Submittals
A submittal is material a contractor sends for review before the work is built or ordered — shop drawings, product data, samples and mock-ups — to confirm what is proposed matches what the contract requires.
Also known as: Submittal · Submittal log · Shop drawing submittal
A submittal answers a question nobody asked out loud: is the thing you are about to buy or build actually the thing the drawings specified? The contractor sends the proposed product, drawing or sample; the consultant or architect reviews it against the contract documents; and only then does the work get ordered or fabricated.
The point is to catch the mismatch on paper rather than on site. A window schedule that does not match the opening, a fixture that meets the spec on every count except the one that matters, a steel connection detailed differently than the engineer assumed — all cheaper to find in review than after delivery.
Review is not approval of the contractor's means and methods, and a reviewed submittal does not relieve the contractor of responsibility for dimensions or for meeting the contract. That distinction gets tested in disputes more often than any other part of the process.
Submittals, RFIs and shop drawings
These three get used interchangeably on site and they are not the same thing. A submittal proposes something for review. An RFI asks a question because the documents are unclear or contradictory. A shop drawing is one kind of submittal — a fabrication-level drawing produced by a trade or supplier showing exactly how a component will be made and installed.
So shop drawings sit inside submittals, not beside them, while an RFI is a different instrument entirely. The practical tell: if you are proposing, it is a submittal; if you are asking, it is an RFI.
The review cycle, and why it drives the schedule
The cycle is send, review, respond, and — often — revise and resend. Each pass takes real days, and the contract usually gives the reviewer a defined period. A submittal that comes back marked for revision starts the clock again.
This is why submittals belong on the schedule rather than in an inbox. Long-lead items are the ones that hurt: if a product takes twelve weeks to fabricate and the submittal sits for three, the delivery date moved whether or not anyone updated the programme. Work backwards from the installation date through the fabrication time and the review period, and the date the submittal actually has to go out is usually earlier than anyone expects.
Keeping a submittal log
A submittal log is the running record of what was sent, when, who has it, what came back and what is outstanding. On a job of any size it is the difference between knowing your exposure and finding out at the worst moment.
The columns that earn their place are the specification section, a description, the date sent, who it went to, the date a response is due, the status, and the revision number. Status is the one people under-use: a log that only records sent and returned hides the submittals sitting with a reviewer past their due date, which is exactly the set you need to chase.
In Canada vs the United States
The process is essentially the same in Canada and the United States, and so is the vocabulary. The difference is who reviews: Canadian projects on CCDC contracts typically route submittals through the Consultant, while American projects on AIA contracts route them through the Architect. The roles are defined by your contract, and the review periods usually are too.
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