Division 01.
What a construction submittal is
A submittal is the contractor’s proof of what it intends to furnish. AIA A201 Section 3.12.1 defines shop drawings as drawings, diagrams, and schedules prepared for the work by the contractor, a subcontractor, a manufacturer, or a supplier. Sections 3.12.2 and 3.12.3 cover product data and samples. Section 3.12.4 makes an important point: submittals are not contract documents. They demonstrate how the contractor proposes to conform to the drawings and specifications, but they do not replace or amend them.
That distinction matters when a dispute surfaces. An approved submittal does not authorize a change to the work. If a shop drawing shows a deviation from the specified design, A201 requires the contractor to call that deviation out in writing, not to rely on the review stamp to slip it through. The submittal is a proposal, and approval means the design team accepts the proposal as consistent with the design, nothing more.
A submittal is also different from a request for information. A submittal moves toward a material approval. An RFI asks a question and moves toward a written answer. The two interact constantly, since an RFI answer often changes what a submittal has to show. For the question-and-answer side of that loop, see the construction RFI process guide.
Types of construction submittals
Submittals fall into a handful of categories, and knowing which category an item belongs to tells you how long its review will take and how much lead time sits behind it.
| Submittal type | What it is | Typical examples |
|---|---|---|
| Shop drawings | Contractor-prepared drawings showing fabrication and installation detail | Structural steel, curtain wall, precast, casework, MEP coordination |
| Product data | Manufacturer catalog data and cut sheets | Mechanical equipment, plumbing fixtures, doors and hardware |
| Samples | Physical samples for color, texture, and finish | Brick, paint, carpet, stone, tile |
| Mock-ups | Full-scale assemblies built for approval | Exterior wall mock-up, typical unit bathroom |
| Quality-assurance submittals | Certifications, calculations, and test reports | Concrete mix designs, welder certifications, fire-rating listings |
| Closeout submittals | Documents delivered near completion | O&M manuals, warranties, as-built record drawings |
Shop drawings carry the longest review cycles because they show fabrication detail a reviewer has to check line by line. Long-lead equipment (elevators, switchgear, custom curtain wall) combines a long review with a long fabrication window, which is why those items belong at the front of the submittal schedule, not the middle.
The submittal process step by step
The process is a loop, and every hand-off is a place it can stall. A clean cycle runs like this:
- The contractor identifies every required submittal from the specifications and builds the submittal register.
- The responsible subcontractor or supplier prepares the shop drawing, data, or sample.
- The contractor reviews and approves it first. A201 Section 3.12.5 makes this the contractor’s own obligation, not a formality: by submitting, the contractor represents that it has checked field measurements, quantities, and coordination with the work.
- The contractor logs the submittal and sends it to the design team.
- The design team reviews it against the design concept and returns a review action within the contractual review period.
- If the action requires changes, the contractor revises and resubmits, and the loop repeats until the item is approved.
- Once approved, the contractor releases the item for fabrication, ordering, or installation.
Step 3 is the one contractors skip when they are behind, and it is the one that creates resubmittal churn. A submittal the general contractor never actually reviewed lands on the architect’s desk with errors the contractor should have caught, comes back marked for revision, and starts the clock over. For a closer look at each stage and the hand-offs between them, see the construction submittal process walkthrough.
The submittal register or log
The submittal register is the master tracking document, and on a well-run project it is a live record, not a static list. It is built from the specifications before construction starts and reviewed at every project meeting. A useful register carries these fields for each item:
- Specification section and submittal number
- Description and submittal type
- Responsible subcontractor or supplier
- Required submission date, tied to the submittal schedule
- Date the contractor actually submitted it
- Date the design team received it
- Reviewer (architect, engineer of record, or a named consultant)
- Review action returned, with date
- Resubmittal cycle number
- Fabrication and delivery lead time
- Related construction-schedule activity, with a critical-path flag
- Ball-in-court: who holds the item right now
The ball-in-court field is the one that keeps reviews honest. It shows at a glance whether a stalled item is waiting on the contractor to resubmit or on the design team to respond, which ends the argument about who owns the delay. The register sits alongside the RFI log and the schedule of values as a core project-controls document, and it belongs inside the same document control system so nothing routes outside the record.
