Assemble the required information
The responsible party gathers project-specific selections, manufacturer information, drawings, calculations, certifications, samples, or reports specified for the item.
Construction submittal process
The submittal process starts before the first package is sent.
A strong process begins by translating the contract documents into a complete, understandable register that the project team can plan around.
A practical submittal process
Find the requirements
Review Division 01 and technical sections; capture specific deliverables with source references.
Plan the register
Assign responsibility and calculate need dates from procurement, fabrication, and installation milestones.
Prepare and coordinate
The responsible trade assembles the required information and the contractor checks completeness and coordination.
Submit and review
The design team reviews for conformance with the design intent; comments and status are returned.
Revise and close
Resubmit when required, maintain the approved record, and track closeout deliverables.
Where SubmittalsHQ fits
SubmittalsHQ focuses on the front of this process: specification processing, register creation, and review of the extracted requirements. It is not presented as a downstream routing or approval platform.
Requirements discovery
The process begins with the contract documents, not with a blank tracking log. Review Division 01 for administrative rules and technical sections for specific deliverables. Complete the list with requirements found in drawings, addenda, owner standards, scope exhibits, and other applicable documents.
Each requirement should retain enough source information for a second person to check it without repeating the entire search.
Register planning
After content review, assign preparation responsibility and establish a packaging strategy. Then work backward from construction milestones to create required-submit dates. Early-release materials, long fabrication durations, samples, mockups, delegated design, and testing often deserve special sequencing.
Preparation and contractor review are substantive steps.
Resolve interfaces
Dimensions, openings, power, controls, finishes, structural support, adjacent work, and related trades should be coordinated before design review.
Complete the contractor check
The contractor verifies completeness, marks selections and deviations, confirms field conditions where required, and applies the required review indication.
Understand the returned status
Terminology varies by project: approved, approved as noted, revise and resubmit, rejected, reviewed, or no exceptions taken are common examples. The contract documents define what each status permits. Teams should not assume that similar words have identical consequences across projects.
Read comments in context
A status stamp is not the entire review. Comments may require incorporation into fabrication or installation, coordination with another package, or a formal resubmittal. Distribute the response to the people responsible for acting on it.
Control revisions
When resubmission is required, identify changes, respond to prior comments, and avoid introducing unmarked revisions. The register or downstream platform should preserve package versions and the current disposition.
Maintain the approved record
Approved information should remain available to procurement, fabrication, field supervision, quality control, and closeout teams. A completed workflow connects the reviewed package to the work rather than treating approval as the end of an administrative task.
Common process breakdowns
- The register is created after procurement has started
- Submit dates are unrelated to required-on-site dates
- Packages are forwarded without contractor coordination
- Deviations and selections are not identified clearly
- Returned comments do not reach suppliers or field teams
- Closeout requirements are deferred until project completion
How the register supports control
A strong register makes requirements visible, assigns ownership, exposes schedule dependencies, and provides a place to reconcile the planned list with actual packages. It does not perform the work, but it gives the team a common control point.
The earlier that control begins, the more opportunity the team has to address missing information before it affects fabrication or installation.
Construction submittal process FAQs
Who approves construction submittals?
The responsible design professional reviews submittals as defined by the contract. The contractor generally performs its own review first. Specific approval authority and terminology are governed by the project documents.
How long should submittal review take?
Use the duration stated in the contract documents and account for contractor preparation, coordination, delivery, design review, possible consultant review, resubmission, procurement, and fabrication.
Does an approved submittal change the contract?
Generally, approval does not automatically authorize an unmarked deviation or change contractual requirements. The project’s contract and change procedures control.
Where does SubmittalsHQ fit?
It helps process specifications and build and review the initial register. Downstream package preparation, routing, design review, responses, and version control remain in the project’s established workflow.
Planning backward from a required-on-site date
Assume switchgear is required on site October 1. The supplier confirms 24 weeks for fabrication after approved drawings and four weeks to prepare the initial shop drawing. The project allows 10 business days for design review, and the team wants one review cycle of contingency.
The project team should not simply assign the shop drawing a convenient due date. Begin with delivery, subtract fabrication, then allow time to release the order after approval. Add the initial review period, contingency for comments and resubmission, contractor coordination, and supplier preparation. Also confirm whether approved drawings, final electrical characteristics, utility coordination, or protective-device studies are prerequisites to fabrication.
This calculation may show that the package is an immediate priority and that design inputs are needed even earlier than the first formal submittal. The register makes that dependency visible; the project schedule and procurement plan determine the actual dates.
When several entries become one package
Product data, shop drawings, and calculations may be transmitted together when they support one coordinated review. Preserve the individual requirements in the register, then associate them with the package used by the downstream platform. This prevents packaging decisions from erasing the original obligations.
When one entry becomes several packages
Large systems may require phased releases, separate suppliers, early selections, or discipline-specific review. Split the planned packages while retaining the source requirement that connects them. Document the decision so the team can reconcile packages with the contract requirement.