What Is a Submittal in Construction? Types, Purpose, and How to Manage Them
If you have spent any time on a construction project, you have run into submittals. They are the documents, drawings, and physical samples a contractor hands over to prove that the materials and systems going into a building actually match what the design team specified. Yet for something so central to how projects get built, the term is surprisingly hard to pin down. There is no single, tidy definition, and even the industry's most widely used contracts describe the pieces of the submittal process without ever defining the word itself.
This guide breaks down what a submittal really is, why the process exists, the main types you will encounter, who owns which responsibilities, and how submittals relate to the binding contract documents. Along the way we will look at where the traditional workflow tends to bog down, and how an AI-assisted approach can compress days of manual effort into minutes without cutting corners on accuracy.
What is a submittal in construction?
At its simplest, a submittal is any information or documentation that one party on a project must provide to another in order to carry out the work. The specific requirements for what has to be submitted, and when, live in the contract documents for the project, particularly the specifications. Because those requirements vary so widely from job to job, 'submittal' functions as a broad umbrella term rather than a precise category. What counts as a submittal on a hospital renovation may look nothing like what is required on a warehouse shell.
The most authoritative reference point most professionals reach for is AIA Document A201-2017, the General Conditions of the Contract for Construction. Section 3.12 addresses the core submittal instruments: shop drawings, product data, and samples. Notably, even this standard-setting document lays out how these items are prepared, reviewed, and used without offering a formal definition of the word 'submittal' itself. That absence is telling. The concept is defined less by a dictionary entry and more by its function on a given project, which is why reading the spec sections carefully matters so much.
Why submittals matter
The submittal process exists to answer one question before money is spent on fabrication or installation: does what the contractor plans to build actually align with the designer's intent and the project specifications? Catching a mismatch on paper is inexpensive. Catching it after a custom curtain wall has been fabricated, or after the wrong rooftop unit has been craned into place, is not. Submittals give the design team a structured chance to verify compliance before those commitments become physical and permanent.
Beyond simple approval, submittals clarify how specific materials and systems will be incorporated into the work, confirm that proposed products conform to the specifications, and surface discrepancies early enough to resolve them cheaply. They also serve as a shared communication channel among the contractor, architect, owner, subcontractors, and specialty consultants, keeping everyone working from the same set of confirmed selections rather than assumptions. When the process runs well, it quietly prevents the coordination clashes that otherwise show up as change orders and schedule slips.
- Verify that planned work matches design intent and the specifications before anything is fabricated or installed.
- Confirm that proposed materials and systems conform to the contract requirements.
- Clarify exactly how products will be incorporated into the finished work.
- Catch discrepancies and coordination conflicts early, while they are still cheap to fix.
- Keep the contractor, architect, owner, subs, and consultants aligned on confirmed selections.
- Pro tip: establish a submittal schedule early. Mapping out what is due and when, and sequencing it against long-lead items, prevents a late approval from cascading into procurement, fabrication, and installation delays down the line.
Common types of construction submittals
While the specifics change from project to project, most submittals fall into three familiar categories. Each answers a different question about the work, and larger or public projects layer additional requirements on top.
- Shop drawings: Prepared by the contractor, subcontractor, or fabricator, these translate the design documents into the detailed drawings needed to actually fabricate, assemble, and install a component. Think structural steel connection details or a custom millwork layout. They show how the builder intends to execute the design, not the design itself.
- Product data: Sourced from manufacturers, these are the cut sheets and specification sheets for proposed products. They are typically marked up to identify the exact model, options, finishes, and performance ratings being furnished, and to demonstrate that the selection conforms to the specified requirements.
- Samples and mockups: Physical examples of materials, finishes, or full assemblies. A brick sample, a paint chip, or a built mockup of a wall section establishes the tangible standard that the installed work will be judged against, which is useful for anything where color, texture, or workmanship is hard to convey on paper.
- Additional submittals on federal and complex projects: Government work under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), along with many large private jobs, commonly adds items such as safety plans, project schedules, coordination drawings, and engineering calculations to the required list.
