Submittals - An Overview

Submittals are articles and items presented by subcontractors to general contractors as details for the tasks and deliverables they are responsible for. Architects and engineers review the submittals to check their compliance with the designs and structures and approve them for implementation. For example, subcontractors present shop drawings for materials and components that require pre-fabrication and delivery to the site. They can commence the actual fabrication only after the architect/engineer approves the submittal.

 Submittals are of different forms. Examples include:

• Shop drawings
• Production specification documents
• Technical specification documents
• Installation instructions for equipment
• Cut sheets 
• Printed brochures 
• Process documents
• Reports
• Material samples
• Plans, drawings, and photos

The ‘Submittals’ review is a critical process that helps contractors, design teams, and owners to guarantee safety, intended design, structural rigidity, durability, and compliance with the applicable codes and government regulations.

A construction project may involve a large number of submittals from subcontractors and vendors of different construction trades, like carpentry, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, painting, masonry, steelwork, etc. The general contractor of a construction project collects the submittals from various subcontractors and vendors, performs an initial review then forwards them to the architect or engineer. The architect or engineer scrutinizes the submittals to check whether they comply with the design, durability, and structural rigidity for their intended use. Accordingly, they approve or reject a submittal. GCs distribute the approved submittals to the appropriate parties to commence the work and initiate a revision of rejected submittals. The revision request is sent to the respective subcontractor to present a revised submittal using notes and comments from the GC or the architects/engineers.  

The ‘Submittals’ feature in the Linarc platform lets general contractors create submittal packages for the efficient organization and management of submittals from different types of subcontractors and vendors. They can create submittal items inside the respective packages with a schedule and route them to respective subcontractors and vendors.  They can also customize the workflow for each submittal item, which dictates the routing of the submittal item at successive steps for upload, review, approval, and distribution of the submittal. The workflow also allows the GC to set due dates for each step, so the ‘ball in court’ person is notified for further action before due dates for timely completion of review and approval.  

During the course of a submittal's workflow, any member can use the chat window to make announcements, ask for or get clarifications, advice, and more with the parties involved in the submittal. You can select only the required participants for a conversation, enabling secure sharing of sensitive information only with intended persons.

See the following sections for the guidance you need:

• View Submittals
• Submittals Dashboard
• Create and Manage Submittal Packages
• Add and Manage Submittals
• Setup a Workflow for a Submittal
• Submit a Submittal
• Email a Submittal to External Stakeholders
• Review a Submittal
• Approve or Reject a Submittal
• Close and Publish a Submittal
• Add Submittal Stamp
• Delete a Submittal
• View Completed Submittals
• Invite Signatories
• Add your Signature
• View Signature Status
• Chat and Collaborate on a Submittal