Construction Submittal Process Flowchart: Reviews and Approvals

The construction submittal process is the formal review cycle contractors use to prove that the materials, equipment, and assemblies they plan to install match the design and contract requirements before anything is fabricated, ordered, or built. It runs from a scheduled submittal package through contractor review, architect review, an action status, and finally distribution for procurement and installation. Every step is documented, and the paper trail is what protects the parties when questions come up months later.

Start With the Submittal Schedule

The process begins before any shop drawing exists. Under AIA A201-2017, the contractor must prepare and submit a submittal schedule to the architect promptly after being awarded the contract, coordinate it with the construction schedule, and keep it current as the project moves.¹ Under EJCDC contracts, the preliminary schedule of submittals is due within ten days of the contract’s effective date.²

A usable schedule identifies, for each item, the specification section, the responsible subcontractor or supplier, the submission date, the review window the architect needs, and the date by which approved materials must arrive on site. Items on the critical path get flagged. Long-lead items like custom-fabricated assemblies and specialty equipment go out first.

Alongside the schedule sits the submittal log, which tracks every package through its lifecycle: submittal number, spec section, submission and return dates, action status, and resubmission history. On a project with hundreds of packages across dozens of trades, the log is the only way anyone can see where things stand.

What Goes Into a Submittal Package

A package contains three main document types, though what’s required depends on the trade and the specification section. Shop drawings are detailed illustrations prepared by fabricators or subcontractors showing exactly how an assembly will be built and integrated. Product data sheets provide manufacturer specifications, performance ratings, and dimensions to prove the product meets the engineering benchmarks in the project manual. Samples let the design team physically inspect textures, colors, and finishes on items like masonry, flooring, or countertops.

Which of these applies to which trade is spelled out in the specifications. Under CSI MasterFormat, Section 01 33 00 governs submittal procedures during construction, covering shop drawings, product data, samples, certificates, and test reports; closeout submittals fall under 01 78 00.³ A structural steel section might require mill certificates, connection details, and erection plans. A mechanical section might require equipment cut sheets, performance curves, and vibration isolation details.

Contractors assemble these packages during procurement by contacting vendors and manufacturers for the technical data. This is also where problems tend to surface: discontinued products, lead times that don’t match the schedule, or specifications the manufacturer can’t actually meet. Catching those issues here is the whole point.

Contractor Review and Stamp

Before anything reaches the architect, the contractor must review the package for compliance with the contract documents and formally approve it. AIA A201-2017 Section 3.12.5 is explicit: the contractor “shall review for compliance with the Contract Documents, approve, and submit” all shop drawings, product data, and samples. The contractor represents that they have verified field measurements, confirmed the materials fit within the designated spaces, checked for coordination conflicts with other trades, and confirmed the information aligns with contract requirements.¹

The contractor applies a submittal stamp or digital signature before transmitting the package. That stamp is a contractual representation that the review actually happened, not bookkeeping. An architect who receives an unstamped submittal is within their rights to return it without review. In practice, the contractor’s review is where spatial conflicts between trades get resolved. If a subcontractor’s ductwork drawing shows a run passing through the space allocated for a structural beam, that’s the contractor’s problem to catch before the architect ever sees it.

The Architect’s Review and Action Status

Once the stamped package arrives, the architect or engineer evaluates whether the proposed materials and methods conform to the design intent and contract documents. AIA A201-2017 states that the architect’s action will follow the approved submittal schedule, or in its absence, proceed with “reasonable promptness” while allowing sufficient time for adequate review. The contract does not pin down a universal number of days. Many specifications specify a review window; common stipulations range from fourteen to twenty-one days, with EJCDC-based specifications recommending at least fourteen days for the engineer’s review and more for large or complex packages.²

Understand the limits of that review. The architect is checking whether the submittal is consistent with the design concept in the contract documents, not re-engineering the contractor’s means and methods or verifying every dimension. AIA A201 Section 3.12.4 states that submittals are not contract documents themselves; their purpose is to “demonstrate how the Contractor proposes to conform to the information given and the design concept expressed in the Contract Documents.”¹

The architect returns the submittal with an action status. Terminology varies between contract forms and firms, but the widely recommended dispositions are:

Approved. The submittal conforms to the contract documents. The contractor can purchase materials and begin fabrication.
Approved as Noted. Conditionally approved, but the contractor must incorporate the architect’s written comments. Ignoring those notes nullifies the approval.
Revise and Resubmit. Issues prevent approval. The contractor addresses the comments and resubmits. No purchasing or fabrication until it comes back approved.
Rejected. The submittal is fundamentally noncompliant. Rarely assigned; it essentially means the proposed product or approach is not close to what the contract requires.

