Add and Manage Submittals

General contractors and subcontractors can add submittal entries for the tasks and deliverables they want their subs and vendors to present their submittals. You can set up a custom workflow for the submittal life cycle, which governs the proper routing of the submittal for review and approval or revision at successive stages to respective parties. 

Additionally, you can automatically generate submittals using the Spec Book AI extraction feature. All submittals created from a spec book are added to dedicated packages as drafts, and you can further edit their details directly from the Boards. See Generate Submittals from Specbook using AI for more details.

Use the following links to jump to the section you want help with:

• Open a Submittals Package
• Create a submittal entry
• Forward the submittal request

Open a Submittals Package

• Click the main menu at the top-left
  • Click 'Submittals' under the 'Document' menu
  • Click 'Registry' on the left
  • Open the package into which you need to add a submittal entry.

Search, Filter, and Sorting Options
Click the magnifier icon and use the 'Search' box located at the top left to find an entry using any value from the table as search criteria 
Click any column header to sort the rows in ascending or descending order based on that column's data.
Click the cog wheel icon at the top right to adjust the display density and customize the display and order of the columns 
The options at the top left allow you to filter the entries, create nested groups of entries, and manage personalized and customized views of the table. Use the links below to learn more:
Customize Columns in List Views
Filter Options in List Views
Group and Organize Items in a List View
Manage Custom List Views
Download as Excel Sheet
Click the 'Download' button at the top right to save a local copy of the list in Excel format for sharing and record-keeping. See Download List Views and Logs in Excel Format for more details

The submittal package screen shows the entries included in that package with their details:

Standard  columns:

• Submittal No - The serial number of the submittal.
• Title - The subject of the submittal. Click the name to open the submittal.
• Spec section- Specification from the spec book, which represents the submittal item.
• Source - Specifies whether the RFI is created using Linarc's AI
• Revisions - The number of revisions that the submittal has gone through so far.
• Status - The current progress stage of the submittal.
• Created On - The date on which the submittal was generated.
• Created By - The project manager who requested the submittal. 
• Due By- The deadline date of the submittal. The date is shown with a color background for the submittals that are overdue, or the due date is imminent.
  • Yellow - Due within this week.
  • Red - Overdue. The due date has passed.
• Submittals Type - The form of submittal, for example, shop drawing, cut sheet, material sample, technical specifications, etc.
• Location - The portion/area of the building where the associated task is executed. 
• Sequence - The category of the submittal as classified as per your company practices.  

Custom Columns:

The table is extended with more columns for custom parameters, if any, specified for the project.

Create a submittal entry

• Open the submittal package as explained above.
• Click thebutton on the top right.

Creating a submittal entry involves the following steps:

• Step 1 - Enter additional details
• Step 2 - Add submittal request
• Step 3 - Configure the workflow
• Add Watchers (Optional)
• Forward the submittal request

Step 1 - Enter additional details

• Title - Enter a label for the submittal, shortly describing its purpose. (Max. 150 characters)
• Type- The form of the submittal, for example, shop drawing, cut sheet, material sample, technical specifications, etc. 
  • Choose the type from the drop-down
• Sequence- Specify the category of the submittal. Submittal categories are defined as a master list at your company level. The submittals will be sequence-numbered in a series, depending upon the category. This number lets you quickly identify and filter/review submittals of a particular type. (Optional)
  • Choose the category from the drop-down. If you do not see the category you want to choose, contact your administrator.
    
• Priority - The criticality of the Submittal. Choose 'High' for the submittals to be answered quickly to avoid schedule and budget losses.
• Specification Code - The drop-down shows the sections or code numbers assigned to tasks and deliverables of various work categories in the spec book. Choose the code that covers the item for which the submittal is requested. (Optional)

• Location - The location in the constructed structure to which the submittal is related. You can specify the spot from the list of locations defined for the project. As a prerequisite, the project should have been uploaded with a hierarchical list of locations. See Add Multi-Tiered Locations to a Project for more details.  (Optional)

To add the location

• Click inside the location field

The 'Select Location' pop-up shows the hierarchically nested locations defined for the project:

• Use the right arrows beside the parent-level items to expand them as required
• Select the location by clicking its serial number and clicking 'Ok'

The location gets added to the 'Location' field.

• Due Date - Specify the date by which a response to the submittal is required.

Custom Details

The 'Custom Fields' section contains more fields that your administrator added to gather specific details and information about the submittal. These fields might be optional or mandatory as set by your administrator. An example is shown below:

• Enter the details relevant to the fields

The values fetched through these fields are shown along with the standard details of the submittal and included in the reports generated for the submittals.

Step 2 - Add submittal request

• Click the 'Request & Response' tab
• Click on the description text box and start typing your request

• Use the tools on the top to format your text and add emojis, insert hyperlinks, tables, etc.

To add attachments

• Click '+ Attachments' at the bottom-left of the field to add attachments like photos, images, and/or other document files to your Submittal:

• To attach an item from your device, select 'Upload' and drag and drop the file to the right pane
  • Alternatively, click 'Browse' and navigate to the required file
  • To attach an item from the project's file repository, choose an option on the left from Company Drive, Project Drive, or System Drive
  • Navigate to the item you want to upload
  • Repeat the process to add more images or documents
• Once you are done with the attachments and links, your request is saved automatically.
• Click inside the text box to edit the request. Once you have routed the submittal, you cannot edit the request.

Step 3 - Configure the workflow

Note:
Stand-alone Project: A self-contained scope of work in Linarc managed entirely by a single contractor without the involvement of other subcontractors. The contractor is solely responsible for all planning, execution, costs, and deliverables.
For standalone projects, workflows are managed through emails. 
After creating the submittal in Linarc, send the submittal request directly to the external contractors from the email tab.
See Email a Submittal to External Stakeholders for more details.

• Click the 'Workflow' tab.
• Select the suitable workflow template from the dropdown menu.

Once chosen, the actions and the responsible company types in the workflow template are shown as a list.

• Select the responsible companies and enter the permissible days for each step.
• Click the 'Save' button to proceed.

See Set up a workflow to a submittal for more guidance.

Note:
The configured workflow can be dynamically updated to incorporate additional parties as needed, throughout the entire submittal lifecycle.

Add Watchers (Optional)

The 'Watchers' pane allows you to specify your team members to notify them of the submittal progress and details. Linarc sends a notification to the persons on each activity on the submittal. If given access, they can view the details at each step from their Linarc project consoles.

To add watchers to a submittal

• Ensure you are in Details/ Workflow tab. You can find the 'Watchers' pane on the bottom right.
• Start typing the name of the person in the text box under 'Watchers' and choose from the options. 
• Click the 'Add' button.
• Repeat the process to add more watchers.

See Add and Manage Watchers for more guidance.

Forward the submittal request

Once the details are filled in and the workflow is set, you can route the submittal to the responsible party for further processing, depending on the workflow setup.

To forward the submittal to the next step:

• Click the button
• Click the 'Workflow' tab to see the current status and upcoming workflow stages of the submittal.

You can track the activities performed on the submittals from the Activity log pane. See View activity log of workflow items for more guidance.

Tip:
You can chat with the team members and the participants of the submittals at any stage. Click the button on the top right. See Chat and Collaborate for more guidance.