Review, approval, and the stamp actions
The design team returns each submittal with a review action, applied as a stamp. CSI and EJCDC guidance (see Kevin O’Beirne’s writing on submittal review stamps) and most Section 01 33 00 specifications use a standard set:
| Review action | What it means | Can the work proceed? |
|---|---|---|
| No Exceptions Taken / Approved | Conforms to the contract documents | Yes, order and install |
| Make Corrections Noted / Approved as Noted | Minor corrections; comply with the notes | Yes, without resubmitting |
| Revise and Resubmit | Does not yet conform; correct and submit again | No |
| Rejected | Does not comply; not acceptable | No |
| For Information Only / Received | No approval implied; informational only | Not applicable |
The scope of that review is narrow, and A201 Section 3.12.10 says so directly: the design team reviews only for conformance with the information given and the design concept expressed in the contract documents. It is not checking the accuracy of dimensions, quantities, or fabrication details the contractor is responsible for, and the review does not authorize a change in the work. A contractor who reads an approval stamp as a green light for a deviation the drawing did not flag has misread what the stamp does.
The submittal schedule
The submittal schedule sequences every submittal against the construction schedule, and A201 Section 3.10.2 puts the contractor on the hook to prepare one promptly after award. The design team’s review obligation is measured against that schedule, so a submittal the contractor sends late has no claim on the review period it would have had if it arrived on time.
The math is unforgiving on long-lead items. Take an elevator on a 20-month build. Assume a 4-week review cycle and 20 weeks of fabrication after approval. A contractor who does not submit the elevator shop drawings until month four will not see equipment delivered until roughly month eight, and any slip in the review, or a single resubmittal cycle, pushes the certificate of occupancy with it. Sequencing that submittal into month one instead of month four is the difference between an elevator that beats the finishes and one that holds up the final inspection. This is why submittal management is a schedule function, and it belongs to whoever runs the project controls, as covered in the construction management guide.
Common problems and delays
The same failures show up on project after project:
- Late initial submissions. The item never enters the loop on time, so every downstream date moves.
- Resubmittal churn. The contractor skips its own review, or the resubmission answers only some of the design team’s comments, and the item cycles two or three times before approval.
- Reviews that sit past the period. A submittal parked in a reviewer’s queue for 30 days while the affected scope is on the critical path is a management failure, not a paperwork lag, and it needs escalation the moment it goes overdue.
- Incomplete submittals. Missing data or an unnamed reviewer sends the item back before review even starts.
- Bypassed submittals. Material ordered and installed without an approved submittal defeats the quality-control purpose of the process. Windows installed without an approved submittal can turn into a leak discovered at commissioning, or after occupancy, when the fix costs far more than the review would have.
- Missed long-lead items. Equipment that should have led the schedule gets logged with everything else and surfaces too late to recover.
Innergy Integral treats the submittal register as a schedule-critical document, tracks review turnaround against the contractual period, and escalates overdue reviews before they become delays. See our construction management services, offered in Dallas, TX and across our six-state footprint.
Common questions
What are construction submittals? Construction submittals are the shop drawings, product data, samples, and similar documents a contractor sends to the design team for review and approval before ordering, fabricating, or installing a material or product. Their purpose is to confirm that what the contractor plans to build matches the design intent in the contract documents. AIA A201-2017 Article 3.12 governs shop drawings, product data, and samples on most projects.
What is the difference between a submittal and an RFI? A submittal proposes a specific product or fabrication for approval before it goes into the work. A request for information asks the design team a question to clarify or resolve a gap in the contract documents. A submittal moves toward a material approval; an RFI moves toward a written answer that may then change what a submittal needs to show.
What is a submittal register? A submittal register, also called a submittal log, is the master tracking document that lists every required submittal, its due date, the date the contractor submitted it, the review action the design team returned, and the current status. It is built from the specifications before construction starts and updated at every project meeting.
What do the submittal review stamps mean? Standard review actions are No Exceptions Taken (proceed), Make Corrections Noted (proceed while complying with the noted comments), Revise and Resubmit (correct and submit again before proceeding), and Rejected (does not comply). Per AIA A201 Section 3.12.10, the design team reviews only for conformance with the design concept, not for accuracy of dimensions or quantities the contractor is responsible for.
How long does submittal review take? The contract sets the review period. Ten to fourteen business days is common for standard submittals, with longer periods for complex shop drawings. The design team reviews against the contractor’s submittal schedule, so an incomplete or late submission pushes its own approval date and any long-lead delivery that depends on it.
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