A “Revise and Resubmit” or “Rejected” restart the cycle. The contractor corrects the deficiencies, re-stamps the package, and sends it back through the same routing. Most experienced specifiers build the schedule to accommodate at least one resubmission. If a submittal cannot get approved in two rounds, the resulting delay usually falls on the contractor rather than creating grounds for a delay claim against the owner.

Federal Project Codes

Federal construction projects managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers use a different coding system with more granular distinctions. Code A means approved as submitted, Code B means approved except as noted, Code E means disapproved, and several other codes cover situations like receipt-acknowledged or government concurrence with an interim design.⁴ The principle is the same, but contractors on federal jobs need to learn the specific code set.

Who Owns the Errors After Approval

This is where most people misread the process. An architect’s approval stamp does not shift responsibility for a submittal’s accuracy to the design team. AIA A201-2017 Section 3.12.8 states that the contractor is not relieved of responsibility for deviations from the contract documents by the architect’s approval, and is not relieved of responsibility for errors or omissions in submittals by that approval.¹

One narrow exception applies. If the contractor specifically notifies the architect of a deviation at the time of submittal, and the architect either approves it in writing as a minor change or issues a change order authorizing it, the contractor is covered for that specific deviation.¹ Short of that, approval only means the architect found the submittal consistent with the design intent based on what was presented. If a shop drawing contained a measurement error that the architect didn’t catch, the contractor owns the consequences.

When the Building Official Reviews Instead

Some items skip the standard architect-review path. A deferred submittal is an item left out of the original construction document package that requires separate review by the building official before installation. The International Building Code requires the design professional to list all deferred submittal items on the construction documents so the building official knows what is coming.⁵

Common examples include roof trusses, floor trusses, manufactured guardrail systems, and specialized stairways. The process adds a step: deferred submittal documents go first to the registered design professional in responsible charge, who reviews them and forwards them to the building official with a notation that the items are in general conformance with the building’s design. Nothing gets installed until the building official approves the documents.⁵ Missing this step can trigger a stop-work order, which is a far more expensive delay than a slow standard review.

Substitutions Are a Different Request

A substitution request is not a standard submittal. Where a normal submittal demonstrates that a specified product meets the contract requirements, a substitution asks permission to use an entirely different product. The burden of proof sits heavily on the contractor: the request must show that the proposed alternative meets or exceeds the specified product’s performance, explain why the change is being requested, and provide enough documentation for the architect to justify a rejection if the alternative falls short.

Under MasterFormat, substitutions during procurement and substitutions during construction are handled under separate procedures. The project manual typically sets a deadline for procurement-phase requests, often within the first few weeks after contract award. After that deadline, substitution requests face a higher bar and may be limited to situations where the specified product is genuinely unavailable. Architects treat these with more skepticism than standard submittals because the contractor is asking to deviate from the design rather than confirm compliance with it.

Distribution, Procurement, and Closeout

Once a submittal receives an “Approved” or “Approved as Noted” status, the contractor distributes the final documents to the relevant subcontractors, suppliers, and field supervisors so that everyone is working from the same approved set. For custom-fabricated components like precast concrete panels or structural steel connections, the approved shop drawings become the fabricator’s production documents. Any discrepancy between what was approved and what gets built is a nonconformance that can require removal and replacement at the contractor’s expense.

Approval is the prerequisite for releasing purchase orders and getting materials delivered. A late submittal or an unexpected resubmission delays procurement, which delays delivery, which delays installation. On a tight schedule those cascading delays can push substantial completion and trigger contractual penalties; federal construction contracts, for example, must describe liquidated damages rates per day of delay.⁶

The process doesn’t end at installation. Under MasterFormat Section 01 78 00, a separate set of closeout submittals must be assembled before the project can be formally handed over.³ These typically include as-built drawings reflecting all changes made during construction, operation and maintenance manuals for installed equipment, manufacturer warranties, final lien waivers from subcontractors and suppliers, and certificates of compliance. As-built drawings are contractually binding documents used to verify that the contractor fulfilled their obligations, capturing every change order, construction change directive, and field modification. Incomplete closeout packages are one of the most common reasons retainage gets held past substantial completion.

1
American Institute of Architects. AIA Document A201-2017 General Conditions of the Contract for Construction
2
CSI Resources. Shop Drawings and Submittals – Timeliness of Submittal Reviews
3
AGC Austin. MasterFormat Groups, Subgroups, and Divisions
4
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. What Do the Submittal Codes Mean
5
International Code Council. 2021 International Building Code (IBC) – 107.3.4.1 Deferred Submittals
6
Acquisition.GOV. Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 11.5 – Liquidated Damages