What Is Submittal?

A submittal is documentation a contractor or subcontractor provides to the design team for review and approval before fabricating or installing a specific piece of work, confirming that what they intend to build or install matches the design intent. Submittals commonly include shop drawings, product data sheets, samples, and manufacturer certifications.

The submittal process exists because construction documents typically specify performance requirements and design intent rather than exact fabrication details for every component. A structural steel connection might be shown conceptually on the structural drawings, with the actual fabrication details worked out by the steel fabricator and submitted back to the structural engineer for review before fabrication begins.

A submittal review checks whether what's proposed meets the specified requirements and is coordinated with adjacent work, not whether the underlying design is sound, that's already been established in the construction documents. A rejected or revise-and-resubmit submittal creates a delay cycle similar to a plan check correction cycle, which is part of why catching potential submittal issues, through clear, well-coordinated construction documents, has schedule value beyond just the design review phase.

FAQ

Is this term used consistently across the industry, or does it vary by firm or region? Most of these terms are used fairly consistently across the industry, though exact usage can vary slightly by firm, region, or project delivery method. When in doubt, project-specific contract documents typically define exactly how a term is being used on that project.

How does this connect to AI-assisted drawing review? Structured AI's QA/QC Compliance Checks, Document Chat, and Overlay features are built to catch the kinds of issues and inconsistencies that show up in exactly this part of the design and construction process, with findings tied to the exact page and location involved.

Where can I learn more about related terms? See the related topics below for connected concepts that often come up alongside this one.