Who is responsible for submittals?
Preparing and furnishing submittals is the contractor's job. The prime contractor, together with its subcontractors and suppliers, compiles the shop drawings, gathers the product data, and provides the samples the specifications call for. Because the contractor controls the means and methods of construction, it also carries responsibility for the finite accuracy and completeness of what it submits, dimensions, quantities, field conditions, and the like.
The architect's role is deliberately narrower. When the design team reviews a submittal, it is checking for conformance with the design concept and the information in the contract documents, not re-verifying every measurement or confirming that nothing was left out. This limited-review purpose is an important distinction: an architect's stamp on a shop drawing approves the design intent, it does not transfer responsibility for construction accuracy away from the contractor. Understanding that boundary prevents a lot of misplaced expectations when a field issue later surfaces.
Are submittals part of the contract documents?
Generally, no. Submittals are not counted among the contract documents. Their role is to demonstrate compliance, show alignment with the design intent, document the specific products and options being selected, and support coordination between trades. They are evidence that the work will meet the agreement, not the agreement itself.
This matters because a submittal is not a vehicle for changing the design. If a review reveals that the specified approach needs to be altered, that change has to be made through a formal modification to the contract, such as a change order or an architect's supplemental instruction, not by quietly approving a deviation buried in a product data sheet. Keeping that line clear protects both the design intent and the contractual record.
How Submittal.app addresses this
The concepts above are straightforward. The execution is where teams lose hours. Assembling a submittal package traditionally means hunting down the right manufacturer cut sheets, matching part numbers by hand, reading the spec line by line to check conformance, and then formatting everything into a clean, reviewable document. Repeat that across dozens of spec sections and it becomes one of the more tedious jobs on a project, and one where a single transposed catalog number can trigger an avoidable rejection and another review cycle.
Submittal.app's Submittal Builder is an AI agent built to take on that grind. It reads a project schedule or a spec section, locates the correct manufacturer cut sheets and product data, and matches part numbers automatically. It then compares the proposed products against the specification and flags deviations or substitutions so nothing slips through unnoticed. From there it assembles a formatted, review-ready package, cover page, table of contents, and organized documents, in minutes rather than days.
The practical payoff is less manual searching, fewer review cycles, and non-compliance caught early instead of in the field. Because the same confirmed catalog numbers carry through from spec to submittal to quote to purchase order, the details stay consistent across the whole procurement chain, which is exactly where costly mismatches tend to creep in. It is free to start at user.submittal.app/signup/builder, so you can run it against a real spec section and see how the output compares to your current process before committing to anything.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a submittal and a shop drawing?
A shop drawing is one type of submittal. 'Submittal' is the broad umbrella term for any documentation a contractor provides to demonstrate compliance, while shop drawings specifically are contractor-prepared drawings showing how a component will be fabricated, assembled, and installed. Product data and samples are other submittal types.
Does AIA A201-2017 define what a submittal is?
Not directly. Section 3.12 of AIA A201-2017 addresses shop drawings, product data, and samples, and explains how they are prepared and reviewed, but it does not offer a formal definition of the word 'submittal' itself. The concept is defined more by its function on each project than by a fixed definition.
Who is responsible for the accuracy of a submittal?
The contractor. The prime contractor and its subcontractors prepare and furnish submittals and remain responsible for their finite accuracy and completeness because they control the means and methods of construction. The architect reviews only for conformance with the design concept, a limited purpose that does not shift accuracy responsibility away from the contractor.
Are submittals considered contract documents?
Generally no. Submittals demonstrate compliance, design-intent alignment, product selections, and coordination, but they are not part of the binding contract documents. They cannot be used to change the design; any actual change requires a formal modification such as a change order.
When should you create a submittal schedule?
As early as possible. Establishing a submittal schedule at the start of a project, and sequencing it against long-lead items, helps prevent a late approval from cascading into procurement, fabrication, and installation delays later on.